Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Janesville, WI MSA — September 2026
Janesville holds near full employment as state job growth stalls
Rock County's unemployment rate sat at 3.7% in July against Wisconsin's statewide 8,100-job loss since late 2024, while electrician and registered nurse pay post double-digit local gains even as accountant and business analyst postings retreat.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Rock County unemployment: 3.7% — July 2026, vs 3.1% MSA low in May
- Wisconsin job count change: -8,100 jobs — Since Nov. 2024 peak of 3,051,000
- Wisconsin labor force participation: 64.5% — Down from 65.4% a year ago; still above 61.8% US
- County health services job growth: +253 jobs (2.3%) — Through March 2026, vs. 1.3% loss in trade/transport
Key takeaways
Rock County is outperforming the state, not just the nation.
July's 3.7% county unemployment rate and May's 3.1% MSA rate run well below Wisconsin's stalling job-growth trend, where the state has lost 8,100 jobs since November 2024. Local resilience appears tied to health services expansion rather than a broad-based statewide recovery.
Healthcare and skilled trades are pulling local wage growth upward.
Registered nurse pay rose to a local median of $112,372 and electrician pay to $83,200, both significant increases that outpace their national counterparts. Both trends track the statewide pattern of education/health services and construction-adjacent trades concentrating job and wage growth.
White-collar local pay is diverging sharply from the national trend.
Local accountant pay fell significantly to $63,798 against a rising national median of $72,182, and business analyst pay dropped to $77,000 versus a rising $98,279 nationally. Pattern is consistent with the national September data showing finance and administrative roles softening while hands-on sectors tighten.
Manufacturing's wage base remains a quiet local strength.
Rock County manufacturing employs 11,477 workers at an average wage of $72,916, a durable anchor even as statewide manufacturing employment edges down 0.2%. Local manufacturing production/assembler advertised pay has softened, suggesting wage pressure concentrated in incumbent, longer-tenured positions rather than new postings.
Median advertised pay by role — Janesville, WI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $23,622 | $31,652 | $37,632 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $24,554 | $29,639 | $31,200 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,620 | $36,618 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,240 | $78,798 | $85,800 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,298 | $34,778 | $41,600 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,360 | $41,454 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $75,904 | $83,200 | $85,280 | Significant increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $35,134 | $39,000 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $35,867 | $39,313 | $44,200 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $28,206 | $35,360 | $40,175 | Moderate increase | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $36,633 | $44,772 | $47,517 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $36,657 | $43,599 | $47,163 | Moderate decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician * | $61,048 | $69,462 | $76,040 | Moderate increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $92,872 | $112,372 | $120,634 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $136,172 | $142,668 | $142,669 | Stable | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $87,888 | $153,285 | $154,789 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $60,000 | $63,798 | $71,275 | Significant decline | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $69,438 | $110,000 | $110,000 | Significant increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $53,500 | $74,143 | $85,486 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $48,256 | $57,160 | $65,632 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,157 | $82,250 | $88,005 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $31,200 | $45,531 | $61,250 | Stable | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $62,238 | $113,981 | $149,791 | Significant increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $41,352 | $75,110 | $84,529 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $65,497 | $77,000 | $77,000 | Significant decline | $98,279 |
* 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 | $62,400 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $73,642 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $40,033 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $56,821 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $71,047 | Stable | Moderate decline |
| Financial Activities | $50,250 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $52,000 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $80,600 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,469 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $67,392 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Rock County's 3.7% July unemployment rate and a May MSA reading of 3.1% point to a tighter local labor market than the statewide picture, where Wisconsin has shed 8,100 jobs since its November 2024 peak amid contraction in trade, transportation and manufacturing. Local momentum is concentrated in education and health services, which added 253 county jobs (2.3%) through March, while advertised pay for registered nurses ($112,372, up significantly) and electricians ($83,200, up significantly) suggests sustained demand in healthcare and skilled trades even as white-collar categories like accounting and business analysis soften locally.
What it means
Divergence between a resilient local unemployment rate and a cooling statewide job count suggests Rock County's economy is, for now, insulated from broader Wisconsin softness, a distinction useful when benchmarking expansion or investment timing against state-level headlines. Sharp local pay gains in registered nursing, electrical trades and financial analysis alongside declines in accounting, business analyst and administrative postings point to a bifurcated local economy where skilled-trade and healthcare capacity may be the binding constraint on growth rather than overall labor availability. Commerce leaders evaluating local expansion should consider weighing sector-specific capacity signals, particularly in healthcare and skilled trades, rather than relying on the county's favorable headline unemployment rate alone.
Looking ahead
Expected: BLS is due to release September Janesville-Beloit MSA unemployment figures in early October; a reading near or below the 3.1% May low would reinforce the county's outperformance of state trends, while a jump toward Wisconsin's broader 2026 softness would be the first sign local insulation is eroding.
Worth watching: Wisconsin's core inflation at 3.9% against a 4.2% forecast wage gain for 2026 leaves little real purchasing-power cushion; local consumer-facing sectors (retail, food service) should be watched for spending pullback signals given metro retail cashier and warehouse pay are already trending down.
Emerging pressure point: National WARN filings concentrated in manufacturing, retail and logistics (Amazon, Tyson Foods, FedEx, Kroger among filers) have not yet shown up meaningfully in Wisconsin's 56 statewide notices this year. A rise in county-level WARN activity tied to trade/transportation, the sector already contracting locally, would be a notable inflection point.
Early indicator: Wisconsin's labor force participation rate has slipped to 64.5% from 65.4% a year ago even as the state outperforms the national 61.8% figure. Any further local decline would warrant attention from economic development officials assessing workforce capacity for business attraction efforts.
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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