Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA — September 2026
Scranton metro unemployment edges above the national rate
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's 4.7% unemployment rate and Luzerne County's 5.0% now run above the 4.1%-4.2% national rate, even as metro Registered Nurse pay climbs to $98,948 and HVAC Technician pay falls to $66,000.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.7% — vs 4.1%-4.2% national rate, July 2026
- Luzerne County unemployment: 5.0% — September 2026, above metro average
- PA nonfarm payrolls: 6,252,900 — 17th consecutive record-high month statewide
- HVAC Technician advertised pay: $66,000 metro — down significantly vs $70,720 national, rising
Key takeaways
Metro unemployment sits above the national rate for the first time this cycle.
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre's 4.7% reading and Luzerne County's 5.0% compare against a national rate holding at 4.1%-4.2%, a reversal from Pennsylvania's typical below-average positioning. Local economic development messaging should account for this gap rather than lean on the state's historical advantage.
Healthcare and logistics remain the metro's load-bearing sectors.
Registered Nurse pay rose moderately to a $98,948 metro median and Data Engineer pay climbed to $138,933, both outpacing softer categories, consistent with statewide health-and-education job growth of 36,000 positions since August 2025. Geisinger's regional footprint and the metro's distribution-hub role appear to be absorbing broader softness elsewhere.
Skilled-trade pay softness bucks the national tightening story.
HVAC Technician advertised pay fell significantly to $66,000 locally even as the national median rose to $70,720, and Electrician pay held flat against a national increase. Divergence this sharp from national trade-labor tightening may signal softer local construction and remodeling demand rather than an adequately supplied trade pipeline.
Office and marketing-adjacent roles show the clearest local cooling.
Administrative Assistant, Marketing Specialist, and Business Analyst advertised pay all declined moderately-to-significantly in the metro while national figures for the same roles rose, a pattern consistent with Pennsylvania's broader financial-activities and information-sector job losses. Commerce leaders evaluating back-office or professional-services investment should weigh this local softness against the healthier clinical and logistics signals.
Median advertised pay by role — Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $23,363 | $28,365 | $31,896 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $23,225 | $28,080 | $30,363 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $32,425 | $37,186 | $40,560 | Stable | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,209 | $81,380 | $90,784 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $29,972 | $35,016 | $45,500 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,417 | $43,621 | $43,680 | Stable | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $59,792 | $70,566 | $72,800 | Stable | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $32,837 | $34,701 | $37,440 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $32,240 | $35,360 | $37,440 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $27,126 | $30,160 | $31,671 | Moderate decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $30,935 | $37,099 | $42,640 | Moderate decline | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $32,411 | $38,085 | $42,500 | Moderate decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $58,573 | $66,000 | $72,096 | Significant decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $85,411 | $98,948 | $109,825 | Moderate increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $107,334 | $114,325 | $156,000 | Significant decline | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $91,837 | $138,933 | $144,663 | Moderate increase | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $50,809 | $61,704 | $65,496 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $70,647 | $93,872 | $120,000 | Significant increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $52,500 | $66,280 | $78,613 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $43,949 | $49,984 | $55,741 | Significant decline | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $71,998 | $82,960 | $98,931 | Stable | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $31,200 | $46,788 | $55,000 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $65,757 | $80,199 | $90,000 | Moderate increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,917 | $74,000 | $81,500 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $77,022 | $77,022 | $77,023 | Moderate decline | $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 | $57,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $74,299 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,551 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $62,925 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $58,248 | Significant decline | Significant decline |
| Financial Activities | $53,221 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $61,808 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $48,880 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $30,850 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,660 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre metro unemployment held near 4.7% through mid-2026 while Luzerne County ran slightly hotter at 5.0% in September, tracking a statewide pattern of record nonfarm job totals paired with slowing monthly momentum. Advertised pay across the metro's basket skews toward stability or decline in retail, administrative, and skilled-trade categories even as healthcare wages and data/analytics roles post gains, pointing to a labor market holding steady in aggregate but splitting by sector underneath.
What it means
Divergence between resilient healthcare and public-sector wage activity and softening pay in administrative, retail, and skilled-trade categories suggests the metro's economic momentum is uneven rather than broadly accelerating or contracting. Commerce leaders weighing expansion or investment timing should treat distribution, healthcare, and logistics as the metro's stabilizing anchors, while treating retail- and office-adjacent softness as a signal of constrained consumer and administrative spending. Consider evaluating sector-specific momentum before drawing metro-wide conclusions from any single industry's data.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Luzerne County's unemployment rate has been running above the metro-wide figure; whether this gap widens or closes over the next two monthly reports will indicate if softness is spreading beyond one county.
Early indicator: Software Engineer advertised pay fell significantly in the metro while national pay held stable, worth tracking alongside any announced technology-sector facility changes in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre corridor over the next 60 days.
Potential inflection point: Pennsylvania's House-passed minimum wage bill (H.B. 2189) remains stalled in the Senate; any movement would carry disproportionate weight in a metro where Retail Cashier and Food Service Worker pay already sit near or below $28,000-$30,000.
Expected: National WARN filings concentrated in logistics, retail, and manufacturing nationally make the metro's Amazon- and Kane Is Able-anchored distribution sector a reasonable one to monitor for any filing activity in the state's WARN registry.
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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