Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: El Paso, TX MSA — October 2026
El Paso's jobless rate falls, but job growth lags the state.
El Paso unemployment dropped to 4.3% from 4.6% in a month, yet annual job growth of 0.8% trails Texas's 1.1% pace and wages remain roughly 38% below the national average.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- El Paso unemployment rate: 4.3% — Down from 4.6% in August; 4.8% a year ago
- El Paso annual job growth: 0.8% — Vs. 1.1% statewide, behind Austin/San Antonio's 5.9%
- Metro avg. weekly wage: $1,031 — Vs. $1,654 national average (Q1 2026)
- Texas labor force growth: 3,600 net new participants — Over 12 months, signaling a near-stall statewide
Key takeaways
El Paso's jobless rate improvement outpaces its job growth story.
Unemployment fell from 4.6% to 4.3% between August and September, but annual job growth of just 0.8% trails the state's 1.1% rate and sits well behind Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. The gap suggests the rate drop may reflect labor force dynamics as much as hiring strength, a distinction worth tracking before treating it as a momentum signal.
Wage divergence points to a bifurcated local economy.
Registered Nurses, Software Engineers, Financial Analysts and HVAC Technicians show significant advertised pay gains locally, while Manufacturing Production Workers, Accountants and Warehouse Managers see pay softening. A metro moving in two directions at once complicates any single read on overall business climate.
Wage gap with the nation remains the defining structural fact.
El Paso's $1,031 average weekly wage sits roughly 38% below the $1,654 national average, a gap that predates this month's data and shapes the metro's competitive position for capital investment. Commerce leaders positioning El Paso to outside investors should treat this gap as a cost advantage to frame.
September's sector shifts favor trade and health over professional services.
Prior-period data shows professional services and government losses (-1,050 and -680 respectively) offset partly by trade/transportation and education/health gains. That composition shift, moving toward logistics and care services and away from office-based work, tracks the metro's historic strengths in distribution and cross-border commerce.
Median advertised pay by role — El Paso, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,880 | $27,040 | $32,201 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $21,215 | $24,960 | $27,003 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $25,399 | $29,617 | $32,558 | Moderate decline | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $51,103 | $78,000 | $88,400 | Moderate decline | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $25,886 | $28,080 | $30,754 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $28,263 | $33,830 | $34,725 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $54,772 | $66,991 | $74,087 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $26,000 | $27,690 | $32,174 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $29,640 | $34,361 | $36,858 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $24,993 | $31,200 | $41,080 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $29,801 | $33,280 | $36,096 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $27,897 | $33,629 | $36,693 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $52,126 | $59,557 | $65,381 | Significant increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $81,298 | $103,241 | $111,839 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $92,335 | $132,376 | $149,476 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $96,971 | $120,652 | $132,987 | Moderate increase | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $47,703 | $55,983 | $63,167 | Moderate decline | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $64,283 | $84,286 | $86,711 | Significant increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $43,639 | $61,782 | $80,002 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $39,374 | $49,700 | $53,966 | Moderate increase | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,000 | $82,583 | $98,295 | Moderate decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $30,184 | $58,405 | $61,100 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $62,500 | $87,450 | $90,000 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $48,368 | $70,873 | $85,260 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $73,149 | $87,986 | $96,406 | Significant increase | $98,302 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Industry snapshot
| Sector | Median advertised pay | Pay trend | Postings trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | $70,869 | Moderate decline | Moderate decline |
| Manufacturing | $80,352 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Retail Trade | $32,132 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $48,991 | Moderate increase | Stable |
| Information | $64,897 | Significant increase | Stable |
| Financial Activities | $50,000 | Moderate increase | Moderate decline |
| Professional & Business Services | $46,754 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Education & Health Services | $77,597 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $27,040 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Government | $64,823 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
El Paso's unemployment rate improved to 4.3% in September from 4.6% in August, even as the metro's 0.8% annual job growth trails the state's 1.1% pace and lags faster-growing Texas metros like Austin and San Antonio. Wage divergence across the metro basket is pronounced — Registered Nurses, Software Engineers and HVAC Technicians posting significant local gains while Manufacturing Production Workers, Accountants and Warehouse Managers see advertised pay softening, a pattern consistent with uneven sector-level demand across industries.
What it means
Uneven sector performance — professional services and government contraction alongside trade/transportation and education/health gains — signals a metro economy in transition, a distinction that matters for commerce leaders weighing timing on local investment or expansion. Average weekly wages in El Paso remain well below the national figure ($1,031 vs. $1,654), a persistent gap that shapes consumer spending capacity and should inform how local development corporations frame the metro's cost structure to prospective employers. Current conditions suggest monitoring which sectors are absorbing the metro's modest labor force growth before drawing conclusions about broader economic acceleration.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: El Paso's unemployment rate has moved from 4.8% a year ago to 4.3% now, a larger improvement than the state or national trend. Confirm in the next release whether this reflects employment gains or a shrinking local labor force, since the two have very different implications for business expansion plans.
Emerging pressure point: Texas labor force growth has nearly stalled statewide (net 3,600 new participants over 12 months), a demographic headwind likely to show up in border metros like El Paso first given reduced immigrant labor flows. Watch whether El Paso's labor force participation holds steady or begins contracting in upcoming TWC releases.
Potential inflection point: Manufacturing and construction are flagged as the metro's likely growth sectors for the remainder of 2026, aligning with statewide manufacturing strength tied to energy and AI-related infrastructure build-out. A confirmed uptick in El Paso manufacturing job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), would be an early signal worth flagging to local economic development stakeholders.
Early indicator: Statewide WARN filings are down 35% year-over-year, a reassuring signal for layoff exposure, but Texas's largest 2026 layoffs (Tyson Foods, Republic National Distributing) occurred outside El Paso. Monitor whether any new filings touch the metro's manufacturing or distribution base given its concentration in those sectors.
Sources
- Texas Workforce Commission — El Paso unemployment rate improved to 4.3% in September from 4.6% in August
- Dallas Federal Reserve — El Paso annual job growth of 0.8% vs. Texas 1.1% and Austin/San Antonio 5.9%
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — El Paso Q1 2026 average weekly wage of $1,031 vs. national $1,654
- Texas Workforce Commission — Texas labor force added only 3,600 net new participants over 12 months
- Texas Workforce Commission — Texas WARN notices down 35% year-over-year through October
- Texas Workforce Commission — September sector shifts: professional services and government losses offset by trade and health gains
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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