Labor Market Pulse · Restaurant Industry · September 2026
Restaurant Industry Labor Market Report: WY NONMETROPOLITAN AREA — September 2026
Wyoming restaurant pay splits: management up, hourly roles soften.
Restaurant Manager pay climbed to a $60,000 metro median against a falling $59,618 national figure, even as Crew and Line Cook advertised pay both moved down amid Wyoming's tight 3.0% unemployment rate.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Wyoming unemployment rate: 3.0% — Unchanged Aug 2026; vs 4.1% US rate
- Initial UI claims: 855 — 2nd-fewest monthly claims since 2007
- National food-service job openings: 673,000 — Down from 916,000 in Jan 2026
- Wyoming average annual wage: $47,853 — Up 3.7% year-over-year
Key takeaways
Restaurant Manager pay is rising locally while the national figure falls.
Metro median for Restaurant Manager/GM sits at $60,000, up moderately and now above the national median of $59,618, which is down moderately. This divergence suggests Wyoming operators are bidding up management pay to retain scarce leadership talent in a market where institutional knowledge is hard to replace.
Catering Manager pay surge points to banquet and event demand.
Metro median catering manager pay jumped to $65,532, a significant increase against a stable national median near $50,960. Tourism-linked event business appears to be pulling this role's pay well above typical hospitality scale, a signal worth tracking for recruitment budgeting ahead of peak season.
Entry-level and hourly roles are softening even as the market stays tight.
Crew, Line Cook, and Shift Manager advertised pay all moved down moderately this month, a seeming contradiction given Wyoming's 3.0% unemployment rate. This likely reflects fewer open postings rather than weaker demand — fewer vacancies chasing the same scarce labor pool rather than employers gaining pricing power.
Fixed tip credit floor is quietly compressing FOH-BOH pay gaps.
Wyoming's $2.13 tipped cash wage has not moved since 2009, while Line Cook pay continues drifting down to $33,311 locally. Operators relying on tip income to keep servers whole may find BOH wage expectations rising faster than FOH total compensation, straining traditional staffing ratios.
Median advertised pay by role — WY NONMETROPOLITAN AREA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant Restaurant Manager | $28,076 | $34,413 | $38,651 | Moderate decline | $39,000 |
| Catering Manager | $41,600 | $65,532 | $70,000 | Significant increase | $50,960 |
| Crew | $24,711 | $28,340 | $30,160 | Moderate decline | $29,839 |
| Line Cook | $28,786 | $33,311 | $37,903 | Moderate decline | $36,826 |
| Restaurant Manager/General Manager | $50,675 | $60,000 | $65,131 | Moderate increase | $59,618 |
| Server | $26,000 | $32,377 | $35,008 | Stable | $35,012 |
| Shift Manager | $25,401 | $31,227 | $33,280 | Moderate decline | $32,731 |
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Wyoming's nonmetro counties show 3.0% statewide unemployment and the second-fewest initial UI claims since 2007, signaling a labor pool that remains structurally tight for restaurant recruiters rather than loosening alongside national trends. Leisure and hospitality led state job growth in early 2026, meaning restaurants compete directly with hotels, outfitters, and seasonal tourism operators for the same shrinking applicant base as winter staffing ramps approach.
What it means
Scarcity, not softening demand, is the defining condition here — national job openings in food services fell sharply through July, but Wyoming's near-record-low claims suggest local operators aren't benefiting from any loosening of candidate supply. With the $2.13 tipped cash wage unchanged since 2009 and no state minimum wage movement, compensation competitiveness depends entirely on scheduling stability and non-wage retention levers rather than base-rate increases. Consider evaluating whether current FOH tip-credit exposure to volatile tourist-season tip income is driving turnover more than base pay itself.
Looking ahead
Expected: Wyoming's September 2026 unemployment data publishes October 20-21; watch whether the 3.0% rate holds as winter tourism hiring ramps in Teton and resort-adjacent counties.
Emerging pressure point: Construction's seasonal winter slowdown historically pushes temporary workers into service-sector job searches; monitor whether this inflow reaches restaurant applicant pools or bypasses them for warehousing and retail.
Worth watching: National food-service job openings have fallen from 916,000 to 673,000 since January, easing competitive pressure elsewhere — confirm whether Wyoming's tighter local market is following that national loosening or staying structurally scarce.
Potential inflection point: Catering Manager pay's sharp local rise may presage similar upward pressure on event-adjacent FOH roles as tourism books into winter; compensation planning should account for seasonal premium creep beyond base hourly rates.
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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