Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: San Angelo, TX MSA — October 2026
San Angelo's labor market stays tight while Texas stalls.
San Angelo's unemployment rate held at 3.5% in September against a statewide 4.4%, even as Texas's labor force added just 3,600 workers over the past year and Registered Nurse pay locally climbed to a median $94,242.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- San Angelo unemployment rate: 3.5% — vs 4.4% statewide, down from 3.6% in August
- San Angelo nonfarm employment: 54,100 — Series-high, +600 jobs (1.1%) year-over-year
- Texas labor force growth: 3,600 net new — Over past year, near stagnation statewide
- National wage vs. inflation gap: 1.5% vs 3.5% — Median earnings growth trails CPI, Q3 2026
Key takeaways
San Angelo's jobless rate keeps outperforming the state.
At 3.5% versus Texas's 4.4%, the metro continues a multi-month pattern of tighter labor conditions than the broader state, even as Texas's own job growth decelerated to 0.8% year-to-date against its 2% long-run average. Consistent outperformance strengthens the metro's positioning for site-selection and investment conversations, though it also means less slack to absorb a sudden demand shock.
Healthcare wage gains look like a durable local trend.
Registered Nurse advertised pay climbed to $94,242 locally, a significant year-over-year gain that tracks national data showing physicians, surgeons, and therapists topping hiring demand. Combined with healthcare's standing as one of San Angelo's top employing industries, the wage trajectory appears structural, tied to demographic and care-demand pressures that are likely to continue.
Manufacturing pay softened even as the sector grew statewide.
Manufacturing Production Worker advertised pay fell to a metro median of $28,822, a significant decline that diverges from Texas's broader manufacturing strength, where the state added 4,700 jobs in September on oil/gas and AI-related construction activity. Local employers and economic development officials may want to examine whether this reflects a shift in the composition of manufacturing roles locally, apart from any change in sector demand.
Texas's labor force stall is a bigger risk than its unemployment rate.
Texas added just 15,800 workers to its labor force in September and only 3,600 over the full year, a near-stagnation that Dallas Fed analysts link partly to reduced immigrant labor supply. San Angelo's low local unemployment means the metro has even less room to absorb this statewide headwind if it narrows further, a factor relevant to any expansion-stage employer evaluating the metro.
Median advertised pay by role — San Angelo, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,880 | $28,080 | $32,240 | Moderate increase | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,880 | $25,510 | $28,080 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,329 | $38,480 | $39,520 | Significant increase | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $51,037 | $80,000 | $92,630 | Moderate decline | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,760 | $32,971 | $34,876 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $30,784 | $34,201 | $36,857 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $54,389 | $66,560 | $72,903 | Significant increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $23,920 | $28,822 | $30,143 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,280 | $36,562 | $38,728 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $24,246 | $26,104 | $27,240 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $30,067 | $34,010 | $39,406 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $32,167 | $36,596 | $38,930 | Moderate increase | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $47,439 | $55,972 | $62,400 | Significant decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $79,328 | $94,242 | $102,800 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer * | $113,625 | $152,500 | $167,458 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $100,219 | $135,000 | $153,586 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $55,464 | $65,000 | $66,497 | Significant increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst * | $73,013 | $93,875 | $101,920 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $54,707 | $72,500 | $82,707 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $46,800 | $61,150 | $72,500 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,000 | $82,583 | $98,295 | Moderate decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $27,040 | $51,688 | $55,324 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $51,059 | $77,099 | $81,311 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $48,368 | $70,873 | $85,260 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $79,461 | $96,918 | $109,288 | 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 | $56,771 | Significant increase | Stable |
| Manufacturing | $60,801 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,512 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $41,064 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $54,117 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $50,908 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $64,454 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $50,607 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $29,120 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $64,931 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
San Angelo's not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held at 3.5% in September, down from 3.6% in August, with total nonfarm employment reaching a series-high 54,100 after adding 200 jobs on the month and 600 over the year. Momentum concentrates in healthcare, construction, and government, sectors that have anchored the metro's labor market even as statewide job growth decelerated and Texas labor force growth stalled to just 3,600 net new participants over the past year.
What it means
San Angelo's 3.5% unemployment rate, nearly a full point below the state's 4.4%, signals a labor market with little slack, a condition that typically supports business expansion plans but also means local employers face a shallow pool of available workers if demand accelerates. Registered Nurse advertised pay rose to a metro median of $94,242, a significant increase consistent with the national pattern of healthcare leading hiring demand, suggesting the sector's wage momentum is structural and likely to persist beyond a single month. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion or relocation incentives should consider reviewing how the metro's labor force participation trends compare to statewide stagnation before assuming local labor supply will scale with demand.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: San Angelo's unemployment rate has swung between 3.1% and 3.9% over the past six months; watch whether the September improvement to 3.5% holds or reverses as it did between April and June.
Potential inflection point: Texas's labor force growth has nearly flatlined statewide; any further softening could tighten San Angelo's already-thin labor supply further, a relevant consideration for any employer or developer planning a workforce-dependent expansion.
Early indicator: Statewide manufacturing wage softness locally, despite sector growth at the state level, is worth tracking in San Angelo's Q4 employment data to see whether it reflects a shift in job mix or a broader local demand change.
Structural factor: National data show wages broadly trailing inflation (1.5% earnings growth versus 3.5% CPI in Q3). Local wage-versus-inflation divergence, if it widens, carries implications for consumer spending capacity across San Angelo's retail and service sectors.
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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