Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Sioux City, IA-NE-SD MSA — September 2026
Sioux City's economy leans on government and manufacturing to offset decline.
Metro nonfarm employment fell 1.2% year-over-year even as government payrolls grew 3.4% and Iowa's statewide unemployment held at 3.2%, leaving the region's growth narrative dependent on two sectors carrying the weight.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro nonfarm employment: -1.2% YoY — Through Feb 2026, latest confirmed BLS reading
- Metro government employment: +3.4% YoY — Outpacing total metro job growth
- Iowa unemployment rate: 3.2% — Steady 4th straight month; tied 8th-lowest nationally
- Iowa statewide job openings: 60,378 — Against near-zero net annual job growth
Key takeaways
Public-sector payroll growth is masking private-sector softness.
Government employment rose 3.4% year-over-year locally even as total nonfarm payrolls fell 1.2%, meaning the public sector is currently doing more of the work of stabilizing the metro's employment base than private industry. That balance is worth watching given softening government hiring signals nationally.
Manufacturing's gain looks fragile against a national trade backdrop.
Local manufacturing employment grew 1.3% year-over-year and Iowa's statewide August job gains were led by 1,300 manufacturing positions, yet national WARN filings show manufacturing accounting for the largest share of affected workers in Iowa's own 24-month data. A sector carrying this much of the region's job growth narrative bears close monitoring for tariff- or freight-related disruption.
Advertised pay declines across most local roles contrast with wage-vs-inflation story nationally.
Metro advertised pay is down across warehouse, retail, customer service, and several technical roles even as national wage growth has slowed to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation. A local pay pullback layered on top of a national real-wage squeeze may compound pressure on area household purchasing power and, by extension, local consumer spending.
Unfilled openings alongside flat job growth point to a mismatch, not a slowdown.
Iowa's 60,378 statewide job openings sit against essentially flat statewide employment and a metro labor force up only modestly year-over-year, consistent with a participation and skills-match constraint rather than falling demand. That distinction matters for how economic development officials characterize the region's growth capacity to prospective employers.
Median advertised pay by role — Sioux City, IA-NE-SD MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,720 | $27,448 | $32,240 | Moderate decline | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $24,440 | $27,580 | $29,120 | Moderate decline | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $30,526 | $33,449 | $35,348 | Moderate decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $55,580 | $75,790 | $86,640 | Moderate decline | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,292 | $33,268 | $38,480 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $32,638 | $39,520 | $41,883 | Stable | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $61,458 | $85,280 | $104,000 | Significant decline | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $31,387 | $39,520 | $43,094 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,073 | $36,017 | $37,424 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $29,905 | $32,450 | $32,557 | Moderate increase | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $34,977 | $40,005 | $44,720 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $35,218 | $41,600 | $45,745 | Moderate increase | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $47,888 | $63,500 | $65,305 | Significant decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $96,601 | $117,608 | $122,450 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $94,432 | $136,968 | $167,479 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $88,314 | $89,911 | $91,418 | Significant decline | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $58,204 | $70,117 | $73,414 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $68,122 | $92,500 | $97,668 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $40,468 | $54,066 | $62,381 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $35,955 | $44,500 | $47,500 | Significant decline | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $64,060 | $94,296 | $101,538 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $33,688 | $48,866 | $53,883 | Stable | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $71,890 | $90,000 | $95,921 | Significant increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $52,500 | $60,000 | $60,000 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $77,740 | $90,427 | $98,720 | Moderate increase | $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 | $59,253 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $59,384 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,156 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $65,971 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $150,458 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $47,549 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $83,769 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $107,190 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,240 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $65,330 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Sioux City's metro economy continues to run cooler than the state and national baseline, with total nonfarm employment down 1.2% year-over-year through the most recent confirmed reading even as Iowa's statewide unemployment rate holds steady at 3.2% for a fourth straight month. Government employment growth of 3.4% and manufacturing's modest 1.3% gain are offsetting continued softness in leisure and hospitality, a pattern consistent with the statewide split between resilient healthcare/construction activity and a struggling retail and logistics base.
What it means
Divergence between a stable public sector and a contracting trade/transportation and hospitality base suggests the metro's near-term economic trajectory depends heavily on whether manufacturing's recent gains hold, given the sector's outsized share of regional output and its sensitivity to freight demand and tariff-driven input costs. Commerce leaders weighing local expansion or investment decisions should treat Sioux City's labor market as structurally tighter than its softer payroll numbers imply, since Iowa's 60,378 statewide job openings against near-zero net job growth points to a supply constraint rather than demand weakness. Current conditions suggest reviewing sector-specific capacity -- manufacturing and healthcare appear to have room to absorb investment, while retail and logistics expansion may face headwinds independent of local wage costs.
Looking ahead
Data gap to resolve: September 2026 BLS employment figures for the Sioux City MSA have not yet published as of this writing; the most recent confirmed metro reading is from February/June 2026. Expect an early-October release that will be the first real test of whether the 1.2% year-over-year employment decline is stabilizing or deepening.
Emerging pressure point: National manufacturing WARN activity (Tyson Foods among firms named in federal filings) and Iowa's own manufacturing-heavy layoff share warrant attention given the metro's reliance on manufacturing as one of its few growing sectors. A single large notice locally would carry outsized weight against a thin base of positive sector performance.
Worth watching: Iowa's low unemployment claims funded a $2.1 billion UI trust balance, enabling the lowest possible employer tax rate in 2027 -- a modest but real tailwind for regional business costs that commerce leaders can cite when discussing the state's fiscal position with prospective investors.
Potential inflection point: National payroll growth has slowed sharply (29,000 in September against a 45,000 prior-year average, with downward revisions to July and August), a trend that if mirrored locally would pressure the metro's already-soft employment trajectory further. Watch whether the early-October Sioux City release shows deceleration consistent with the national pattern or continued local resilience in government and manufacturing.
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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