Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · October 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Green Bay, WI MSA — October 2026
Green Bay's labor market stays tight while Wisconsin wages erode.
Green Bay-area unemployment near 2.9%–3.4% remains well below the 4.1% national rate even as Wisconsin posts the nation's steepest real wage decline at -5.1% year-over-year, and local Benefits Manager pay climbs to $123,202.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Green Bay MSA unemployment: 2.9%–3.4% — vs 4.1% national, 3.2% Wisconsin (Sep 2026)
- Wisconsin real wage growth: -5.1% — Steepest decline of any U.S. state, YoY
- Brown County unemployment shift: 2.7% → 3.4% — Dec 2025 to Aug 2026, signaling some softening
- Benefits Manager advertised pay (metro): $123,202 — vs $118,618 national, up significantly YoY
Key takeaways
Green Bay's labor market is tighter than the state and national numbers suggest.
Metro unemployment near 2.9%–3.4% versus 4.1% nationally means local candidate pools remain thin even as national headlines describe a cooling labor market. Compensation benchmarking built on national or even state figures risks underpricing roles competing in this tighter local pool.
Benefits Manager pay signals a total rewards arms race.
Local advertised pay for this role climbed to $123,202, outpacing the national median by nearly $5,000 and registering a significant year-over-year move. That tracks a broader Wisconsin finding that 70% of HR leaders rank meeting total rewards demands a top 2026 challenge — employers appear to be paying up for the talent that designs those packages.
HR Coordinator and Recruiter pay softened while HRIS and Benefits roles accelerated.
Metro HR Coordinator pay fell to $42,871 and Recruiter pay dropped to $54,194, both moving against their national trend lines, while HRIS Analyst pay jumped to $78,027 locally. That divergence is consistent with a market deprioritizing transactional HR hiring while paying a premium for systems and total rewards expertise.
Manufacturing's skilled-trades shortage is a retention story as much as a hiring one.
Wisconsin manufacturers report persistent shortages in skilled and technical roles even as statewide job counts sit below late-2024 peaks. Retention of existing technical talent — through development paths and flexibility — may carry more weight than external recruitment given thin mid-market hiring speed statewide.
Median advertised pay by role — Green Bay, WI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst | $62,771 | $83,352 | $91,590 | Moderate increase | $100,798 |
| HR Business Partner | $60,000 | $72,406 | $80,000 | Moderate increase | $83,900 |
| Benefits Manager * | $84,694 | $123,202 | $133,868 | Significant increase | $118,618 |
| HRIS Analyst | $75,380 | $78,027 | $82,613 | Significant increase | $95,000 |
| HR Coordinator | $39,141 | $42,871 | $49,860 | Moderate decline | $50,460 |
| Recruiter | $44,252 | $54,194 | $58,867 | Moderate decline | $67,234 |
| Payroll Specialist | $43,813 | $57,500 | $65,238 | Stable | $61,103 |
* 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
Local market conditions
Green Bay MSA unemployment sat near 2.9%–3.4% through mid-2026, well below the 4.1% national rate, even as Brown County softened slightly from April's 2.7% to August's 3.4% and the civilian labor force held around 178,800. Manufacturing remains the dominant local pressure point — statewide, manufacturers report persistent skilled-trades shortages even as Wisconsin's broader job count sits below its November 2024 peak, pointing to a labor market tight in specific trades while cooling in aggregate.
What it means
Tight trades and technical labor paired with a flat overall state job count means talent acquisition teams face a bifurcated market: broad-based hiring has slack, but skilled and specialized roles still command urgency and premium pay. Benefits Manager advertised pay rose significantly locally ($123,202 median, ahead of the $118,618 national figure), consistent with employers buying expertise to manage total rewards complexity through targeted pay increases for specialized roles. Consider reviewing total rewards packages for technical and specialized roles now, before the 2.4% statewide wage-growth floor becomes a ceiling in next year's budget cycle.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Brown County unemployment ticked up from 2.7% in December 2025 to 3.4% in August 2026. Watch whether this continues loosening the local candidate pool for roles outside manufacturing's tight skilled trades.
Worth watching: Ryder's 151-worker WARN filing and Green Bay Converting's 32-worker layoff earlier in 2026 were modest by state standards, but any new filings would test whether displaced manufacturing talent is absorbed quickly given the sector's stated shortages.
Emerging pressure point: Green Bay Metro Fire Department's thinning recruit pipeline, reported October 19, may be an early signal of public-sector and frontline staffing strain worth tracking against private-sector wage competition.
Potential inflection point: Wisconsin's -5.1% real wage decline year-over-year, the steepest of any state, puts pressure on 2027 merit budgets. Watch whether local advertised pay for technical and total rewards roles continues outpacing this statewide erosion or converges toward it.
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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