Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Lebanon, PA MSA — September 2026
Lebanon's blue-collar wages diverge sharply as care-sector pay slips.
CDL driver pay rose to $80,547 against a flat $78,000 nationally, while home health aide pay fell significantly to $38,905 even as Pennsylvania's unemployment rate held at 4.1% and Lebanon's stayed near 3.6%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Lebanon County unemployment: 3.6% — vs 4.1% PA and 4.1% national rates
- CDL truck driver pay: $80,547 — up significantly vs flat $78,000 national
- CNA/home health aide pay: $38,905 — down significantly vs flat $41,106 national
- Pennsylvania nonfarm payrolls: 6,252,900 — 17th straight month at record high (Sept)
Key takeaways
Trucking and construction pay are pulling away from the pack.
CDL driver pay rose to $80,547 locally against a flatter $78,000 national figure, and construction laborer pay climbed to $42,640, both significant local gains. Consistent with a metro economy where goods movement and building activity are absorbing labor faster than wages elsewhere are rising.
Care-economy pay is softening even as national figures hold firm.
Certified nursing assistant/home health aide pay fell significantly in Lebanon to $38,905 while the national figure stayed flat at $41,106. That gap is worth watching given Pennsylvania's health and education sector is adding jobs statewide — a local disconnect between sector growth and pay could reflect a more saturated regional labor pool.
Lebanon's unemployment edge over the state and nation looks durable, not accidental.
County unemployment near 3.6% compares favorably to Pennsylvania's 4.1% and the national 4.1%, continuing a pattern that held through most of 2025 and early 2026. That gap is a meaningful data point for commerce leaders assessing the metro's relative competitiveness for new investment.
Delivery and cashier pay declines may reflect softening consumer-facing demand.
Delivery driver pay dropped significantly to $33,254 and retail cashier pay moved down moderately, even as warehouse/fulfillment pay stayed stable. The pattern is consistent with national data showing consumer-facing retail cooling faster than logistics and distribution.
Median advertised pay by role — Lebanon, PA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $21,938 | $29,512 | $34,464 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,920 | $27,044 | $30,286 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,455 | $37,440 | $40,560 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $60,006 | $80,547 | $88,500 | Significant increase | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $29,120 | $33,254 | $36,373 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,562 | $42,640 | $52,489 | Significant increase | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $52,000 | $65,520 | $67,600 | Significant increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $35,360 | $37,908 | $39,520 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $34,573 | $43,680 | $49,500 | Significant increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $27,858 | $29,640 | $34,840 | Stable | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $29,120 | $38,905 | $44,720 | Significant decline | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $35,360 | $41,600 | $44,720 | Stable | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $58,051 | $60,879 | $71,760 | Moderate increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $84,281 | $95,579 | $105,230 | Stable | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer * | $111,718 | $148,564 | $162,683 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,171 | $131,431 | $149,994 | Stable | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $55,613 | $67,410 | $71,565 | Significant increase | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $66,581 | $76,423 | $77,740 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $48,880 | $63,384 | $73,127 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $49,487 | $62,371 | $70,265 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $71,998 | $82,960 | $98,931 | Stable | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $33,280 | $48,579 | $56,916 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $34,840 | $60,150 | $73,362 | Significant decline | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,917 | $74,000 | $81,500 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $80,206 | $96,244 | $107,000 | 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 | $54,080 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $54,912 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,661 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $46,984 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $43,160 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $45,760 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $39,503 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $56,943 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,735 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,660 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Lebanon County's unemployment rate held near 3.6% through mid-2026, well below the national 4.1% reading, even as Pennsylvania's statewide rate ticked up to 4.1% in September on softening government and construction employment. Local wage data points in two directions at once — CDL truck driver and construction laborer pay both rose significantly while certified nursing assistant and delivery driver pay fell, suggesting the metro's labor market is tightening unevenly across blue-collar occupations rather than cooling broadly.
What it means
Divergent sector performance — manufacturing wages up moderately, health aide pay down significantly, logistics-adjacent roles pulling in opposite directions — signals a metro economy still expanding in goods-movement and construction while the care economy loses pricing power locally even as national CNA pay holds flat. Pennsylvania's parallel pattern (health/education job gains, construction and government losses) suggests Lebanon's divergence tracks a statewide realignment rather than a local anomaly, which matters for how commerce leaders read any single sector's numbers in isolation. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether construction and logistics wage strength reflects genuine capacity expansion or a narrower pool of workers bidding up pay for scarce skilled trades.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: September 2026 unemployment data for Lebanon County has not yet been released by BLS; the most recent confirmed figure is 3.6% for June. Confirm the September release against the current favorable trend before citing it publicly.
Emerging pressure point: Pennsylvania's statewide unemployment rose four-tenths of a point above its September 2024 level, with construction and government employment below year-ago levels. Watch whether Lebanon's construction wage strength persists if statewide construction employment keeps contracting.
Potential inflection point: National wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, the weakest real-wage picture since 2021. If that national pattern reaches Lebanon's consumer-facing sectors, cashier and food service pay — already flat or softening locally — could face further downward pressure on real purchasing power.
Early indicator: Health and education added 36,000 jobs statewide since August 2025, yet Lebanon's home health aide pay is falling. Track whether that gap closes or widens over the next two reporting cycles as a read on whether regional care capacity is expanding faster than local wage support.
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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