Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Lawrence, KS MSA — September 2026
Lawrence unemployment drifts above Kansas as consumer-facing pay erodes.
Metro unemployment rose to 4.2% against a steady 3.8% statewide, while advertised pay for customer service, retail, and food service roles in Lawrence fell significantly in real terms even as Kansas private-sector wages grew 4.6% year-over-year.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Lawrence metro unemployment: 4.2% — vs 3.8% Kansas statewide, Aug 2026
- Douglas County job growth: +50 jobs — Essentially flat on ~51,143 job base, year to Feb 2026
- Kansas private-sector wage growth: +4.6% YoY — To $32.98/hr, exceeds Midwest 4.1% inflation
- Kansas WARN notices, trailing 90 days: 0 — Statewide stability vs active national WARN activity
Key takeaways
Metro unemployment is drifting away from the state trendline.
Lawrence's 4.2% August rate sits a full 0.4 points above Kansas's steady 3.8%, a gap that has persisted since at least February when Douglas County's seasonally adjusted rate hit 6.3%. Widening local-to-state divergence is a signal worth tracking for anyone benchmarking Lawrence's competitiveness against Topeka, Kansas City, or Wichita.
Construction and health care are the metro's only clear bright spots.
Job growth over the year was concentrated almost entirely in construction and leisure/hospitality, consistent with the Tenth Federal Reserve District's September Beige Book finding that goods-producing sectors are outperforming nationally. Registered nurse and CNA advertised pay rising locally (up moderate) reinforces that health care remains a structurally tight segment of the local labor market even as broader hiring cools.
Real wage erosion looks broad-based across consumer-facing work in Lawrence.
Customer service, administrative support, food service, and construction labor roles all show significant real-pay declines locally even where national figures for the same roles are flat, a gap that does not track with the modest Kansas-wide uptick in private-sector hourly earnings (+4.6% year-over-year through April). Divergence of this size between metro and state wage trends is unusual enough to merit a second look at local cost-of-living and retail-spending data.
Flat job counts, not falling ones, define Douglas County's current stall.
Douglas County added only about 50 jobs over the year through February on a base of roughly 51,000 — essentially no net change rather than a contraction. That pattern is consistent with a local economy in a holding pattern, which matters for expansion and investment timing decisions more than a recession signal would.
Median advertised pay by role — Lawrence, KS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $24,960 | $28,600 | $33,280 | Moderate decline | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $25,255 | $29,120 | $31,501 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,313 | $37,996 | $37,996 | Moderate decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,757 | $76,316 | $90,500 | Moderate decline | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,261 | $33,207 | $37,440 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $39,520 | $39,520 | $43,680 | Significant decline | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $58,558 | $69,209 | $72,800 | Moderate increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $36,400 | $40,040 | $40,560 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,200 | $34,578 | $38,598 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $29,303 | $29,323 | $31,117 | Significant decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $34,773 | $38,480 | $38,882 | Moderate increase | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $33,042 | $37,440 | $41,600 | Significant decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician * | $51,502 | $60,536 | $66,786 | Significant increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $79,578 | $91,415 | $102,597 | Moderate increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $79,535 | $109,183 | $140,750 | Moderate decline | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $89,113 | $125,634 | $141,929 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $58,377 | $66,560 | $70,000 | Moderate decline | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $70,000 | $76,719 | $76,719 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $48,962 | $60,999 | $87,000 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $45,973 | $65,000 | $84,393 | Significant increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $49,925 | $73,000 | $75,000 | Significant increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $37,708 | $52,951 | $59,866 | Moderate increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $48,269 | $66,013 | $79,005 | Stable | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $66,655 | $69,791 | $78,511 | No data | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $73,248 | $87,080 | $96,751 | 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 | $67,176 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $57,939 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $37,996 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $74,100 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $87,954 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $55,082 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $48,500 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $46,800 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $31,200 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $68,683 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Lawrence metro unemployment edged up to 4.2% in August 2026 from 4.1% in July, slightly above the Kansas statewide rate of 3.8%, as Douglas County employment growth remained essentially flat with job gains concentrated in construction and leisure/hospitality while manufacturing, financial activities, and retail employment contracted over the year. Advertised pay across several widely-held metro roles — delivery drivers, construction laborers, customer service representatives, administrative support — is declining in real terms even as national wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, suggesting local purchasing power softness is compounding a national pattern rather than diverging from it.
What it means
Flat local job growth alongside a widening gap between metro and state unemployment rates points to a Lawrence economy that is holding steady rather than expanding, a distinction that matters for commerce leaders weighing expansion timing and for economic development officials benchmarking recruitment pitches against neighboring counties. Sector divergence — construction and healthcare advertised pay rising while retail, administrative, and customer-facing roles see significant real declines — mirrors the national white-collar/blue-collar split and suggests uneven consumer spending capacity across different parts of the local workforce. Current conditions suggest local economic development and chamber leadership may want to monitor whether wage softness in consumer-facing sectors begins to show up in retail sales or foot-traffic data, as an early read on local demand.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Zero Kansas WARN notices have been filed in the past 90 days statewide, a stability signal that contrasts with national WARN activity involving large employers like Amazon and Tyson. Watch whether that quiet holds through Q4 or whether a national pullback eventually reaches Lawrence-area logistics and manufacturing employers.
Emerging pressure point: Metro unemployment has now risen for two consecutive reported months (4.1% to 4.2%) while the state holds flat, a small but directionally notable split. Government economists and chamber leadership should watch the next one to two BLS releases to determine whether this is noise or the start of a genuine local-state gap.
Early indicator: Retail and customer-facing advertised pay in Lawrence is falling well below both national figures and the state's private-sector wage growth, which may show up first in reduced local consumer spending rather than in employment counts. Local sales tax receipts and retail vacancy data over the next two months would help confirm or rule out this read.
Potential inflection point: National payroll growth slowed sharply to 29,000 in September with downward revisions to July and August, and if that national cooling persists, construction and healthcare — currently Lawrence's strongest sectors — are the segments most likely to show the first local effects given their outsized share of the metro's recent job gains.
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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