Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Sioux City, IA-NE-SD MSA — October 2026
Sioux City holds low unemployment as labor supply tightens beneath it.
Metro unemployment near 3.2% remains well below the 4.1% national rate, even as Iowa's labor force participation fell to 66.9% and local manufacturing wages dropped significantly to a $37,505 median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.2% — June 2026, vs 4.1% national rate
- Iowa labor force participation: 66.9% — Down from 67.8% a year earlier
- Woodbury County unemployment: 3.7% — August 2026, up from 3.2% metro June rate
- Iowa manufacturing WARN impact: 4,255 workers — 54 notices year-to-date statewide
Key takeaways
Healthcare is the clearest pillar of local economic strength.
Registered Nurse advertised pay rose to a metro median of $116,763, outpacing the national figure of $102,252, while Iowa healthcare employment hit an all-time high statewide. This points to healthcare as a stabilizing force for the regional economy even as other sectors show mixed signals.
Manufacturing wage softness bears watching.
Metro Manufacturing Production Worker pay fell significantly to $37,505 against a stable national figure, arriving alongside statewide WARN filings covering 4,255 manufacturing employees year-to-date. One data point does not confirm a local downturn, but it merits tracking against Iowa's broader manufacturing headwinds.
Labor force participation is the number to track.
Iowa's participation rate dropped to 66.9% from 67.8% a year ago, concentrated among workers aged 45-54 — a retirement-driven shift. A metro this tight on labor supply may see hiring difficulty persist even if broader demand cools, a relevant constraint for any expansion planning.
Professional and technical pay divergence signals a bifurcated local economy.
Software Engineer pay rose significantly to $137,252 locally while Data Engineer and Business Analyst pay both fell, a split that reflects uneven demand across professional services. Commerce leaders tracking the metro's knowledge-economy footprint should treat this as a sector-specific story.
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 | $22,662 | $27,333 | $31,257 | Moderate decline | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $24,000 | $27,560 | $29,072 | Moderate decline | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,200 | $34,304 | $36,686 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $56,160 | $77,165 | $88,400 | Moderate decline | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,056 | $32,891 | $37,960 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $32,696 | $39,520 | $42,640 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $61,137 | $81,818 | $97,760 | Significant decline | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $31,498 | $37,505 | $42,640 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,074 | $35,924 | $37,776 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $29,905 | $32,529 | $32,582 | Moderate increase | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $35,360 | $41,309 | $45,760 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $34,532 | $41,600 | $44,418 | Significant increase | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $47,888 | $63,500 | $64,302 | Moderate decline | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $92,130 | $116,763 | $122,184 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $79,155 | $137,252 | $167,477 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $88,314 | $89,427 | $91,418 | Significant decline | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $58,349 | $70,559 | $74,116 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $68,122 | $92,500 | $98,201 | Significant increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $42,226 | $51,678 | $62,381 | Moderate increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $35,956 | $40,865 | $49,195 | Significant decline | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $64,060 | $94,434 | $101,503 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $33,745 | $48,431 | $54,109 | Moderate decline | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $63,468 | $90,000 | $97,605 | Stable | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $60,000 | $60,000 | $60,000 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $71,978 | $90,427 | $98,720 | Moderate decline | $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 | $61,266 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $59,091 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,195 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $67,984 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $134,400 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $47,549 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $86,104 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $105,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,129 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Government | $64,459 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Sioux City metro unemployment held near 3.2% through mid-2026, tighter than both the 4.1% national rate and well below the threshold that typically signals labor market slack, even as Woodbury County data through August shows a modest uptick to 3.7%. Statewide forces are shaping the local trajectory: Iowa's labor force participation rate fell to 66.9% in September from 67.8% a year earlier, driven by retirements among 45-to-54-year-olds, while healthcare and construction employment reached all-time highs statewide — a pattern consistent with what metro-level wage data shows locally, where Registered Nurse pay rose sharply (up to $116,763 median) even as manufacturing production worker pay fell significantly (to $37,505).
What it means
Divergent local wage signals — strong gains in nursing and financial/operations roles against significant declines in manufacturing, data engineering, and marketing pay — suggest the metro's economic momentum is concentrated in healthcare and professional services within an uneven business base. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion or investment timing should weigh that a tight headline unemployment rate coexists with a shrinking available labor pool (participation down, employed Iowans falling even as job counts rise), meaning labor availability constraints may persist locally even if demand softens elsewhere. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether manufacturing wage softness reflects local demand cooling or a broader statewide pattern before drawing conclusions about the sector's trajectory in this metro.
Looking ahead
Data gap to resolve: October 2026 MSA-level unemployment and employment figures from BLS were not yet published at writing; watch for the release to confirm whether the 3.2% June rate and 3.7% August Woodbury County figure represent a stabilizing trend or the start of softening.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide manufacturing WARN filings (54 notices, 4,255 workers year-to-date) and local manufacturing wage declines together warrant monitoring for whether Sioux City's manufacturing base — roughly 15.9 thousand of the metro's 74.4 thousand nonfarm jobs — faces compounding pressure into early 2027.
Demographic signal: Iowa's falling labor force participation among workers aged 45-54 is a statewide trend with direct metro relevance given Sioux City's reliance on a stable local workforce; watch whether Woodbury County participation data, once available, mirrors the state decline.
Policy factor to track: Federal tariff and immigration enforcement policy continue to shape national labor force growth and manufacturing input costs; local commerce leaders should watch for metro-specific impacts on manufacturing employment and supply costs without assuming a uniform national effect applies locally.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Sioux City MSA unemployment was 3.2% in June 2026
- Iowa Workforce Development — Woodbury County unemployment at 3.7% in August 2026
- Iowa Workforce Development — Iowa labor force participation fell to 66.9% in September
- LayoffIQ — Iowa manufacturing WARN filings: 54 notices, 4,255 workers YTD
- Iowa Workforce Development — Iowa healthcare and construction employment reached all-time highs
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate stable at 4.1% in October
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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.