Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · August 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Ogden-Clearfield, UT MSA — August 2026
Ogden's defense economy keeps wages hot while Utah cools.
Weber County wages rose 4.4% in Q4 2025 against a statewide unemployment rate of 3.5% and decelerating 1.2% Utah job growth, as Hill Air Force Base's 22,000-employee anchor keeps the metro's labor market tighter than the rest of the state.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of August 2026.
Key indicators
- Ogden-Clearfield unemployment: 3.3%-3.5% — vs 4.1% national, 3.5% Utah statewide
- Weber County wage growth: 4.4% — Q4 2025, above Utah and national pace
- Utah job growth deceleration: 1.2% YoY — down from 1.9% (2025), 2.3% (2024)
- Hill AFB employment anchor: 22,000+ jobs — Largest metro employer, F-35 sustainment depot
Key takeaways
Ogden's labor market is tighter than the state's.
Metro unemployment near 3.3%-3.5% and 4.4% Q4 wage growth in Weber County outpace both Utah's 3.5% statewide rate and its decelerating 1.2% job growth. Compensation strategy calibrated to statewide Utah trends risks underpricing talent in this metro specifically.
Defense-sector concentration is a wage pressure story, not a headcount one.
Hill Air Force Base and its supplier network (Autoliv, Boeing, Northrop Grumman) create durable demand for engineering and technical skill sets that other local employers must compete against. Organizations outside aerospace/defense should expect wage spillover in adjacent technical and skilled-trade roles even without direct competition for the same job titles.
Recruiter pay is rising locally in step with a tightening market.
Metro Recruiter advertised pay is up significantly to $67,900, essentially matching the national median for the first time. Rising internal recruiting cost may reflect the same talent scarcity driving broader metro wage growth — a signal to revisit recruiting capacity investment alongside external hiring budgets.
Utah's statewide softening hasn't reached Ogden's core.
Statewide labor force participation fell 1.5 points over twelve months and DWS economists describe a cooling 'around the edges' for part-time and entry-level work. Ogden's defense-anchored economy appears more insulated so far, but HR leaders should monitor whether softening in secondary labor markets eventually pressures the metro's cost-of-living-driven relocation and retention economics.
Median advertised pay by role — Ogden-Clearfield, UT MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst | $72,138 | $95,338 | $107,245 | Significant increase | $101,055 |
| HR Business Partner | $55,736 | $75,000 | $96,401 | Moderate decline | $83,180 |
| Benefits Manager | $57,027 | $99,069 | $132,202 | Stable | $120,000 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $77,913 | $96,330 | $102,500 | Significant increase | $95,665 |
| HR Coordinator | $37,440 | $43,628 | $49,920 | Moderate decline | $50,095 |
| Recruiter | $51,392 | $67,900 | $79,464 | Significant increase | $67,643 |
| Payroll Specialist | $45,951 | $54,085 | $62,031 | Significant increase | $58,266 |
* 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
Local market conditions
Ogden-Clearfield's unemployment rate held near 3.3%-3.5% through late 2025 into 2026, roughly 60-80 basis points below the national 4.1% reading, as Hill Air Force Base's 22,000-plus workforce and its aerospace/defense supply chain (Autoliv, Williams International, Northrop Grumman) continue to anchor labor demand. Weber County wages rose 4.4% in Q4 2025, outpacing both the Utah statewide average and national wage growth, even as statewide job growth decelerated to 1.2% year-over-year and labor force participation softened.
What it means
Persistent sub-national unemployment paired with above-average wage growth signals a metro where talent scarcity, not demand softness, is the binding constraint on hiring — a dynamic distinct from the statewide cooling Utah's DWS has flagged around secondary and entry-level roles. Defense and advanced manufacturing employers competing for the same technical labor pool should expect continued upward wage pressure independent of national trends, while HR functions in adjacent industries may face spillover recruiting difficulty as Hill AFB contractors bid up specialized talent. Consider reviewing compensation structures for engineering, skilled trades, and technical roles against local wage growth rather than national benchmarks, given the metro's decoupling from broader Utah softening.
Looking ahead
Expected: Utah DWS was scheduled to release detailed August 2026 metro-level employment data around September 18. Full Ogden-Clearfield figures for August should sharpen whether the metro's tightness is holding or converging toward the statewide cooling trend.
Worth watching: Weber County's 4.4% Q4 2025 wage growth is the most recent county-level read available; watch for Q1-Q2 2026 BLS QCEW data to confirm whether this pace is sustained or was a temporary spike tied to defense contract cycles.
Emerging pressure point: Utah's housing costs continue to strain recruitment and retention statewide, and Ogden's metro-level cost-of-living dynamics could compound this for employers competing with Salt Lake County, where Q3 wage growth reached 4.8%. Relocation and housing-stipend components of offers may need reassessment.
Compliance deadline: Utah's HB 251 non-compete cap (one year, with bans for licensed healthcare workers and veterinarians effective May 6) applies statewide, including Ogden employers in healthcare and manufacturing. Confirm restrictive covenant templates have been updated ahead of any pending litigation risk.
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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