Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Springfield, MA MSA — September 2026
Springfield jobs grow on paper, but joblessness climbs underneath.
Springfield posted a 1.1% annual job gain even as its unemployment rate rose to 6.0% in July and Hampden County's 5.7% August rate became the highest of any Massachusetts county.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Springfield MSA unemployment: 6.0% — Up from 4.9% in May 2026
- Hampden County unemployment: 5.7% — Highest of any MA county, Aug. 2026
- Hampden County avg. weekly wage: $1,302 — vs. $1,654 national average, Q1 2026
- Springfield annual job growth: +1.1% — 3rd-strongest of 7 MA metro areas
Key takeaways
Springfield's jobless rate is rising faster than the headline growth suggests.
Unemployment jumped from 4.9% in May to 6.0% in July, and Hampden County now leads Massachusetts counties in joblessness at 5.7%. The year-over-year +1.1% job gain looks solid in isolation but masks a clear deterioration within 2026 itself.
Every Massachusetts metro lost jobs month-over-month in August.
Springfield's softening isn't an isolated local story — it tracks a statewide pattern where all seven MSAs shed jobs between July and August even as annual comparisons stayed positive. That consistency across regions suggests a broader Massachusetts cooling rather than a Springfield-specific shock.
Wage gap with the national average remains the metro's core structural issue.
Hampden County's $1,302 average weekly wage sits roughly 21% below the national $1,654 figure, and the county's jobs base shrank 4.6% from 2019-2024 while national employment grew. This is a longer-run competitiveness question for economic development planning, not a month-to-month fluctuation.
A high-profile plant closure adds texture, not the whole story.
Smithfield Packaged Meats' February closure affecting roughly 200 workers in Springfield reflects the kind of cost-driven manufacturing attrition showing up across Massachusetts WARN filings, where manufacturing accounts for 13 of 72 statewide notices this year. Isolated events like this matter less than the broader monthly employment trend commerce leaders should track.
Median advertised pay by role — Springfield, MA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $31,200 | $33,974 | $35,801 | Stable | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $31,580 | $34,320 | $35,360 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,664 | $39,985 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $59,800 | $82,860 | $90,000 | Moderate increase | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $33,472 | $35,988 | $41,121 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $35,360 | $43,239 | $46,176 | Moderate decline | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $69,542 | $83,200 | $88,608 | Moderate increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $34,739 | $38,532 | $42,640 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $35,360 | $40,971 | $44,200 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $33,280 | $37,273 | $38,480 | Stable | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $37,440 | $42,640 | $45,760 | Stable | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $38,951 | $45,760 | $49,920 | Stable | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $64,455 | $67,600 | $75,502 | Stable | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $91,000 | $110,240 | $117,331 | Stable | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer | $105,208 | $140,579 | $149,186 | Stable | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer | $94,688 | $106,735 | $115,862 | Significant decline | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $64,797 | $75,000 | $80,000 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $78,637 | $97,569 | $99,243 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $53,478 | $67,395 | $72,575 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist | $40,804 | $59,735 | $85,268 | Moderate increase | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $73,750 | $94,078 | $119,583 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $53,851 | $71,399 | $74,122 | Moderate increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $57,500 | $80,000 | $90,000 | Moderate decline | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $57,231 | $108,597 | $113,717 | Stable | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $83,539 | $95,219 | $107,587 | 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 | $61,870 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $76,095 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $39,520 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $57,347 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $56,967 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $56,160 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $70,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $62,000 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $37,440 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $70,727 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Springfield's unemployment rate climbed to 6.0% in July, up from 4.9% in May, and Hampden County now carries the highest jobless rate in Massachusetts at 5.7% as of August, even as the metro posted one of the state's stronger year-over-year job gains at +1.1%. That divergence — annual growth alongside monthly softening, with every Massachusetts metro area losing jobs between July and August — suggests a labor market that expanded earlier in the year but has lost momentum into early fall.
What it means
Rising local unemployment paired with wages that trail the national average by roughly 21% ($1,302 vs. $1,654 weekly in Hampden County) points to a metro economy still working through structural wage and productivity gaps rather than a simple cyclical slowdown. For commerce leaders weighing local investment or expansion timing, the softening monthly trend argues for caution even though the headline annual growth number looks respectable; for government economists, the gap between participation stability and rising unemployment is worth isolating from national noise. Consider reviewing local expansion or investment timelines against the monthly trend data releasing October 20, rather than the more favorable year-over-year figure alone.
Looking ahead
Expected data release: Massachusetts September unemployment and Springfield MSA September payroll figures publish October 16 and October 20, respectively. These will clarify whether July-August softening is a brief dip or the start of a sustained trend.
Emerging pressure point: Hampden County's unemployment rate, already the state's highest at 5.7%, bears watching against Worcester and Amherst-Northampton, the two metros currently outpacing Springfield in annual job growth. A widening gap would reinforce the structural wage-and-growth story rather than a temporary one.
Worth watching: Statewide WARN notices are down 11% year-over-year, but healthcare and manufacturing remain the most-cited industries in 2026 filings. Any Springfield-specific notices in those sectors would be meaningful given the metro's reliance on both.
Potential inflection point: National wage growth has slowed to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation, the weakest real-wage picture since 2021. Whether Hampden County's already-below-average wages compress further relative to inflation will shape local purchasing power and consumer spending heading into the fourth quarter.
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.