Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Macon, GA MSA — September 2026
Macon's low jobless rate hides a shrinking job count.
Bibb County unemployment near 3.9% looks strong against the 4.2% national rate, but county payrolls fell roughly 3,600 jobs year over year even as Georgia posted record statewide employment.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Bibb County unemployment rate: 3.9%-4.3% — vs 4.2% national, 3.2% Georgia statewide
- Bibb County employment change: -3,629 jobs YoY — 2025 vs 2024, despite low jobless rate
- Georgia labor force: 5,490,319 — All-time state high, August 2026
- National wage growth vs inflation: 3.0% vs 3.4% — Real wages declining, lowest growth since May 2021
Key takeaways
Low jobless rate masks a shrinking local payroll base.
Bibb County unemployment near 3.9%-4.3% looks healthy next to the 4.2% national rate, but a 3,629-job year-over-year decline in county employment suggests the tight rate partly reflects fewer people working or searching, not surplus demand. Economic development planning should treat the unemployment rate as a lagging, partial indicator rather than a standalone health signal.
Wage declines cluster in logistics and office-support roles locally.
Advertised pay fell significantly for warehouse/fulfillment, delivery driver, and administrative assistant work in Macon even as national figures for these same roles held stable or rose, pointing to metro-specific softness rather than a national trend. That divergence matters for any commerce-development pitch built around a lower-cost, logistics-friendly workforce.
Construction pay strength stands out against a broader soft patch.
Construction laborer advertised pay rose significantly in Macon (to $43,156) while Georgia construction employment fell 3,200 jobs over the year statewide, suggesting localized building activity or project-specific demand is bidding up pay even as the broader state sector contracts. Worth tracking against any announced local infrastructure or commercial development pipeline.
Healthcare remains Macon's most dependable growth engine.
Registered nurse pay rose moderately locally to $98,578, consistent with healthcare's role as Georgia's top annual job-gaining sector (+19,100 statewide) and Macon's concentration of hospital systems including Atrium Health Navicent and Piedmont Macon. Public-sector and health-system stability continues to anchor the metro's employment base even as other sectors soften.
Median advertised pay by role — Macon, GA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $24,376 | $30,600 | $38,801 | Moderate increase | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $21,840 | $24,705 | $27,040 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,604 | $34,195 | $35,734 | Moderate decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $60,000 | $80,600 | $88,463 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $26,856 | $31,221 | $35,575 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $31,200 | $43,156 | $45,760 | Significant increase | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $47,840 | $62,400 | $70,614 | Significant decline | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $28,080 | $30,160 | $30,680 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,521 | $37,044 | $40,837 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $25,970 | $28,497 | $29,544 | Moderate decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $27,925 | $33,214 | $34,028 | Moderate decline | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $25,760 | $34,480 | $38,526 | Significant decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $55,863 | $64,597 | $67,071 | Stable | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $84,364 | $98,578 | $101,105 | Moderate increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $119,258 | $143,242 | $147,250 | Significant decline | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $128,500 | $128,500 | $144,562 | Significant decline | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $40,477 | $55,916 | $56,729 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $67,281 | $88,088 | $96,534 | Moderate increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $57,384 | $76,054 | $80,000 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $40,487 | $43,263 | $50,760 | Significant decline | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $65,000 | $81,400 | $91,730 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $26,000 | $46,243 | $52,957 | Moderate increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $63,143 | $90,076 | $105,350 | Moderate increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $54,937 | $80,500 | $99,000 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $80,509 | $88,395 | $96,194 | 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 | $48,942 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $71,953 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,449 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $65,550 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $57,200 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $52,233 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $67,610 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $80,080 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $28,069 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $69,235 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Macon-Bibb's unemployment rate sat near 3.9% through late 2025, well below the national 4.2% reading, even as Bibb County payrolls shrank by roughly 3,600 jobs year over year, a divergence consistent with workers exiting the labor force rather than widespread job creation. Georgia's statewide momentum — record labor force and employment highs alongside a 3.2% jobless rate — provides a favorable backdrop, but local wage data showing broad declines across retail, warehouse, administrative and technical roles suggests Macon's recovery is uneven relative to the state's.
What it means
Low local unemployment paired with falling job counts points to a tightening labor pool that is shrinking in absolute size, a dynamic that affects site-selection and expansion math differently than a simple "tight labor market" headline would suggest. Commerce leaders evaluating capital investment or relocation incentives should weigh labor force trends alongside unemployment rate, since a low rate with declining employment signals constrained — not necessarily abundant — local labor supply. Consider reviewing Bibb County's labor force participation trend alongside Georgia's 61.1% state figure before finalizing assumptions about workforce availability for any new commercial or civic project.
Looking ahead
Data gap to monitor: Official BLS metro-level unemployment figures for Macon lag through roughly December 2025, leaving a reporting gap on current conditions. Government economists and chambers should flag this lag when citing metro unemployment publicly and watch for the Georgia Department of Labor's next monthly county release.
Early indicator: Federal and professional/technical services employment is contracting statewide (federal down 9,400, professional/technical down 11,600 year over year), a trend that could filter into Macon given its state-government and Robins Air Force Base-adjacent economic ties. Local economic development offices should watch for any announced federal or contractor-related workforce changes regionally.
Worth watching: National wage growth has slowed to 3.0%-3.1% against 3.4% inflation, eroding real purchasing power; if Macon's locally declining advertised pay in retail and logistics roles continues alongside this national gap, local consumer spending capacity could soften further. Retail and hospitality-dependent commerce leaders should track this as a demand-side signal, not just a labor-supply one.
Potential inflection point: Construction laborer pay is rising sharply locally even as statewide construction jobs declined, an unusual pairing worth confirming against any specific Macon-area project announcements in the next two months. A reversal or confirmation here will clarify whether this is a genuine local building boom or a short-lived pay anomaly.
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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