Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · September 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Johnson City, TN MSA — September 2026
Johnson City stays tight as HR pay splits from national trend.
Metro unemployment holds near 3.7% against a 4.1% national rate, while HR Business Partner advertised pay falls to $67,581 locally even as the national median climbs to $83,766.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.7% — vs 4.1% national, 3.4% Tennessee statewide
- HR Business Partner advertised pay: $67,581 — down locally vs $83,766 national, up significantly
- Tennessee projected 2026 job growth: 0.9% — 31,400 jobs, below historical state average
- Non-compete ban threshold: $70,000 — HB 1034, effective July 1, 2026
Key takeaways
Local unemployment still beats the nation by 40 basis points.
A 3.7% metro rate against 4.1% nationally means Johnson City employers are competing for talent in a tighter pool than most of the country, even as national hiring urgency cools. Expect time-to-fill to lag national benchmarks for hourly and mid-skill roles.
HR Business Partner pay is splitting sharply by geography.
Metro median advertised pay for HR Business Partner fell to $67,581 while the national figure climbed to $83,766, a gap wide enough to complicate talent mobility and out-of-market recruiting. Organizations benchmarking against national data risk overpaying for a role the local market is actively discounting.
Non-compete ban removes a retention crutch for most hourly staff.
HB 1034 voids non-competes below $70,000 in total compensation, a threshold that captures the bulk of Johnson City's healthcare, hospitality, and administrative workforce. Retention now rests more heavily on culture, development, and pay competitiveness rather than contractual restriction.
Compensation Analyst demand is climbing against a flat national trend.
Metro advertised pay for Compensation Analyst rose significantly to $91,500 while the national median held near $101,727, narrowing the gap and suggesting local employers are investing in comp expertise even as national demand plateaus. This appears consistent with growing local need to manage pay equity and benchmarking amid tightening labor supply.
Median advertised pay by role — Johnson City, TN MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst * | $67,600 | $91,500 | $103,510 | Significant increase | $101,727 |
| HR Business Partner | $51,376 | $67,581 | $79,899 | Moderate decline | $83,766 |
| Benefits Manager * | $87,391 | $114,729 | $118,412 | Significant increase | $117,888 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $76,921 | $84,846 | $96,308 | Moderate increase | $97,555 |
| HR Coordinator * | $37,284 | $44,954 | $49,865 | Moderate decline | $50,000 |
| Recruiter | $37,190 | $49,812 | $59,840 | Stable | $68,167 |
| Payroll Specialist * | $47,293 | $56,160 | $60,477 | Moderate increase | $59,855 |
* 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
Johnson City's labor market remains tighter than the national picture, with the metro's unemployment rate holding near 3.7% against a 4.1% U.S. rate, even as Tennessee's statewide job growth decelerates to a projected 0.9% for 2026. Education and health services continue to anchor local employment, but flattening statewide healthcare job growth (0.2% over the past year versus 3.3% in 2024) suggests the sector's historical role as a hiring engine is losing momentum just as the new non-compete ban under HB 1034 removes a retention tool for workers earning under $70,000.
What it means
Scarcity of labor supply, not a hiring slowdown, is the operative constraint in Johnson City — hiring urgency nationally may be easing, but a sub-4% local jobless rate means time-to-fill pressure persists for roles outside information and tech. HB 1034's non-compete ban forces a retention rethink for the large share of the local workforce under $70,000, while divergent movement in metro versus national HR role pay (HR Business Partner down locally but up 4%+ nationally) signals growing geographic dispersion in how comp strategy is being benchmarked. Organizations should evaluate whether retention levers tied to non-competes need replacing with development paths, scheduling flexibility, or targeted pay adjustments for sub-$70K roles most exposed to the policy change.
Looking ahead
Expected: September BLS employment data for the Johnson City MSA releases in early October — watch whether the unemployment rate holds near 3.7% or ticks toward the state's 3.4%, which would signal further tightening heading into Q4 hiring.
Potential inflection point: TikTok's Oct. 5 Nashville office closure (250 workers) sits outside the metro but may test whether displaced tech and operations talent migrates toward East Tennessee, particularly into administrative or HRIS-adjacent roles where metro pay is already climbing.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide education and health employment growth has flattened to 0.2% annually; if that trend reaches Johnson City's healthcare-heavy base, expect renewed competition for clinical and administrative talent and upward pressure on signing incentives.
Worth watching: HB 1034 compliance deadlines are now active — track whether existing non-compete agreements under $70,000 are being formally rescinded, and whether exit interviews or turnover data show early retention effects.
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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