Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: La Crosse, WI-MN MSA — October 2026
La Crosse jobless rate near historic lows, but pay signals split.
La Crosse-Onalaska unemployment sits near 3.0%, well under the 4.1% national rate, even as advertised pay for Electrician and Accountant roles fell sharply locally while Software Engineer and Warehouse Manager pay climbed.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.0% — vs 4.1% national, August 2026 (latest available)
- Wisconsin nonfarm payrolls: -13,700 — Statewide monthly loss, Sept 2026, despite more residents employed
- Wisconsin real wage growth: -5.1% — Steepest decline of any state, Sept 2025-Sept 2026
- Wisconsin labor force participation: 64.9% — vs 61.8% national rate
Key takeaways
Metro unemployment looks strong, but payroll trend tells a different story.
La Crosse-Onalaska's 3.0% August jobless rate sits well below the 4.1% national rate, yet Wisconsin shed 13,700 nonfarm payroll jobs statewide in September even as more residents found work. Local economic health indicators are pulling in different directions, a pattern worth flagging before treating the unemployment rate as the whole story.
Skilled-trade and professional pay is softening even where jobs are scarce.
Electrician advertised pay fell significantly locally (to $77,285) while national electrician pay rose; Accountant and HR Generalist job ads show similarly sharp local declines against stable-to-rising national figures. That local-national gap is consistent with softer demand concentrated in specific white-collar and trade occupations.
Software and warehouse-management pay gains buck the statewide slowdown.
Software Engineer ($154,830) and Warehouse Manager ($80,000) advertised pay both moved up significantly locally, outpacing flat national trends in the same roles. Concentrated wage strength in these categories points to localized demand pockets worth watching as a leading indicator for broader metro momentum.
Real wages are losing ground to inflation statewide, with no Wisconsin exception.
Wisconsin posted the steepest year-over-year real wage decline of any state, -5.1%, even as median nominal wages hit a record high. Local pay gains in specific roles should be read against that statewide erosion, since nominal increases are translating unevenly into purchasing power.
Median advertised pay by role — La Crosse, WI-MN MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $27,144 | $33,278 | $36,528 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $25,150 | $30,308 | $32,345 | Moderate increase | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $32,334 | $38,480 | $39,752 | Moderate decline | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $55,184 | $80,000 | $88,400 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $31,166 | $37,440 | $42,640 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,903 | $43,680 | $49,910 | Moderate decline | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $59,280 | $77,285 | $85,000 | Significant decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,996 | $42,640 | $43,893 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,292 | $37,427 | $39,664 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $28,264 | $34,320 | $34,320 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $38,771 | $42,842 | $44,720 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $35,932 | $41,600 | $46,800 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $60,320 | $63,832 | $65,520 | Stable | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $76,960 | $87,549 | $99,112 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $99,484 | $154,830 | $161,722 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $92,560 | $131,169 | $135,200 | Significant increase | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $53,384 | $60,306 | $75,528 | Significant decline | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $70,631 | $80,032 | $85,284 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $55,900 | $62,057 | $65,073 | Significant decline | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $48,552 | $58,054 | $67,922 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,000 | $85,176 | $88,005 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $32,692 | $39,000 | $43,705 | Moderate decline | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $44,792 | $57,000 | $70,358 | Moderate decline | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $66,387 | $80,000 | $85,223 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $70,700 | $83,170 | $83,771 | 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 | $54,080 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $61,544 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $41,523 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $45,344 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $72,650 | Stable | Moderate decline |
| Financial Activities | $46,730 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $51,769 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $60,840 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,012 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $64,834 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
La Crosse-Onalaska metro unemployment held near 3.0% in August, roughly a point below the national rate of 4.1%, even as Wisconsin posted a net loss of nonfarm payrolls statewide in September and manufacturing employment statewide is tracking 1.3% below year-ago levels. Local advertised pay shows a split economy: Software Engineer and Warehouse Manager job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), show significant upward wage movement, while Accountant, Electrician, and Account Manager pay has moved down significantly, consistent with a metro where tight labor supply coexists with uneven sector-level demand.
What it means
Divergence between a historically low metro jobless rate and declining advertised pay in several skilled categories (Electrician, Accountant, HR Generalist) suggests softening demand concentrated in specific occupations, a distinction that matters for anyone reading metro unemployment as a single health signal. For commerce leaders weighing local investment or expansion timing, the combination of tight labor supply and sector-specific wage softening points to a market that rewards precision about which function or sector is being evaluated. Consider evaluating sector-specific wage and job-ad trends before drawing conclusions from the metro's low headline unemployment rate alone.
Looking ahead
Data release ahead: October MSA-level employment figures for La Crosse-Onalaska won't post until late November per the BLS release calendar. Government economists and chambers should treat September's statewide payroll loss as the most current reliable signal until that release lands.
Emerging pressure point: Wisconsin manufacturing employment is forecast to run 1.3% below year-ago levels by October, continuing a trend already 4% below pre-pandemic staffing statewide. Local manufacturing job ads and advertised pay, currently stable, are worth tracking for early signs of the statewide pattern reaching this metro.
Worth watching: Advertised pay for Accountant, HR Generalist, and Account Manager roles has fallen significantly locally while holding or rising nationally. Whether this reflects a temporary local correction or a structural shift in demand for these functions should become clearer over the next reporting cycle.
Policy signal: Federal WARN filings nationally exceed 340,000 affected workers year-to-date, and Wisconsin's own WARN threshold (25+ employers) is lower than federal law, making the state a more sensitive early-warning system. No major WARN filings have hit the La Crosse metro this cycle, worth noting as a stability marker for regional economic development planning.
Sources
- Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development — La Crosse-Onalaska MSA unemployment at 3.0% in August 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate stable at 4.1% in October 2026
- BLS/Wisconsin DWD — Wisconsin lost 13,700 nonfarm payroll jobs in September 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Wisconsin posted steepest real wage decline nationally at -5.1%
- Wisconsin labor market forecasting notes — Wisconsin manufacturing employment forecast 1.3% below year-ago levels by October
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Wisconsin labor force participation rate at 64.9% vs 61.8% national
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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