Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Gulfport-Biloxi, MS MSA — October 2026
Gulfport-Biloxi wages outpace state and nation as defense anchors hold.
Harrison County wages grew 5.1% year-over-year against a statewide trend near 3.3%-3.5%, while the metro's 3% unemployment rate held far below the national 4.1% rate on the strength of Ingalls Shipbuilding, Keesler Air Force Base, and Naval Construction Battalion Center employment.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.0% — vs 4.1% national, 3.3% Mississippi
- Harrison County wage growth: 5.1% YoY — vs ~3.3%-3.5% Mississippi statewide trend
- Mississippi labor force participation: 54.7% — Lowest since April 2024, 2nd-lowest nationally
- Average weekly wage, Harrison County: $965 — Q3 2025 figure
Key takeaways
Gulfport-Biloxi wages are outrunning both the state and the country.
Harrison County's 5.1% year-over-year wage growth beats Mississippi's statewide 3.3%-3.5% trend and the national median-wage gain of 1.5% against 3.5% CPI. That divergence points to a metro economy with its own distinct momentum.
Defense and shipbuilding remain the metro's shock absorber.
Ingalls Shipbuilding, Keesler Air Force Base, and the Naval Construction Battalion Center collectively anchor tens of thousands of jobs, a concentration that has kept Gulfport-Biloxi's unemployment rate near 3% while national sectors like information and professional services shed jobs. Commerce planning should account for this federal-spending dependency as a stabilizer that cannot be assumed to continue indefinitely.
Statewide participation decline is the risk sitting beneath strong local numbers.
Mississippi's labor force participation rate fell to 54.7%, the lowest since April 2024 and second-lowest of any state, even as Gulfport-Biloxi's unemployment stays low. A metro can post strong employment numbers while drawing from a shrinking available workforce, a tension worth watching as the state's demographic base narrows.
Office and administrative pay gains suggest quiet strength beneath the headline sectors.
Metro Administrative Assistant pay rose significantly to $38,480, outpacing its national counterpart, while Accountant and Financial Analyst advertised pay also posted significant local gains. These increases point to broader professional-services demand building alongside the metro's traditional defense and tourism base.
Median advertised pay by role — Gulfport-Biloxi, MS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $20,974 | $25,541 | $29,120 | Moderate decline | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,060 | $23,920 | $26,000 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $27,925 | $34,195 | $36,400 | Moderate increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $56,860 | $80,000 | $88,114 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $25,213 | $29,094 | $31,200 | Significant decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $30,591 | $33,280 | $41,600 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $55,120 | $72,058 | $77,606 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $29,378 | $34,320 | $46,800 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,039 | $35,248 | $39,905 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $23,837 | $26,781 | $35,598 | Significant decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $23,920 | $29,936 | $31,200 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $32,804 | $38,480 | $43,075 | Significant increase | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $46,800 | $57,219 | $58,240 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $71,176 | $83,900 | $91,377 | Stable | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $81,660 | $93,407 | $98,000 | Moderate decline | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $81,908 | $111,467 | $111,784 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $52,500 | $73,156 | $80,000 | Significant increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $61,711 | $85,606 | $85,607 | Significant increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $42,332 | $56,076 | $67,450 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $40,902 | $69,856 | $79,405 | Significant increase | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $68,896 | $68,896 | $68,896 | Significant decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $23,151 | $31,499 | $42,692 | Moderate decline | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $55,000 | $80,000 | $85,000 | Stable | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $50,276 | $50,276 | $50,276 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $59,745 | $76,700 | $83,324 | Stable | $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 | $56,061 | Significant decline | Moderate decline |
| Manufacturing | $72,164 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $33,787 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $52,000 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $51,750 | Stable | Moderate increase |
| Financial Activities | $43,680 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $41,486 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $53,345 | Moderate increase | Moderate decline |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,509 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $63,387 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Gulfport-Biloxi's unemployment rate held near 3% in October, well below the 4.1% national rate, anchored by stable defense and shipbuilding employment at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Keesler Air Force Base, and the Naval Construction Battalion Center — institutions that together account for tens of thousands of jobs and insulate the metro from the white-collar softness showing up nationally in information and financial services. Harrison County advertised wages rose 5.1% year-over-year to $965 weekly as of Q3 2025, outpacing the state's sluggish 3.3%-3.5% wage growth trend and giving local households a rare real-wage cushion against the 3.5%-3.7% CPI gains squeezing workers elsewhere in the country.
What it means
Low unemployment paired with above-average wage growth signals a metro economy still expanding even as Mississippi's statewide labor force participation slides to 54.7% — second-lowest in the nation — meaning Gulfport-Biloxi's performance looks increasingly like a local exception set apart from state momentum. Commerce leaders weighing expansion or relocation incentives should treat the defense/shipbuilding/healthcare anchor as the metro's stability story, while recognizing that statewide participation erosion could eventually constrain the labor pool feeding Harrison County employers. Consider reviewing whether current workforce-participation programs and vocational pipelines are keeping pace with local wage momentum, or whether the metro is drawing against a shrinking statewide labor base.
Looking ahead
Potential inflection point: Mississippi Development Authority's leadership transition, following Director Bill Cork's departure after a tenure that logged $65 billion in investment commitments, could shape how aggressively the state pursues new project announcements that would touch the Gulf Coast port and manufacturing corridor.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide labor force participation has fallen for a full year; watch whether Harrison County's county-level participation follows the state trend or continues to diverge, since a shrinking available workforce could eventually cap the metro's current wage-driven momentum.
Worth watching: National WARN filings have surged past 340,000 affected workers this year, concentrated in manufacturing and professional services; Mississippi's own WARN activity remains modest at 1,804 workers statewide, but any Gulf Coast manufacturing notice would be a signal worth tracking given the sector's role in state layoff filings.
Early indicator: Federal fiscal decisions affecting defense spending or base operations carry outsized weight here given Keesler Air Force Base and Ingalls Shipbuilding's combined footprint; any budget signal from Washington affecting Navy shipbuilding contracts or Air Force basing would ripple through the regional economy faster than typical private-sector news.
Sources
- Mississippi Department of Employment Security — Gulfport-Biloxi unemployment rate near 3% in October 2026
- Mississippi Department of Employment Security — Harrison County average weekly wages $965, up 5.1% YoY
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Mississippi labor force participation fell to 54.7%, 2nd-lowest nationally
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate stable at 4.1% in October
- Governor Tate Reeves' office / Mississippi Today — Mississippi Development Authority Director Bill Cork's departure after $65B in investment
- Mississippi Department of Employment Security WARN tracker — 12 WARN notices filed in Mississippi in 2026 affecting 1,804 workers
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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