Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Laredo, TX MSA — September 2026
Laredo holds steady at 4.2% while wage gains turn uneven.
Laredo MSA unemployment sat at 4.2% in September with payrolls flat near 29,000, even as metro Registered Nurse pay jumped to $95,321 and Construction Laborer pay fell to $30,574 — a sign of sector-specific repricing rather than broad momentum change.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Laredo unemployment rate: 4.2% — vs 4.1% national, 4.0% Texas
- Metro nonfarm payrolls: 29,000 (flat) — 1.0% annual growth, unchanged month-over-month
- National wage growth vs inflation: 3.0% vs 3.4% — First inflation-outpacing wage gap in two years
- Texas annual job growth: 1.1% — 0.7 pts above national 0.4% pace
Key takeaways
Laredo's labor market looks flat, not fragile.
Nonfarm payrolls were essentially unchanged at 29,000 in September with unemployment at 4.2%, a pattern of stability rather than contraction even as national job growth slowed sharply to 29,000 jobs added with downward revisions. For a trade-dependent metro, flat is itself a notable outcome given softer border and freight volumes nationally.
Healthcare wages are pulling away from the rest of the metro.
Registered Nurse advertised pay rose significantly to $95,321, tracking a national pattern of healthcare-sector job gains (17,000 added nationally in September) even as white-collar and government hiring cooled. This divergence is consistent with healthcare acting as a stabilizing wage floor locally, independent of broader metro softness.
Construction and skilled trades show a cooling signal worth watching.
Construction Laborer pay fell significantly to $30,574 and HVAC Technician pay dropped to $56,525, even as Texas construction employment grew 5.1% statewide over the year. Local softness against a strengthening state trend may suggest Laredo's building pipeline is lagging the broader Texas construction expansion, a gap economic development leaders may want to track.
Technical and office wage declines echo a national white-collar cooling.
Software Engineer pay fell significantly to $135,503 and Administrative Assistant pay declined moderately, mirroring the national pattern of financial and administrative job losses (financial activities down 129,000 since its 2025 peak). Locally this looks more like a national spillover into a thin technical labor pool than a Laredo-specific trend.
Median advertised pay by role — Laredo, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $23,400 | $31,272 | $35,100 | Moderate increase | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,048 | $26,232 | $28,499 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $29,005 | $33,280 | $35,195 | Moderate increase | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $55,351 | $79,905 | $91,000 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $29,303 | $30,416 | $31,614 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $30,453 | $30,574 | $33,113 | Significant decline | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $37,034 | $52,514 | $67,860 | Significant increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler * | $31,200 | $37,095 | $40,171 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $29,120 | $35,311 | $36,616 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,398 | $27,419 | $32,160 | Significant decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $29,099 | $37,111 | $41,038 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $24,960 | $32,855 | $34,306 | Moderate decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $55,972 | $56,525 | $58,935 | Significant decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $81,574 | $95,321 | $97,658 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $116,830 | $135,503 | $140,519 | Significant decline | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $100,220 | $136,140 | $154,980 | Moderate increase | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $41,600 | $51,327 | $56,772 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $67,398 | $78,160 | $86,962 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $41,040 | $60,230 | $60,832 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $42,949 | $43,876 | $50,254 | Significant decline | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager | $70,775 | $83,959 | $88,555 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $24,708 | $35,162 | $51,432 | Moderate increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $62,500 | $84,684 | $96,160 | Significant increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $48,368 | $70,237 | $81,507 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $88,735 | $94,851 | $127,052 | Stable | $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 | $65,000 | Significant decline | Moderate increase |
| Manufacturing | $67,731 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,195 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $51,308 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $74,147 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $42,403 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $48,880 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $70,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $26,957 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $67,574 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Laredo MSA unemployment held near 4.2% in September with nonfarm payrolls essentially flat at 29,000, reflecting a cross-border trade economy still absorbing softer national freight demand and a national wage-inflation gap that has pushed real earnings below the inflation rate for the first time in two years. Metro wage movement is sharply uneven by occupation — Registered Nurse pay up significantly and Electrician pay up significantly, while Construction Laborer, HVAC Technician, and Software Engineer advertised pay all fell significantly, a dispersion pattern consistent with a metro economy still anchored in logistics and trade but seeing selective softness in skilled trades and technical roles.
What it means
Flat payroll growth alongside a civilian labor force holding near 121.9 thousand suggests the metro's labor supply is neither tightening nor loosening meaningfully, which argues against reading this month's wage swings as a broad signal of overheating or cooling and more as sector-specific repricing tied to freight, construction, and tech demand shifts. For commerce leaders weighing expansion or investment timing, the combination of stable public-sector employment and a resilient CDL Truck Driver wage ($79,905, stable) point to continued strength in the trade-and-logistics backbone that defines Laredo's economic identity. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether Construction Laborer and HVAC Technician pay declines reflect softening building activity locally or a temporary pullback ahead of anticipated infrastructure or trade-related investment.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Texas WARN filings for transportation and logistics lead the state with 69 notices affecting 8,055 workers; any filing activity touching Laredo's trade-corridor employers would be an early signal given the metro's dependence on freight and customs-related activity.
Emerging pressure point: Construction Laborer and HVAC Technician pay softened locally even as Texas construction employment grew 5.1% annually statewide. Watch whether permitting or infrastructure project data over the next two months show a genuine building slowdown or a temporary lull.
Potential inflection point: National wage growth (3.0%) has fallen below inflation (3.4%) for the first time in two years. If that gap persists, local consumer-facing sectors — retail, food service — may see softer spending momentum even without a change in local unemployment.
Expected: Texas's civilian labor force grew just 10,900 over the year despite population growth, a supply constraint that manufacturers statewide already cite as their top barrier. Laredo's labor force reading in the next two releases will show whether that constraint is tightening locally.
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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