Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: San Antonio, TX MSA — October 2026
San Antonio jobless rate falls as its labor force shrinks.
San Antonio-New Braunfels unemployment dropped to 4.3% in September even as the civilian labor force fell by 2,282 people year-over-year and metro job growth held at just 0.4%, well below Texas's 1.1% statewide pace.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.3% — Down from 4.5% in August; above 4.2% a year ago
- Metro labor force change: -2,282 — Year-over-year decline despite monthly uptick of 1,049
- Metro job growth rate: 0.4% — vs 1.1% Texas, ~175k/month national pace
- Bexar County wage growth: 3.6% — vs 3.7% national CPI, Q3 2025 data
Key takeaways
Falling unemployment is masking a shrinking labor pool.
San Antonio's rate dropped to 4.3% from 4.5% in September, but the civilian labor force fell by 2,282 people over the year even as it ticked up month-over-month. A lower jobless rate driven partly by fewer people in the labor force is a different economic signal than it first appears, separate from the question of whether job creation is strengthening.
Service-sector job losses are concentrated in specific industries.
Leisure and hospitality lost 2,800 positions and professional/business services lost 1,400 in a single month, while manufacturing held up statewide on energy and AI-related construction activity. The divergence suggests metro softness is sector-specific, a narrower pattern than an across-the-board contraction.
Local wage gains are not keeping pace with inflation.
Bexar County wages grew 3.6% year-over-year in Q3 2025 data, below the 3.7% CPI figure cited nationally for the same period, echoing the national pattern of real wage erosion. Household spending power in the metro is likely flat to declining even with continued nominal pay increases across sectors.
Metro job growth (0.4%) is lagging the state and nation.
San Antonio added 4,300 jobs over the year versus Texas's 1.1% statewide growth rate and above-trend 182,000 monthly national payroll gains in October. A metro growing more slowly than its state and national benchmarks warrants attention in any pitch about regional economic momentum.
Median advertised pay by role — San Antonio, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $24,849 | $30,160 | $34,524 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,920 | $27,220 | $29,622 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,322 | $34,320 | $37,440 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $55,496 | $78,000 | $85,800 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,387 | $33,667 | $39,041 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $31,200 | $36,860 | $39,000 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $54,946 | $68,640 | $72,800 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $30,160 | $34,320 | $37,440 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,199 | $38,325 | $44,720 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $27,828 | $31,686 | $40,944 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $32,513 | $36,500 | $39,492 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $32,181 | $38,899 | $43,218 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $57,376 | $70,356 | $82,500 | Significant increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $76,959 | $89,746 | $98,390 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $106,678 | $137,276 | $153,000 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $93,600 | $125,000 | $141,921 | Moderate increase | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $56,077 | $66,226 | $74,580 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $68,636 | $84,895 | $94,171 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $52,100 | $65,357 | $79,500 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $46,293 | $59,405 | $65,847 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager | $55,239 | $76,675 | $77,508 | Moderate decline | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $33,280 | $53,498 | $59,896 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $67,485 | $89,277 | $100,000 | Significant increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $48,368 | $70,873 | $85,260 | Significant decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $74,346 | $92,005 | $104,000 | 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 | $60,722 | Stable | Moderate decline |
| Manufacturing | $80,625 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Retail Trade | $37,533 | Moderate increase | Stable |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $58,822 | Significant increase | Moderate decline |
| Information | $85,969 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $52,900 | Stable | Stable |
| Professional & Business Services | $67,185 | Significant increase | Moderate decline |
| Education & Health Services | $62,400 | Significant increase | Stable |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,134 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Government | $64,665 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
San Antonio-New Braunfels unemployment eased to 4.3% in September from 4.5% in August, even as the metro's labor force shrank by 2,282 people year-over-year despite a modest monthly gain — a pattern consistent with the demographic and immigration-driven labor-force stall documented statewide by the Dallas Fed. Leisure and hospitality shed 2,800 jobs and professional and business services lost 1,400 over the month, while the metro's broader employment base grew just 0.4% year-over-year, trailing both the Texas (1.1%) and recent national pace.
What it means
Metro employment growth running below the state and national trend, paired with a contracting labor force, points to a local economy that is stable with limited growth in workforce capacity — a relevant signal for economic development corps assessing site-selection pitches or workforce-availability claims to prospective employers. Bexar County wage growth of 3.6% year-over-year is outpacing the metro's own job growth but still trails the 3.7% national CPI reading cited this month, meaning household purchasing power locally is likely flat to slightly negative even as nominal pay rises. Commerce leaders should weigh the metro's labor-force contraction alongside its low unemployment rate when evaluating the strength of the local business expansion narrative this quarter.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Whether the labor force contraction (down 2,282 year-over-year) reverses in October data due in mid-November, or whether it deepens alongside the national and state pattern of slowing immigrant and native-born labor force growth.
Emerging pressure point: Leisure and hospitality losses (2,800 jobs in a single month) bear watching for whether they stabilize or spread to adjacent consumer-facing sectors like retail trade, given flat national retail and financial-activities employment.
Early indicator: Texas WARN filings are down 35% year-over-year statewide, a sign of relative stability; any uptick in Bexar County-specific notices over the next two months would be a meaningful break from that trend.
Potential inflection point: Dallas Fed's downgraded 2026 Texas job growth forecast (0.9%, from an earlier 2.0% revision) suggests state-level deceleration could further compress San Antonio's already below-trend growth rate in coming months.
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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