Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Springfield, IL MSA — September 2026
Springfield's job streak cools as sectors pull apart.
Sangamon County wages rose 3.2% year-over-year even as metro unemployment climbed toward 4.3%, with software and financial-sector pay surging while HVAC and manufacturing pay retreated.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Sangamon County wage growth: 3.2% YoY — $1,447 avg weekly wage, Q1 2026
- Springfield MSA unemployment: 4.3% — Up from 3.2% in Sept 2025
- Illinois statewide unemployment: 4.7% — vs 4.1% national (Aug 2026)
- Springfield job growth streak: 23 months — Consecutive YoY payroll gains through Sept 2025
Key takeaways
Public-sector stability is masking private-sector unevenness.
State government employment continues to anchor Springfield's labor market even as sectors like HVAC and customer service post significant local pay declines. A metro this dependent on one stabilizing sector should watch private employer health as closely as state payroll trends.
Local wage growth is outrunning the national wage-inflation gap.
Sangamon County's 3.2% year-over-year wage gain compares favorably to the national picture, where average hourly earnings growth has slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation. That gap matters for read-through on local consumer spending capacity, a key input for retail and commercial investment decisions.
Skilled technical and professional pay is pulling away from the rest.
Software engineering ($166,427), financial analysis ($102,785), and marketing specialist pay all posted significant local increases, while manufacturing, HVAC, and customer service roles declined. Divergence this sharp is consistent with a metro economy splitting between knowledge-sector momentum and softening hands-on, consumer-facing segments.
Unemployment readings are noisy, not necessarily deteriorating.
Springfield MSA unemployment rose from 3.2% to 4.3% across recent reporting months, but reporting lags and county-level volatility (Sangamon ranging 4.3%-5.2%) make single-month readings unreliable signals. Momentum should be judged over several months, not one release.
Median advertised pay by role — Springfield, IL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $29,827 | $33,280 | $35,360 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $28,879 | $32,240 | $33,280 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,750 | $37,500 | $39,520 | Moderate decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,305 | $81,825 | $93,000 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $31,118 | $41,600 | $43,680 | Stable | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $37,440 | $39,520 | $39,520 | Stable | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $63,010 | $71,389 | $77,335 | Significant increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,320 | $39,500 | $42,902 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $25,624 | $35,015 | $37,854 | Significant decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $28,832 | $31,160 | $33,279 | Moderate decline | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $37,440 | $42,794 | $44,200 | Moderate decline | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $37,401 | $46,805 | $58,095 | Significant increase | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $53,000 | $63,627 | $70,710 | Significant decline | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $88,400 | $109,375 | $117,281 | Significant increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $134,719 | $166,427 | $181,267 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $107,728 | $140,985 | $158,098 | Moderate decline | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $60,000 | $71,000 | $78,083 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $81,960 | $102,785 | $119,606 | Significant increase | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $49,310 | $73,000 | $90,517 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $52,482 | $82,130 | $98,342 | Significant increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $74,506 | $98,612 | $105,250 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $33,280 | $40,136 | $48,750 | Stable | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $80,000 | $113,501 | $141,581 | Significant increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $65,000 | $87,500 | $91,350 | Moderate decline | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $77,176 | $97,570 | $107,588 | Significant 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 | $80,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $126,262 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $59,613 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $72,800 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $147,326 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $91,200 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $96,789 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $77,300 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $34,320 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $65,634 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Springfield's streak of job gains — 23 consecutive months of year-over-year payroll growth through September 2025 — has given way to softer signals, with the metro unemployment rate climbing to 4.3% in October 2025 and Sangamon County readings near 4.3-5.2% through early 2026, even as statewide Illinois unemployment sits at 4.7% in August. State government employment, the metro's structural anchor, continues to provide stability even as Illinois labor force participation has contracted statewide, a trend that appears to reflect demographic and migration pressures more than weakening local demand.
What it means
Wage growth in Sangamon County (3.2% year-over-year in Q1 2026, averaging $1,447 weekly) is outpacing the national wage-vs-inflation squeeze reported at the U.S. level, suggesting local purchasing power is holding up better than the national picture implies — a relevant data point for commerce leaders gauging consumer spending capacity. Divergent local pay trends — sharp gains in software engineering, financial analysis, and marketing roles against declines in HVAC, customer service, and manufacturing-adjacent work — point to an economy bifurcating along skill and sector lines rather than moving uniformly. Current conditions suggest commerce and economic development leaders should weight sector-specific momentum, not headline unemployment alone, when assessing the metro's investment and expansion climate.
Looking ahead
Data lag watch: Springfield MSA's most current unemployment figures trail by several months due to IDES reporting delays; treat any single monthly reading with caution until confirmed by subsequent releases.
Emerging pressure point: Illinois's statewide labor force contraction (down to 6.477 million in August 2026 from 6.571 million in March) has not yet shown up clearly at the Springfield metro level — watch whether local labor force figures begin mirroring the statewide pullback.
Worth watching: State government hiring activity, including recent IDHS recruitment events in Springfield, offers a leading indicator of public-sector payroll direction, which disproportionately shapes this metro's overall employment trajectory.
Potential inflection point: National WARN filings tied to Amazon, Meta, and other large employers have not materially touched Illinois outside Chicago-area notices (Uber, GoHealth, T-Mobile); a spread of layoff activity into central Illinois would mark a meaningful shift worth flagging for regional economic development tracking.
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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