Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Owensboro, KY MSA — September 2026
Owensboro's jobless rate defies state and national softening.
Daviess County unemployment held at 3% in July versus Kentucky's 4.7% and the nation's 4.1%, even as construction and manufacturing pay locally outpaces flat national trends in those sectors.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Daviess County unemployment: 3.0% — vs 4.7% KY, 4.1% national (July 2026)
- Kentucky unemployment rate: 4.7% — Unchanged in August; above 4.1% national rate
- National wage growth vs. inflation: 3.0% vs 3.4% — Weakest wage pace since May 2021
- Metro mean hourly wage: $26.03 — vs $33.54 national average (May 2025)
Key takeaways
Owensboro's jobless rate is a genuine outlier, not noise.
Daviess County's 3% July rate sits nearly two points below Kentucky's statewide 4.7% and comfortably under the 4.1% national rate, a gap wide enough to reflect structural tightness rather than seasonal variation. That positions the metro as comparatively resilient at a moment when national payroll growth has decelerated to 29,000 jobs in September.
Construction and manufacturing pay gains suggest localized capital investment.
Construction laborer pay is up significantly to $36,608 and manufacturing production worker pay rose to $39,520 locally, both outpacing flat national trends in those same roles. The pattern is consistent with active building or production expansion in the metro rather than a broad-based wage cycle.
Administrative and care-sector pay softness cuts against the tight-labor-market story.
Office clerical pay fell significantly and CNA/home health aide pay declined moderately even as the county unemployment rate stayed low, an inconsistency worth flagging rather than smoothing over. Kentucky's Medicaid funding changes beginning in 2027 add a forward-looking reason to watch health-sector pay and staffing more closely.
Metro wages still trail national levels across nearly every category.
Owensboro's mean hourly wage of $26.03 remains well below the $33.54 national average, and most advertised roles in the local basket sit meaningfully under their national counterparts. Persistent gap matters for cost-of-living and relocation conversations local economic development officials field from prospective employers.
Median advertised pay by role — Owensboro, KY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $20,371 | $26,000 | $30,012 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,824 | $25,866 | $27,275 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $28,182 | $34,195 | $35,432 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,814 | $81,531 | $95,286 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $26,000 | $30,167 | $33,501 | Significant decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $31,200 | $36,608 | $39,351 | Significant increase | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $60,201 | $72,384 | $72,800 | Stable | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $27,560 | $39,520 | $39,520 | Significant increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $28,280 | $31,040 | $34,541 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,493 | $26,696 | $27,302 | Significant decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $30,705 | $34,950 | $37,960 | Moderate decline | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $30,160 | $34,320 | $35,893 | Significant decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $59,632 | $60,000 | $60,120 | Significant decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $72,855 | $81,828 | $90,922 | Stable | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $112,936 | $139,555 | $139,694 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,174 | $141,235 | $158,888 | Moderate increase | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $46,612 | $54,634 | $55,000 | Significant decline | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $63,794 | $83,979 | $87,240 | Significant increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $50,806 | $70,000 | $82,500 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $43,913 | $58,052 | $70,115 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $72,768 | $77,500 | $92,158 | Significant decline | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $26,967 | $43,751 | $48,355 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $70,630 | $80,000 | $90,000 | Stable | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $51,071 | $74,500 | $74,500 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $80,081 | $95,705 | $107,937 | 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 | $67,544 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $62,400 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $31,795 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $68,000 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $78,727 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $62,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $51,940 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $46,404 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $27,040 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $64,736 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Daviess County's unemployment rate held at 3% in July, roughly a third below Kentucky's statewide 4.7% rate, consistent with an MSA labor market that continues to run tighter than both state and national benchmarks even as national job growth has slowed sharply. That tightness coexists with uneven pay signals across the metro's advertised job basket — manufacturing and construction wages rising significantly while administrative, food service, and health-aide postings show notable declines — suggesting a local economy still adding workers at the margin but redistributing pay growth unevenly across sectors.
What it means
Local wage divergence — construction labor up significantly, manufacturing production pay up, while office clerical and health aide postings trend down — points to a two-speed metro economy where goods-producing and skilled trades sectors are absorbing available labor faster than service and administrative functions. For chambers and economic development leaders assessing business climate, a sub-4% county jobless rate alongside stalled national job creation (29,000 added in September, well below the 45,000 trailing average) suggests Owensboro's relative tightness is a local strength worth highlighting to prospective employers, even as softening in administrative and care-sector pay warrants monitoring for broader demand signals. Consider tracking whether Daviess County's manufacturing and construction pay gains reflect new facility investment or project-specific activity before characterizing them as durable momentum.
Looking ahead
Expected release: BLS is expected to publish official September 2026 Owensboro MSA data around October 29. Confirming whether the 3% county rate held through September will clarify if tightness is durable or a summer snapshot.
Emerging pressure point: Kentucky's federal Medicaid funding changes take effect in 2027 and threaten health care employment, one of the state's few consistent growth sectors over the past two years. Local health systems' hiring posture over the next two months may offer an early read on how providers are positioning.
Worth watching: Kentucky's labor force grew for a third straight month in August after five months of decline, per UK's Center for Business and Economic Research. Whether Daviess County mirrors that statewide re-entry trend will shape how tight the local labor supply actually is heading into winter.
Potential inflection point: National wage growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, the weakest pace since May 2021. If that gap persists, local consumer spending and retail activity in Owensboro could soften even if the county's headline unemployment rate stays low.
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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