Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Peoria, IL MSA — October 2026
Peoria unemployment falls fastest in Illinois — but hiring stays modest.
Peoria's jobless rate dropped nine-tenths of a point to 3.8%, the largest improvement among Illinois metros, while the metro added just 300 jobs in September and 800 over the full year.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Peoria MSA unemployment rate: 3.8% — Down from 4.7% a year ago; largest IL metro decline
- Peoria nonfarm job growth, year-over-year: +800 jobs (0.5%) — Modest growth despite sharp unemployment decline
- Illinois labor force, year-over-year: -1.3% — Statewide contraction amid 4.6% IL unemployment
- National wage growth vs. CPI: 1.5% wages vs 3.5% CPI — Q3 2026 BLS; real wages declining nationally
Key takeaways
Peoria's unemployment drop looks more like fewer workers than more jobs.
Job growth of 800 positions over the year is modest against a 0.9-point unemployment decline, a gap consistent with Illinois' statewide labor force contraction. Economic development officials pitching the metro's labor market should pair the unemployment figure with participation context to avoid overstating momentum.
Skilled trades are pulling away from production-floor pay.
Electrician pay rose by a significant margin locally while Manufacturing Production Worker pay fell significantly, a split that suggests uneven demand within the metro's traditionally manufacturing-anchored base. Commerce leaders courting industrial investment should note this bifurcation when assessing the depth of the local skilled-trades pipeline.
Healthcare wage strength reinforces the sector's role as a stabilizer.
Registered Nurse pay rose moderately and Certified Nursing Assistant pay held stable, consistent with national and state data showing healthcare as the most durable hiring signal across the economy. For a metro with an aging regional population, this is a structural trend worth building into long-range workforce planning.
National real-wage erosion has not clearly reached Peoria's ledger yet.
National median weekly earnings grew 1.5% against 3.5% CPI inflation, but several Peoria advertised-pay categories — Operations Manager, Accountant, Account Manager — posted moderate-to-significant increases this month. Divergence between national real-wage erosion and pockets of local wage strength suggests household purchasing power in Peoria may be holding up better than national headlines imply, worth tracking before drawing conclusions about local consumer spending.
Median advertised pay by role — Peoria, IL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $29,883 | $32,500 | $35,100 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $29,646 | $33,280 | $34,840 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,280 | $38,480 | $41,600 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,226 | $72,500 | $82,662 | Moderate decline | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $29,630 | $32,579 | $38,444 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,280 | $39,520 | $42,640 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $68,640 | $75,729 | $80,097 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $35,100 | $41,600 | $43,680 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $32,240 | $37,440 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $30,071 | $36,504 | $37,325 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $39,933 | $43,680 | $46,280 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $36,660 | $41,600 | $45,000 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $57,342 | $68,554 | $72,681 | Significant increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $88,400 | $108,838 | $118,390 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $68,249 | $114,640 | $128,654 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $89,671 | $117,076 | $128,005 | Significant increase | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $58,375 | $76,000 | $88,529 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $69,392 | $74,143 | $75,878 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $58,500 | $71,051 | $79,713 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $45,725 | $58,666 | $65,666 | Moderate decline | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $75,000 | $98,658 | $105,495 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $35,880 | $48,369 | $55,898 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $74,808 | $102,500 | $120,125 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $65,000 | $88,516 | $91,749 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $79,928 | $92,800 | $102,363 | Stable | $98,302 |
* 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 | $65,000 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $72,800 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,360 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $66,560 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $58,063 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $57,953 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $111,510 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $70,304 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $33,800 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $65,344 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Peoria MSA unemployment fell to 3.8% in September, down nine-tenths of a point from a year earlier and the largest such improvement among Illinois metros, even as nonfarm job growth stayed modest at 300 jobs added for the month and 800 over the year. Healthcare and manufacturing continue to anchor metro employment, while statewide labor force contraction and flat-to-declining advertised pay in manufacturing production roles locally suggest the unemployment drop reflects a shrinking labor pool as much as fresh hiring demand.
What it means
Falling unemployment alongside a statewide labor force that shrank 1.3% year-over-year points to a tightening of available workers, a distinction that matters for how commerce leaders read expansion signals and how economic development officials forecast workforce availability for incoming employers. Divergent local pay trends — Manufacturing Production Worker pay down significantly while Electrician and HVAC Technician pay rise sharply — suggest the metro's skilled-trades segment is tightening faster than its production-floor segment, a useful distinction for anyone assessing site-selection or capacity-expansion conditions. Commerce leaders evaluating local investment climate should consider reviewing sector-level wage and participation trends together alongside the headline unemployment rate.
Looking ahead
Expected release: BLS releases official October 2026 Peoria MSA data October 28; confirm whether the September unemployment improvement held or reflects a one-month statistical swing before citing it as a trend.
Emerging pressure point: Illinois' labor force fell 1.3% year-over-year and Peoria's job growth remains under 1% annually; watch whether regional participation continues declining, which would constrain capacity for any new employer announcements regardless of unemployment headlines.
Worth watching: CDL Truck Driver advertised pay is down with moderate magnitude locally against a stable national figure, a divergence worth monitoring given the metro's logistics and distribution footprint along the Illinois River corridor.
Policy signal: National labor force growth has slowed amid reduced immigration flows and retirements; Illinois economists should track whether this shows up in Peoria's labor force participation data in the next two reporting cycles, independent of any policy position.
Sources
- Illinois Department of Employment Security — Peoria MSA unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in September 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Peoria metro gained 300 jobs in September, 800 over the year
- Illinois Department of Employment Security — Illinois labor force shrank 1.3% year-over-year
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National median weekly earnings rose 1.5% vs 3.5% CPI gain
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — October 2026 Peoria MSA BLS data scheduled for release Oct 28
- Illinois Department of Employment Security — Illinois unemployment rate 4.6% in September, third consecutive decline
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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