Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Johnstown, PA MSA — October 2026
Johnstown job postings surge past what low unemployment would predict.
Cambria County job postings jumped 36.6% year over year even as unemployment held at 4.6%, while registered nurse pay reached $102,680 and average weekly wages stayed nearly 40% below the national figure.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.6% — Down 1.6 pts YoY; vs. PA 3.6%, US 4.1%
- Cambria County job postings: 1,907 (Mar.) — Up 36.6% year over year
- Average weekly wage, Cambria County: $1,002 — vs. $1,654 US average
- Pennsylvania unemployment rate: 3.6%–4.0% — 29th straight month below US rate
Key takeaways
Job postings are outrunning the jobless rate.
Cambria County online postings rose 36.6% year over year even as unemployment sits at 4.6%, a gap that points to employers across sectors competing for a labor pool that has not grown at the same pace. That divergence is a more useful read on local economic heat than the unemployment rate alone.
Healthcare wage strength looks structural for the metro.
Registered nurse advertised pay climbed to $102,680 locally, now matching the national median and reflecting Conemaugh Health System's weight as the county's largest employer. Statewide, education and health services posted the largest year-over-year job gain of any sector, suggesting Johnstown's healthcare strength tracks a broader Pennsylvania pattern rather than a one-off local event.
Average weekly wages still lag the nation by a wide margin.
Cambria County's $1,002 average weekly wage sits nearly 40% below the U.S. average of $1,654, a gap that shapes consumer spending power and the metro's relative cost competitiveness for site selection. Narrowing wage growth nationally (2.4% posted wage growth against 3.7% CPI) makes this local gap a factor to track rather than assume away.
Manufacturing and skilled trades show a split local picture.
Manufacturing production worker pay is flat locally ($38,480) while electrician pay holds steady and HVAC technician pay has moved down, even as national trades wages trend upward. Divergence between local and national trade-wage direction may signal softer project-level demand in the metro even as healthcare and logistics stay firm.
Median advertised pay by role — Johnstown, PA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $21,435 | $26,537 | $28,951 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,920 | $27,560 | $28,853 | Moderate increase | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $28,606 | $36,169 | $38,387 | Moderate increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $57,200 | $80,102 | $86,850 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $27,912 | $32,048 | $34,761 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $31,737 | $34,736 | $37,263 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $61,620 | $67,541 | $80,194 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $33,540 | $38,480 | $39,520 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $30,160 | $33,910 | $35,474 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $25,908 | $32,335 | $37,500 | Moderate decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $30,682 | $38,388 | $41,814 | Moderate decline | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $33,469 | $37,586 | $42,267 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $55,120 | $57,500 | $57,500 | Moderate decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $84,885 | $102,680 | $111,892 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $110,608 | $147,944 | $163,854 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,167 | $131,099 | $148,780 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $42,101 | $59,193 | $59,923 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $71,571 | $91,125 | $100,362 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $57,008 | $70,000 | $81,692 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $49,487 | $62,500 | $70,265 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,204 | $85,277 | $98,803 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $26,450 | $39,125 | $47,405 | Moderate decline | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $34,850 | $112,102 | $162,448 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,917 | $72,500 | $80,000 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $79,860 | $96,252 | $107,353 | 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 | $44,701 | Stable | Stable |
| Manufacturing | $71,626 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $31,909 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $62,295 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $56,482 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $62,460 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $87,016 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $50,455 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,977 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,808 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Johnstown metro unemployment stood at 4.6% in August, down 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier and tracking the tightening seen statewide, though the rate remains above Pennsylvania's record-low 3.6% September reading and roughly in line with the national 4.1%. Online job postings in Cambria County reached 1,907 in March, up 36.6% year over year, a pace of advertised hiring demand that outstrips what the metro's modest 4.6% jobless rate alone would suggest, pointing to a local economy adding positions faster than it is adding available workers.
What it means
Advertised pay for registered nurses rose to a metro median of $102,680, matching national figures and signaling that healthcare, anchored locally by Conemaugh Health System, continues to command wage premiums even in a metro where average weekly wages ($1,002) trail the U.S. figure ($1,654) by nearly 40%. Commerce leaders weighing investment or expansion locally should treat the gap between rising postings and a still-below-average wage base as a signal of a labor market with room to absorb new activity, provided wage expectations across sectors adjust to the tighter conditions now visible in healthcare and manufacturing. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether wage gains in healthcare and skilled trades spread to the broader services base, which would indicate the tightening is becoming metro-wide rather than confined to a few sectors.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Cambria County's unemployment rate has fallen from 5.3% in February to 4.6% in August; whether that trajectory continues toward the state's 3.6% floor over the next two reporting cycles will indicate if the metro is closing its longstanding gap with Pennsylvania overall.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide WARN filings are concentrated in manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation/logistics, sectors well represented in Cambria County's employer base (Lockheed Martin Aeroparts, Conemaugh Health System). No local WARN activity has surfaced this month, but commerce leaders should track whether that pattern reaches the metro.
Policy signal: Pennsylvania's minimum wage remains $7.25, unchanged since 2009, while Harrisburg legislators debate phased increases to $15 by 2029. Any state action would affect advertised pay floors for retail and food service roles in the metro, where several categories (retail sales associate, food service worker) already show pay near or below $30,000.
Potential inflection point: Pennsylvania's civilian labor force hit a record high of 6,663,000 in September, even as national labor force growth slows amid demographic and immigration-related headwinds. Watch whether Cambria County's labor force participation follows the state's upward trend or stays flat, which would widen the local postings-to-unemployment gap further.
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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