Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Kankakee-Bradley, IL MSA — October 2026
Kankakee's jobless rate falls, but job count stands still.
Kankakee MSA unemployment dropped 1.2 points to 4.2% year-over-year, the steepest decline in Illinois, yet nonfarm payrolls showed zero net change over the same period.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Kankakee MSA unemployment rate: 4.2% — Down from 5.4% a year earlier, Sept 2026
- Kankakee MSA nonfarm payroll change: 0% — No year-over-year change despite jobless rate drop
- Illinois statewide unemployment: 4.6% — Third straight monthly decline, Sept 2026
- Illinois labor force, year-over-year: -1.3% — Statewide contraction despite falling jobless rate
Key takeaways
Unemployment gains mask a payroll count that hasn't moved.
Kankakee's jobless rate dropped 1.2 points year-over-year, the sharpest decline among Illinois metros, but nonfarm job totals were unchanged over the same period. That combination points to labor force exit or relocation as a more likely driver than business expansion.
Frontline pay softness diverges from state and national patterns.
Manufacturing production worker and administrative assistant advertised pay — job ads, a signal of hiring demand, with one ad often covering several openings — both registered significant local declines while national figures held stable or rose, a gap wider than typical cost-of-living variation. This divergence is worth tracking as a potential signal of softening local demand for frontline roles even as unemployment numbers improve.
Healthcare pay strength breaks from the metro's broader pattern.
Certified Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aide pay held stable locally and above the national median, even as Registered Nurse pay moved down moderately — a split that tracks the national story of healthcare leading hiring demand while within-sector dynamics vary by role.
County-level unemployment gaps suggest an uneven recovery across the metro.
Iroquois County's 3.9% unemployment rate runs nearly half a point below Kankakee County's 4.3%, indicating the metro's improvement is not evenly distributed. Commerce leaders evaluating siting or expansion interest should treat MSA-level figures as a blend, not a uniform read.
Median advertised pay by role — Kankakee-Bradley, IL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $31,200 | $33,280 | $36,400 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $28,919 | $33,280 | $36,400 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $34,320 | $35,360 | $43,680 | Significant decline | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $61,500 | $78,000 | $83,200 | Moderate decline | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $29,750 | $33,129 | $34,329 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $34,320 | $37,440 | $38,376 | Moderate decline | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $60,320 | $76,719 | $95,472 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,320 | $35,372 | $36,517 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $32,240 | $37,838 | $41,080 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $31,347 | $32,240 | $34,459 | Significant decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $40,682 | $44,179 | $44,720 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $33,904 | $38,043 | $41,600 | Significant decline | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $59,195 | $60,240 | $101,483 | Moderate decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $81,775 | $92,487 | $104,576 | Moderate decline | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $112,375 | $151,889 | $166,850 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,151 | $140,500 | $157,900 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $73,332 | $92,053 | $92,053 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $75,002 | $94,688 | $102,236 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $62,397 | $80,000 | $94,928 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $47,901 | $66,560 | $76,003 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $75,000 | $98,658 | $105,495 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $38,480 | $62,800 | $70,626 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $36,691 | $60,578 | $63,600 | Significant decline | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $65,000 | $88,516 | $91,749 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $78,986 | $94,391 | $108,327 | 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 | $60,000 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $65,541 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,360 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $53,097 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $38,480 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $53,033 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $80,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $78,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $33,280 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $67,884 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Kankakee MSA unemployment fell to 4.2% in September, down 1.2 percentage points year-over-year and among the largest improvements of any Illinois metro, yet total nonfarm payrolls were flat over the same period, indicating the drop reflects fewer residents counted as jobless while net job creation stayed flat. Local labor force conditions mirror the statewide pattern — Illinois' overall workforce shrank 1.3% year-over-year even as the state unemployment rate improved for a third straight month — consistent with a labor supply story as much as a demand story.
What it means
Flat payroll growth alongside falling unemployment is a signal commerce leaders should read carefully: the improvement likely reflects fewer people actively seeking work locally, with no corresponding surge in new positions, which affects how the metro's labor pool is framed in business recruitment or expansion conversations. Advertised pay data show declines across several frontline categories — manufacturing production workers, administrative support, and warehouse roles all registered significant downward movement — a pattern distinct from the modest wage growth reported statewide. Current conditions suggest economic development messaging should distinguish between the headline unemployment improvement and the underlying stagnant payroll count when engaging prospective employers or investors.
Looking ahead
Data release watch: October MSA-level unemployment and payroll figures from IDES are due with the typical one-month lag; confirming whether the zero net payroll change persists will clarify whether September's unemployment drop reflects labor supply shifts or actual job growth.
Early indicator: Manufacturing and warehouse advertised pay softness locally, against stable-to-rising national figures for the same roles, is worth monitoring for a second consecutive month before treating it as a trend rather than noise.
Structural pressure point: Illinois' statewide labor force contraction of 1.3% year-over-year, if it continues locally, will complicate any economic development pitch built around available workforce capacity — a factor relevant to site-selection conversations regardless of the unemployment headline.
Policy backdrop: National coverage this month attributes slowing labor force growth in part to demographic retirement trends and federal immigration policy effects on workforce entry; neither driver is unique to Kankakee, but both bear watching as context for any local labor force participation shift in coming releases.
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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