Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Bellingham, WA MSA · October 2026
Every advertised-pay, job-posting and industry figure in this briefing comes from WageScape's own database of active job postings. The sources below back the external facts cited in the written analysis.
Sources cited in this report
This Month's Takeaways
Bellingham minimum wage of $19.13 is $2.00 above state minimum
City of Bellingham — Municipal minimum wage ordinance effective January 2026
Whatcom County had largest over-the-year employment decline among large WA counties
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — County employment and wages data, year ending December 2025
Local Economic Conditions
Whatcom County unemployment rose from 3.6% to 4.5% in August 2026
My Bellingham Now — Reporting on Washington State Employment Security Department data
County added 360 jobs while 989 more residents became unemployed
Washington State Employment Security Department — Monthly county employment data via My Bellingham Now
Looking Ahead
Washington education and health services added 10,300 jobs statewide
Washington State Employment Security Department — Statewide sector employment data, September 2026
Washington wage growth at 3.1% against inflation near 3.5%
Washington Employment Security Department / BLS — Wage and inflation comparison, September 2026
How the numbers are calculated
- Advertised pay is the median of the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro. It is not survey or payroll data.
- Percent changes compare the latest six full months with the six months before that, for the same metro and sector.
- Sectors group postings by the employer's industry (NAICS) classification into ten sectors. Where a metro has too few postings in a sector, the state figure is used instead.
- Role pay trends use the same comparison windows. "Stable" means a change of less than 3%; "moderate" 3–10%; "significant" more than 10%.
Official data for comparison