Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Utica-Rome, NY MSA — October 2026
Utica holds steady as healthcare and trades pay climb.
Oneida County's 4.3% unemployment rate tracks the state average even as Registered Nurse pay reaches $119,601 locally and Construction Laborer pay rises to $45,552, outpacing national medians in both.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Oneida County unemployment: 4.3% — Matches NY State's 4.3%, below NYC's 4.8%
- Registered Nurse advertised pay: $119,601 — vs. $102,252 national median
- Construction Laborer advertised pay: $45,552 — vs. $40,727 national; up significantly locally
- NY private-sector job growth, YTD: -16,300 (NYC) — Statewide NY private jobs +6,700 in September
Key takeaways
Healthcare pay strength looks like the metro's clearest growth signal.
Registered Nurse advertised pay climbed to a metro median of $119,601, outpacing the national median of $102,252, while mental health roles post $90,000–$160,000 with sign-on incentives. Healthcare's resilience locally mirrors the sector's role as the lone consistent job-growth driver in both national and New York State data this year.
Construction and skilled trades pay gains suggest building-sector confidence.
Construction Laborer advertised pay rose significantly to a metro median of $45,552, well above the national median of $40,727, and HVAC Technician pay moved up moderately to $67,600. Sustained upward pay movement in these trades is consistent with active capital project activity locally, a detail worth confirming against regional construction permitting data.
Utica's unemployment gap with the state may reflect sector insulation.
Oneida County's 4.3% rate sits level with the statewide figure, but New York's reading is being pulled by NYC-concentrated losses in finance and information — sectors with minimal local presence. The parity may overstate comparability; Utica's stability likely reflects a different industry mix, a distinction worth noting apart from any claim of independent economic outperformance.
Wage-versus-inflation gap still constrains local purchasing power.
National real wage growth has turned negative (3.6% nominal vs. roughly 4% inflation), and New England posted the weakest nominal wage growth of any census division this year. Flat-to-stable advertised pay across retail, food service and administrative roles locally suggests Utica consumers are likely feeling the same real-income squeeze as the broader Northeast.
Median advertised pay by role — Utica-Rome, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $31,027 | $33,436 | $35,360 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $30,585 | $34,320 | $35,880 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $33,146 | $38,167 | $40,777 | Moderate decline | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $56,650 | $81,323 | $91,000 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $31,628 | $34,246 | $39,391 | Stable | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $36,824 | $45,552 | $56,232 | Significant increase | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $55,917 | $69,484 | $77,556 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $35,296 | $41,971 | $54,610 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $35,941 | $39,520 | $43,680 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $31,995 | $34,819 | $38,439 | Stable | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $37,243 | $43,680 | $48,880 | Stable | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $30,382 | $42,656 | $49,005 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $56,160 | $67,600 | $72,800 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $94,974 | $119,601 | $127,713 | Significant increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $117,124 | $155,998 | $175,879 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $99,221 | $142,537 | $159,248 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $59,565 | $70,000 | $78,739 | Moderate increase | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $72,313 | $94,718 | $102,823 | Moderate decline | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $57,040 | $82,471 | $90,978 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $43,661 | $59,170 | $70,608 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $70,618 | $88,240 | $100,600 | Stable | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $48,236 | $62,074 | $66,808 | Moderate increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $65,985 | $102,000 | $124,473 | Moderate increase | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $44,913 | $72,172 | $75,063 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $82,103 | $98,012 | $109,140 | Moderate 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 | $87,127 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $114,272 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $48,531 | Significant increase | Moderate increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $49,603 | Significant increase | Significant decline |
| Information | $132,075 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $122,090 | Stable | Moderate decline |
| Professional & Business Services | $99,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $85,255 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $38,316 | Moderate increase | Moderate increase |
| Government | $68,717 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Oneida County's unemployment rate held at 4.3% in August, tracking New York State's 4.3% reading and remaining below year-ago softness seen in larger upstate metros, even as statewide private employment growth stays negative for the year to date. Healthcare continues to anchor local demand, with Registered Nurse advertised pay up to a metro median of $119,601 and licensed mental health roles posting six-figure offers, while manufacturing and construction labor pay also moved higher — a pattern consistent with national sector data showing healthcare and manufacturing as the two segments adding jobs while information, finance and professional services contract.
What it means
Utica's labor market is behaving differently from the state's urban core: New York City lost 23,000 private-sector jobs in September alone, while Oneida County's unemployment rate has stayed comparatively tight, suggesting the metro's healthcare- and manufacturing-weighted base is insulating it from the finance- and information-sector contraction driving statewide softness. That divergence matters for local investment and expansion decisions — a metro less exposed to the sectors currently shedding jobs statewide may represent relative stability for commerce leaders weighing site selection or capital commitments. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether healthcare wage strength (Registered Nurse pay up significantly) and construction labor gains (up significantly locally) reflect durable local demand or simply mirror national sector trends before drawing conclusions about Utica-specific momentum.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Whether Oneida County's unemployment rate continues to track below the statewide 4.3% as New York's private-sector contraction persists into Q4 — a sustained gap would support the case that the metro's healthcare- and manufacturing-heavy base offers relative insulation.
Early indicator: Manufacturing and foundry postings in the Clayville area, offering $18–$19 hourly, are a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings); watch whether volume holds as national manufacturing employment continues its modest 2026 recovery of roughly 72,000 jobs since December.
Emerging pressure point: New York's minimum wage freeze, triggered by statewide job losses through July, keeps the current $16.00/$17.00 thresholds in place into 2027; local retail and food service employers should note this removes a near-term cost variable even as real wages statewide lag inflation.
Potential inflection point: Statewide WARN filings remain moderate (241 notices, 14,602 workers through late October) with no major Utica-area filings identified this month; a shift in that pattern, particularly in manufacturing or healthcare, would be the clearest early warning of local momentum turning.
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.