Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Jacksonville, NC MSA — October 2026
Jacksonville's momentum concentrates in healthcare and logistics.
Metro unemployment held at 3.9% against North Carolina's 3.4%, even as Registered Nurse pay rose to $94,624 and CDL driver pay climbed to $75,379 — gains concentrated in specific sectors of the metro economy.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Jacksonville MSA unemployment: 3.9% — vs 3.4% statewide, 4.1% national
- Metro nonfarm job growth: +0.3% YoY — 2,600 jobs added, led by health/education
- RN advertised pay growth: up significantly to $94,624 — vs $102,252 national median
- NC labor force participation: 57.8% — down from 61.6% 10-year high (Aug 2026)
Key takeaways
Healthcare and logistics carry the metro's wage momentum alone.
Registered Nurse pay rose significantly to $94,624 and Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate pay rose significantly to $39,520, both outpacing most other tracked categories in the metro. That concentration suggests economic strength is sector-specific, a distinction that matters for anyone reading metro unemployment data at face value.
Jacksonville's unemployment gap with the state is widening.
Metro unemployment at 3.9% sits half a point above North Carolina's 3.4% rate, a gap tied to the metro's dependence on military and adjacent service activity, distinct from the diversified metro job growth seen in Charlotte and Raleigh. Local economic development framing should account for this structural difference rather than benchmarking against statewide trendlines.
CDL driver pay is rising fast while delivery driver pay sits flat.
CDL Truck Driver pay climbed significantly to $75,379 locally, even as national CDL pay held stable, while Delivery Driver pay stayed flat at $32,161. The divergence points to freight and logistics activity tied to regional distribution as the stronger local driver, ahead of last-mile consumer delivery.
Public-sector pay postings offer a transparent read on local fiscal conditions.
City of Jacksonville's October posting for an Accounts Payable Specialist at $41,981–$67,170 reflects the kind of stable, published pay band that distinguishes public employment from the wage volatility seen in retail and hospitality. That stability is a relevant data point for government economists tracking public-sector contribution to overall metro wage floor stability.
Median advertised pay by role — Jacksonville, NC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,345 | $27,040 | $29,159 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,439 | $25,480 | $27,040 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,316 | $39,520 | $39,520 | Significant increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $50,679 | $75,379 | $85,150 | Significant increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $30,551 | $32,161 | $32,862 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $28,990 | $35,432 | $37,440 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $48,880 | $60,320 | $62,400 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $30,395 | $34,632 | $34,632 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $29,442 | $35,360 | $37,440 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $36,649 | $38,313 | $39,629 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $32,270 | $37,673 | $45,313 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $29,347 | $38,360 | $39,250 | Moderate increase | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $68,864 | $74,686 | $81,120 | Moderate decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $73,836 | $94,624 | $102,419 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $114,700 | $145,322 | $161,466 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $100,620 | $127,369 | $142,605 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $59,731 | $73,000 | $74,238 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $70,600 | $88,450 | $96,908 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $55,000 | $69,079 | $77,500 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $51,559 | $64,714 | $79,131 | Significant increase | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $63,945 | $89,501 | $91,024 | Significant increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $27,786 | $37,440 | $48,837 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $50,678 | $83,428 | $86,409 | Significant decline | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $51,195 | $70,000 | $82,500 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $81,669 | $98,104 | $109,673 | 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 | $45,250 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $50,220 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,773 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $55,863 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $60,488 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $46,094 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $49,664 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $49,920 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,120 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,158 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Jacksonville MSA unemployment held at 3.9% in August, well above North Carolina's statewide 3.4% but still tight by historical standards, with Onslow County's 70,998-person labor force shaped heavily by Camp Lejeune and adjacent military-dependent activity. Nonagricultural employment rose 0.3% year-over-year, with Education and Health Services growing roughly ten times faster than Leisure and Hospitality, pointing to institutional and public-sector demand as the metro's primary growth engine.
What it means
Metro wage growth is concentrated in specific functions — Registered Nurse pay up significantly to $94,624 and Operations Manager pay up significantly to $89,501 — while broad categories like software engineering and accounting sit flat, suggesting the local economy's momentum is narrower than state and national headlines imply. For commerce leaders evaluating expansion or investment timing, that narrowness matters: a metro with a 3.9% unemployment rate and rising healthcare/logistics wages (Warehouse/Fulfillment up significantly to $39,520) signals capacity constraints in some sectors even as others remain soft. Consider evaluating sector-specific entry points — healthcare, logistics, and skilled trades show pricing power while retail and professional services remain flat — before treating the metro as uniformly tight or uniformly loose.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Education and Health Services has outpaced Leisure and Hospitality by roughly tenfold in year-over-year job growth; watch whether that gap persists into winter months when seasonal hospitality hiring typically picks up.
Early indicator: Statewide labor force participation sits at 57.8%, well below the 10-year high of 61.6% reached in August — a structural NC-wide pattern worth tracking locally through Onslow County's own labor force figures over the next reporting cycle.
Emerging pressure point: Manufacturing is already weakening statewide (-1,100 jobs in September, -8,800 over 12 months), a signal to monitor for any ripple effect on Onslow County's smaller manufacturing base and adjacent logistics employment.
Potential inflection point: Camp Lejeune-linked short-term project hiring, such as the November 4 material delivery project, offers a leading indicator of defense-contractor activity; sustained upticks here often precede broader logistics and construction demand in the metro.
Sources
- NC Department of Commerce, Labor & Economic Analysis Division — Jacksonville MSA unemployment rate at 3.9% in August 2026
- Jacksonville Business Calendar — Nonagricultural employment up 0.3% YoY with Education/Health Services leading growth
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — North Carolina unemployment rate at 3.4%, national at 4.1%
- NC Office of State Budget and Management — NC labor force participation at 57.8%, down from 61.6% ten-year high
- Richmond Fed / BLS — NC manufacturing lost 1,100 jobs in September, 8,800 over 12 months
- City of Jacksonville, NC — City of Jacksonville Accounts Payable Specialist posting at $41,981.56–$67,170.49
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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