Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Chico, CA 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
Key Indicators
California unemployment rate at 5.1% in August 2026, highest of any state
California Employment Development Department — State labor force and unemployment report
This Month's Takeaways
Butte County ranked sixth in net migration in 2024 with 600 net new residents
California Department of Finance — County migration estimates
Local Economic Conditions
Chico MSA unemployment rate reached 6.2% in August 2026
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Chico MSA
Open Threads in the Data
Butte County median home price near $444,000, about half statewide average
California Association of Realtors — County-level home price data referenced in metro economic profile
Looking Ahead
National wage growth slipped to 3.0% against 3.4% inflation
Bureau of Labor Statistics — National wage and CPI data, September 2026
California allocated $3 million for Valero Benicia Refinery closure workforce support
State of California — State economic transition funding announcement
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