Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: MA NONMETROPOLITAN AREA — September 2026
Non-metro Massachusetts holds steady as statewide momentum cools.
Massachusetts unemployment eased to 4.3% in August even as statewide payrolls fell 0.1% over three months, leaving non-metro labor market areas to lean on health care and construction while professional services contract 5.8%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Massachusetts unemployment rate: 4.3% — Aug 2026, lowest since March 2025; vs 4.1% national
- Labor force participation: 65.3% — MA, flat; vs 61.8% national
- Professional/technical services employment: -5.8% — Statewide YoY decline, concentrated in Boston
- MA WARN-affected workers: 7,343 — 2026 YTD, down 11% vs 2025
Key takeaways
Non-metro Massachusetts data gap complicates precise local reads.
BLS does not publish a dedicated unemployment or payroll series for a 'nonmetropolitan' Massachusetts aggregate, so conditions must be inferred from the twelve official labor market areas and statewide trends. Commerce leaders should treat any single non-metro figure with caution and cross-reference county or labor-market-area detail when available.
Labor supply, not demand, looks like the binding constraint.
Statewide labor force participation held flat at 65.3%, well above the 61.8% national rate, even as payrolls contracted slightly in August. This suggests non-metro area employers may face availability constraints for workers even in a period of soft statewide job growth.
Health care and construction carry the region's momentum.
Education and health services employment expanded 1.6% year-over-year statewide while trade, information, financial activities, and leisure/hospitality collectively lost nearly 17,000 positions. Local economic resilience in non-metro communities likely tracks closely with the presence of hospitals, schools, and construction activity rather than professional services.
Wage-vs-inflation gap narrows local purchasing power statewide.
Massachusetts average weekly wages were 1.1% lower in real terms in July 2026 than a year earlier, even as nominal statewide wages rose 4.8% on a Q1 basis. Non-metro households dependent on wage income may be experiencing a tighter squeeze on discretionary spending than the state's higher nominal wage figures imply.
Median advertised pay by role — MA NONMETROPOLITAN AREA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $32,055 | $37,052 | $41,600 | Moderate increase | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $33,059 | $39,485 | $41,824 | Significant increase | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,652 | $43,680 | $43,680 | Significant increase | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $63,257 | $83,977 | $94,622 | Significant increase | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $31,893 | $35,000 | $39,193 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $41,055 | $48,880 | $56,940 | Significant increase | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $41,053 | $60,807 | $62,336 | Significant decline | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,618 | $35,699 | $36,573 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $34,594 | $40,560 | $46,957 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $33,235 | $44,096 | $61,412 | Significant increase | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $39,778 | $49,578 | $53,862 | Significant increase | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $39,777 | $43,188 | $58,700 | Moderate decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $72,378 | $72,378 | $73,569 | Significant increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $104,312 | $122,019 | $130,571 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $77,818 | $126,992 | $142,376 | Significant decline | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,293 | $143,927 | $159,248 | Moderate increase | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $62,472 | $70,776 | $78,686 | Moderate decline | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst * | $77,500 | $100,000 | $107,500 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $59,984 | $77,500 | $85,000 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $49,293 | $66,000 | $77,500 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $73,750 | $94,078 | $119,583 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $51,853 | $73,422 | $79,266 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $61,816 | $70,720 | $78,398 | Significant decline | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $57,231 | $108,597 | $113,717 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $83,690 | $101,853 | $114,363 | 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 | $81,474 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Manufacturing | $67,000 | Significant decline | Significant decline |
| Retail Trade | $41,600 | Moderate increase | Significant decline |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $43,680 | Moderate decline | Significant decline |
| Information | $60,631 | Significant decline | Significant decline |
| Financial Activities | $45,782 | Significant decline | Significant decline |
| Professional & Business Services | $105,021 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Education & Health Services | $111,122 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $41,284 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Government | $68,451 | Stable | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
Massachusetts labor market conditions remained cautious through August 2026, with statewide unemployment easing to 4.3% even as non-farm payrolls fell 0.1% over the trailing three months, a pattern consistent with regional labor market areas outside Boston, Worcester, and Springfield proper. Reduced immigration, continued domestic outmigration, and an aging workforce are constraining labor supply across the state's non-metropolitan labor market areas, helping keep unemployment comparatively low even as job creation stalls.
What it means
Statewide softness in professional and technical services, combined with resilient hiring in health care, education, and construction, suggests non-metropolitan Massachusetts communities are less exposed to tech-sector contraction but still dependent on public-sector and health care payroll stability for local economic activity. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion or investment timing should weigh that labor supply constraints — not weak demand — appear to be the binding factor locally, meaning available workers may be scarce even as statewide job counts soften. Consider monitoring labor force participation trends in your specific labor market area ahead of the October 20 BLS release, since participation, not headline unemployment, will signal whether local labor supply can support near-term business investment.
Looking ahead
Expected release: September 2026 local unemployment data for all twelve Massachusetts labor market areas is scheduled for October 20, 2026. This will be the first indication of whether the statewide improvement to 4.3% extended into non-metro labor market areas.
Worth watching: Massachusetts WARN notices affecting 7,343 workers in 2026 are down 11% from last year, with healthcare, manufacturing, and food/hospitality the most affected industries. Watch whether any new filings touch non-metro counties, given August's heaviest concentration was in the Worcester/Leominster area.
Emerging pressure point: Professional, scientific, and technical services employment fell 5.8% statewide, concentrated in the Boston Metropolitan Division. Non-metro commerce leaders should monitor whether displaced technical workers migrate toward non-metro housing markets, a trend that could ease local talent constraints in adjacent sectors.
Potential inflection point: National wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, the weakest real-wage position since 2021. Should this gap widen further, non-metro Massachusetts retail and service spending, already reliant on wage income from health care and construction workers, may soften in coming months.
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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