Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Ithaca, NY MSA — October 2026
Ithaca's living-wage gap widens as manufacturing pay outruns the metro.
Tompkins County unemployment sits at 4.2% while the local living wage climbs to $25.08/hour — a threshold nearly half of area workers don't meet — even as manufacturing pay jumps to a $54,610 metro median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Tompkins County unemployment: 4.2% — Up from spring 2025, in line with NY State's 4.3%
- Local living wage threshold: $25.08/hr — Up 1% from 2025; ~24,000 workers earn below it
- Living Wage Employer certifications: 28 employers — Down from 129 after threshold jumped 35% prior year
- Manufacturing production pay (metro): $54,610 — Up significantly; ~38% above $39,520 national median
Key takeaways
Manufacturing pay strength bucks the metro's unemployment drift.
Manufacturing production worker pay rose significantly to a $54,610 metro median, nearly 40% above the national figure, even as county unemployment ticked up to 4.2%. The divergence suggests goods-producing employers are competing hard for a narrower skilled pool locally, a signal worth tracking for local industrial investment decisions.
Living-wage gap widens even as inflation-adjusted pay data shows national erosion.
Tompkins County's $25.08 living-wage threshold now exceeds pay for an estimated 24,000 local workers, while nationally median earnings rose only 1.5% against 3.5% CPI growth in the same period. Local cost-of-living pressure compounds a national pattern of wages failing to keep pace with prices, a dynamic relevant to consumer spending forecasts for area retailers and service businesses.
Certified living-wage employer count collapsed from 129 to 28.
Last year's 35% jump in the living-wage calculation appears to have driven a wave of employer exits from the voluntary certification program, with little evidence of broad local compliance. Commerce leaders evaluating the county's business climate narrative should note this as a measurable retreat from a previously stable baseline.
Healthcare and public-sector roles look like the metro's stability anchor.
Registered Nurse pay rose moderately to $116,593 locally, consistent with the national pattern of healthcare leading hiring demand even as white-collar sectors soften. Area public-sector and healthcare institution stability may be doing more to hold county unemployment from rising further than any other single sector.
Median advertised pay by role — Ithaca, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $31,787 | $34,580 | $37,440 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $33,280 | $36,920 | $38,480 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $37,440 | $40,040 | $43,680 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,555 | $83,200 | $92,500 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $32,784 | $34,831 | $36,731 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $40,120 | $46,812 | $49,920 | Significant increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $55,120 | $69,360 | $72,223 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $43,680 | $54,610 | $54,717 | Significant increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,436 | $37,960 | $45,450 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $34,512 | $37,286 | $39,520 | Significant decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $44,200 | $50,346 | $54,834 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $40,040 | $52,468 | $58,266 | Moderate increase | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $72,800 | $72,800 | $72,800 | Stable | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $90,282 | $116,593 | $127,112 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $101,634 | $152,637 | $170,000 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $97,744 | $188,640 | $192,050 | Moderate increase | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $62,000 | $63,500 | $65,484 | Moderate decline | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $72,270 | $92,221 | $101,623 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $65,000 | $72,000 | $76,108 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $45,127 | $59,170 | $70,338 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,618 | $88,240 | $100,600 | Stable | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $39,000 | $58,000 | $65,750 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $68,144 | $80,000 | $90,000 | Moderate increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $44,913 | $72,172 | $75,063 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $108,820 | $110,528 | $110,528 | 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 | $81,837 | Significant increase | Moderate decline |
| Manufacturing | $95,389 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $36,920 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $43,205 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $55,536 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $139,360 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $60,320 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $55,875 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $40,040 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $65,327 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Tompkins County unemployment held at 4.2% in August, up from a materially lower rate in spring 2025, as the region's private employment base absorbs a slowdown that has also pulled New York State's private payrolls into negative year-to-date territory outside the downstate core. Cornell University's scale as an employer, combined with concentrated demand in healthcare systems like Cayuga Health and Guthrie, continues to anchor local labor demand even as a 2026 living-wage threshold of $25.08 per hour — now exceeding what nearly half of county wage earners make — keeps cost-of-living pressure in the local conversation.
What it means
Advertised pay gains in manufacturing production roles (Metro median $54,610, up significantly) and construction labor ($46,812, up significantly) point to pockets of real momentum in the goods-producing and building trades even as county-wide unemployment drifts upward, a pattern commerce leaders should read as sector-specific strength within an otherwise uneven labor market. Flat-to-declining advertised pay in food service (down significantly) and accounting (down moderately) alongside a stalled minimum-wage increase statewide suggests consumer-facing and lower-margin service segments face the tightest local margin pressure. Local economic development leaders may want to track whether the county's living-wage gap — now affecting roughly half the local workforce — becomes a factor in state or county policy discussions, given the drop in certified Living Wage Employers from 129 to 28.
Looking ahead
Policy inflection point: New York's statewide minimum-wage freeze, triggered by a roughly 31,000-job statewide decline through July, pairs with county-level discussion of a potential Tompkins County minimum wage led by the Ithaca Co-Lab and county legislature. Watch whether county action moves independently of the frozen state schedule.
Emerging pressure point: Living Wage Employer Certification dropped from 129 to 28 participants after last year's steep threshold increase. Track whether this count stabilizes or continues declining as local businesses weigh certification costs against the 2026 wage calculation.
Worth watching: Construction laborer pay (up significantly, $46,812 metro median) and manufacturing pay (up significantly, $54,610) point to tight skilled-trade and production labor pools locally. Area infrastructure or facility investment plans should factor in this advertised-pay momentum as a signal of competitive local labor costs in these trades.
Early indicator: Statewide private-sector job growth remains negative year-to-date even as New York State added 6,700 private jobs in September. Monitor whether that modest statewide uptick reaches the Ithaca metro or remains concentrated downstate.
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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.