Labor Market Pulse · Life Sciences · October 2026
Life Sciences Labor Market Report: Racine, WI MSA — October 2026
Racine's scientific talent premium widens as broader jobs market softens.
Racine County unemployment climbed to 4.1% even as Clinical Data Manager pay hit $142,249 locally against $123,653 nationally, underscoring a split labor market for life sciences employers.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Racine County unemployment: 4.1% — Up 0.4 pts YoY, 8th-highest in WI
- Racine wage growth: 3.8% — Q1 2026, highest among major WI counties
- WI biohealth wage premium: $116,452 — 76% above WI all-industry average
- WI biohealth employment growth: 12.9% — 2021-2025, nearly 2x national 6.9% rate
Key takeaways
Regulatory Affairs pay is climbing locally while national demand cools.
Racine advertised pay for Regulatory Affairs Specialists rose to a $108,813 median even as the national figure declined moderately to $103,780. Divergence suggests local scarcity — plausibly tied to EUDAMED and EU AI Act compliance demands cited nationally — making this a role to benchmark against local conditions ahead of national trend lines.
Clinical Data Manager pay gap signals a structural premium.
Metro median advertised pay of $142,249 sits well above the $123,653 national figure, a significant local premium in a role tied to clinical operations capacity. Combined with a national CRA bottleneck limiting experienced clinical talent, this points toward sustained competition for data and clinical infrastructure roles regardless of broader Racine employment softness.
Biostatistician pay decline bucks the national pattern.
Racine advertised pay for Biostatisticians fell significantly to $91,787 against a stable $131,958 national median — an unusually wide gap for a specialized, credential-driven role. Worth investigating whether this reflects a thin local posting sample or a structural shift in how the role is being organized or outsourced locally.
Manufacturing softness may expand the adjacent talent pool.
County employment fell 1.5% year-over-year with unemployment climbing to 4.1%, concentrated in general manufacturing roles outside life sciences. Life Sci employers building out bioprocess or validation functions may find process engineers and quality technicians from displaced manufacturing roles a useful adjacent pipeline, provided cross-training investment is budgeted.
Median advertised pay by role — Racine, WI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Scientist * | $89,753 | $117,107 | $119,062 | Significant increase | $130,339 |
| Clinical Research Associate * | $55,000 | $88,590 | $119,192 | Significant increase | $90,065 |
| Lab Technician * | $39,534 | $47,840 | $52,000 | Moderate increase | $47,840 |
| Regulatory Affairs Specialist * | $86,107 | $108,813 | $108,814 | Moderate increase | $103,780 |
| Clinical Data Manager * | $99,430 | $142,249 | $154,539 | Significant increase | $123,653 |
| Biostatistician * | $77,671 | $91,787 | $124,765 | Significant decline | $131,958 |
| Validation Engineer * | $91,500 | $109,517 | $130,000 | Significant increase | $106,478 |
* 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
Racine County unemployment rose to 4.1% in August 2026, a 0.4 point year-over-year increase and the 8th-highest among Wisconsin's 72 counties, even as the metro posted 3.8% wage growth in Q1 2026 — the strongest among major Wisconsin counties. A manufacturing-heavy local economy with employment down 1.5% year-over-year creates a mixed backdrop for life sciences employers competing for scientific and regulatory talent against a statewide biohealth sector that grew employment 12.9% from 2021-2025, nearly double the national rate.
What it means
Rising local unemployment alongside wage growth signals a bifurcated Racine labor market — broad slack in manufacturing and production roles coexists with acute tightness for credentialed scientific and regulatory staff, a dynamic consistent with Wisconsin's statewide biohealth wage premium of $116,452 reaching 76% above the all-industry average. Life Sci leaders weighing build-vs-outsource decisions should note that Catalent's $45 million Madison biologics expansion signals growing in-state CDMO capacity, easing reliance on out-of-state partners for overflow manufacturing work. Organizations should evaluate whether Racine-area compensation for regulatory affairs and validation engineering roles — both showing significant advertised pay gains locally — reflects scarcity premiums or lagging adjustment to national benchmarks.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Racine County unemployment continues climbing past 4.1% in the next release — sustained increases could expand the pool of technically skilled manufacturing workers available for cross-training into quality or validation functions.
Worth watching: Catalent's Madison expansion and broader in-state CDMO investment could shift build-vs-outsource economics for Racine-area biotech and device employers weighing in-state manufacturing partnerships against out-of-state CROs.
Emerging pressure point: Track whether Racine's Regulatory Affairs and Validation Engineer pay gains persist into November postings — continued divergence from national trends would confirm a local scarcity premium beyond a one-month anomaly.
Potential inflection point: National CRA and clinical operations vacancy rates remain elevated; monitor whether Racine's Clinical Research Associate pay, already up significantly, accelerates further as regional biopharma and device employers compete for the same thin candidate pool.
Sources
- USAFacts/Bureau of Labor Statistics — Racine County unemployment rose to 4.1% in August 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Racine wage growth of 3.8% in Q1 2026, highest among major WI counties
- Wisconsin biohealth industry tracking — Wisconsin biohealth average wage reached $116,452 in 2025
- Industry news reporting — Catalent announced $45 million Madison biologics expansion
- UW Madison biotech tracking — Wisconsin biohealth employment grew 12.9% from 2021-2025
- Industry labor market research — National CRA talent bottleneck and clinical operations vacancy rates
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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