Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Syracuse, NY MSA — October 2026
Syracuse holds steady at 4.1% as manufacturing pay outruns the nation.
Syracuse metro unemployment sits at 4.1% against a national 4.1% and state 4.3%, while local Manufacturing Production Worker pay of $54,370 towers over the $39,520 national median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Syracuse MSA unemployment rate: 4.1% — vs 4.3% NY state, 4.1% national (Oct 2026)
- Metro nonfarm job growth: +0.9% — 2,800 jobs added, March 2025-March 2026
- Manufacturing wage premium: $54,370 — vs $39,520 national median, up significantly
- National real wage growth: 1.5% — vs 3.5% CPI growth, Q3 2026 (BLS)
Key takeaways
Manufacturing wage gains outpace the nation by a wide margin.
Metro Manufacturing Production Worker pay sits at $54,370 against a national median of $39,520 — a gap suggesting localized competition for production talent tied to the region's semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing investment pipeline. This divergence is a more useful signal of sector health than the metro's flat overall job count.
Public and health sectors are carrying the region's job growth.
Year-over-year gains concentrated in Private Education & Health Services and Government, while Trade/Transportation/Utilities, Information, and Financial Activities all lost ground. Economic development planning should weight this concentration risk — a downturn in either anchor sector would have outsized local effect.
Skilled trades pay is accelerating faster than white-collar roles locally.
HVAC Technician ($70,720, up significantly) and Construction Laborer ($45,760, up moderately) advertised pay is rising faster than Financial Analyst or Data Engineer pay, which sit stable. That pattern is consistent with construction and infrastructure-linked demand outpacing office-based sectors in the local economy.
Metro unemployment stability masks a national real-wage squeeze.
Syracuse's 4.1% rate looks steady against the state's 4.3% and national 4.1%, but nationally median weekly earnings rose just 1.5% against 3.5% CPI growth in Q3. If that gap holds locally, consumer spending power becomes the binding constraint on retail and hospitality activity heading into the holiday season, ahead of job availability.
Median advertised pay by role — Syracuse, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $30,410 | $33,800 | $35,360 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $32,124 | $34,361 | $36,400 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $34,942 | $40,560 | $43,680 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $56,680 | $76,548 | $85,800 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $32,783 | $37,879 | $42,308 | Moderate increase | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $39,520 | $45,760 | $55,661 | Moderate increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $59,136 | $67,600 | $75,466 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $37,497 | $54,370 | $54,610 | Significant increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $36,970 | $41,802 | $44,720 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $33,280 | $34,840 | $37,440 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $37,242 | $43,164 | $47,778 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $38,480 | $45,760 | $47,840 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $59,872 | $70,720 | $85,055 | Significant increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $85,684 | $105,227 | $118,421 | Stable | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $103,960 | $158,398 | $170,087 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $97,460 | $135,104 | $147,668 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $60,523 | $71,192 | $78,861 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $67,745 | $84,743 | $94,492 | Stable | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $59,895 | $77,097 | $87,186 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $50,257 | $55,000 | $60,195 | Moderate increase | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,618 | $88,240 | $100,600 | Stable | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $35,880 | $55,968 | $63,401 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $59,346 | $75,000 | $97,500 | Moderate decline | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $44,913 | $72,172 | $75,063 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $74,674 | $91,388 | $99,824 | Significant increase | $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 | $62,400 | Stable | Moderate increase |
| Manufacturing | $109,008 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $36,400 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $57,720 | Significant increase | Moderate decline |
| Information | $78,250 | Significant increase | Stable |
| Financial Activities | $60,502 | Moderate decline | Moderate decline |
| Professional & Business Services | $58,000 | Stable | Stable |
| Education & Health Services | $60,508 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $35,880 | Stable | Significant decline |
| Government | $65,650 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
Local market conditions
Syracuse metro unemployment held at 4.1% in August and preliminary October readings, tracking slightly above the state's 4.3% trajectory but consistent with a labor market that has absorbed only modest net job growth — nonfarm employment rose just 2,800 positions, or 0.9%, between March 2025 and March 2026. Growth concentrated in Professional & Business Services, Private Education & Health Services, Leisure & Hospitality, and Government, while Trade/Transportation/Utilities, Information, Financial Activities, and Manufacturing all contracted, a sector mix that mirrors the national pattern of health care and public-sector resilience against white-collar softness.
What it means
Local economic momentum looks stable: unemployment near 4.1%, flat-to-slightly-positive job growth, and sector gains concentrated in services that are less cyclically sensitive point to a metro economy holding steady. For commerce leaders weighing expansion or investment timing, the combination of a tight but not growing labor pool and wage gains concentrated in manufacturing and skilled trades (Manufacturing Production Worker advertised pay up significantly, HVAC Technician up significantly) points to sector-specific capacity constraints as the driver, concentrated in particular trades. Government economists and chamber leaders should consider tracking whether Professional & Business Services gains persist into Q4, since that sector's growth has been a rare bright spot against national white-collar contraction in information and financial activities.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: October BLS data for the Syracuse MSA was not yet available at publication; confirm whether the 4.1% unemployment rate holds or drifts when the next release lands, since two consecutive upticks from 4.0% would mark a trend.
Emerging pressure point: New York's statewide minimum wage freeze (triggered by a 31,000-job statewide decline through July) creates a policy watch item for Central New York employers and local officials tracking Governor Hochul's proposed workarounds.
Early indicator: Statewide private-sector job growth turned positive in September (+6,700) even as NYC's fell further negative, a divergence worth tracking locally to see whether upstate metros like Syracuse are capturing a disproportionate share of the state's modest private-sector gains.
Potential inflection point: National manufacturing employment grew for the third straight month (+9,000 in September, +72,000 since December), a trend that — if it continues — would reinforce Syracuse's above-national manufacturing wage growth as a structural shift.
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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