Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Kokomo, IN MSA — September 2026
Kokomo's wage gains mask a manufacturing economy under strain.
Kokomo posted Indiana's fastest hourly earnings growth at 10.6% year-over-year, yet manufacturing production pay fell significantly locally and county unemployment has climbed since April amid tariff and EV-credit uncertainty.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Howard County unemployment: 5.5% — vs 3.3% Indiana, 4.1% national (Sept 2025 reading)
- Kokomo hourly earnings growth: 10.6% — Highest of any Indiana metro, Apr 2025-Apr 2026
- Indiana unemployment rate: 3.3% — Lowest since May 2023, vs 4.1% national
- StarPlus Energy investment: $6B / 2,800 jobs — Second plant expected 2027
Key takeaways
Kokomo's wage story is two economies, not one.
Average hourly earnings growth hit 10.6% year-over-year through April 2026, the strongest in Indiana, yet advertised pay for manufacturing production workers, construction laborers, and administrative roles all declined significantly this month. The headline number may overstate broad-based momentum while masking contraction in traditional blue-collar and clerical segments.
Manufacturing concentration cuts both ways for this metro.
Manufacturing still accounts for close to a quarter of Kokomo-area jobs, leaving the local economy unusually exposed to tariff policy and federal EV-incentive changes. StarPlus Energy's second plant, expected in 2027, offers a longer-term offset, but near-term sensitivity to national policy shifts remains higher here than in more diversified Indiana metros.
Warehouse pay strength stands apart from the broader logistics picture.
Warehouse and fulfillment advertised pay rose significantly to $35,298 even as delivery driver pay fell significantly, a split that may reflect localized demand tied to specific distribution or EV-supply-chain activity rather than sector-wide logistics strength. Commerce leaders should treat this as a narrow signal, not evidence of broad transportation-sector recovery.
State tightness isn't fully reaching Kokomo.
Indiana's 3.3% unemployment rate and 63% labor force participation signal a tight statewide market, but Kokomo's 2025 readings in the 5.5%-6.2% range show the metro running well above both state and national benchmarks. That gap suggests local labor force conditions, not statewide tightness, should anchor any economic-development messaging about this metro specifically.
Median advertised pay by role — Kokomo, IN MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,379 | $27,040 | $32,146 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,753 | $26,384 | $29,658 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,623 | $35,298 | $37,440 | Significant increase | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,280 | $79,900 | $92,652 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $27,350 | $31,087 | $39,000 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,853 | $39,104 | $47,840 | Significant decline | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $62,840 | $78,000 | $83,150 | Stable | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $33,280 | $40,536 | $42,254 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,200 | $34,320 | $35,360 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $30,160 | $36,075 | $36,774 | Significant increase | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $32,240 | $34,349 | $36,894 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $33,491 | $36,770 | $41,422 | Significant decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician * | $59,117 | $72,800 | $78,000 | Moderate increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $79,466 | $90,545 | $99,916 | Stable | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer * | $103,063 | $140,580 | $156,856 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $92,885 | $123,169 | $140,680 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant * | $55,421 | $66,896 | $72,903 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst * | $67,600 | $83,627 | $92,976 | Moderate decline | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $48,277 | $52,582 | $66,350 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $46,265 | $57,200 | $67,007 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $72,499 | $81,721 | $90,187 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $29,844 | $50,000 | $57,023 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $31,200 | $63,559 | $73,764 | Moderate increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $63,750 | $65,401 | $67,500 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $75,787 | $97,192 | $106,603 | Moderate increase | $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 | $70,000 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $48,360 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $37,659 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $74,974 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $42,806 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $45,857 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $48,100 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $54,433 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $31,200 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $68,331 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Kokomo's labor market remains unusually volatile for a metro of its size, with Howard County unemployment having climbed since April 2026 amid tariff uncertainty and the loss of EV tax credits, even as StarPlus Energy's $6 billion battery investment continues to anchor longer-term manufacturing expansion. Advertised manufacturing production wages fell significantly this month even as Kokomo posted the fastest hourly earnings growth of any Indiana metro over the year ending April 2026, a split that points to a local economy absorbing policy shocks unevenly across its industrial base.
What it means
Divergence between Kokomo's strong headline wage growth and softening pay in manufacturing, construction, and administrative postings suggests the metro's labor market strength is concentrated rather than broad-based, a distinction that matters for anyone assessing the durability of local consumer spending or planning capital investment timing. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion or site-investment decisions should weigh StarPlus Energy's multi-year hiring runway against near-term softness in traditional manufacturing and logistics pay; current conditions suggest monitoring whether EV-sector investment begins offsetting weakness elsewhere before treating the metro's wage data as uniformly positive.
Looking ahead
Potential inflection point: StarPlus Energy's second plant construction timeline through 2027 will determine whether Kokomo's manufacturing base stabilizes or continues losing ground to tariff and policy pressure. Watch for hiring announcements or supplier-contract news tied to the project as an early signal of whether the 2,800-job projection stays on track.
Emerging pressure point: Continued federal EV-incentive rollback could compound the unemployment increase already underway since April 2026 in Howard County. Local economic development messaging may need to account for this exposure when courting new manufacturing investment.
Worth watching: National wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, the weakest real-wage picture since 2021. If that national squeeze persists, Kokomo's locally strong earnings growth figures may come under pressure as consumer spending softens regionally.
Early indicator: Administrative and financial-analyst advertised pay both declined locally this month even as national figures for comparable roles rose. Divergence from national trend in white-collar and professional-services pay is worth tracking as a signal of whether Kokomo's non-manufacturing economy is cooling independently of the manufacturing cycle.
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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