Green Bay outpaces a cooling Wisconsin — but real wages are not keeping up.
3.1%
Green Bay MSA unemployment
May 2026, vs. metro's 4.56% long-term average
-8,100 jobs
Wisconsin job change since peak
Nov 2024 peak to July 2026, while U.S. kept growing
4.2% vs 3.9% CPI
Wisconsin wage growth vs. inflation
Forecast 2026 wage gain barely outpacing core inflation
180,800 jobs
Brown County nonfarm payrolls
Up from 179,000 in January 2026
This Month's Takeaways
01
Green Bay's labor market is tighter than the state's, not just the nation's.
A 3.1% metro unemployment rate compares favorably to Wisconsin's job losses since late 2024 and the national cooling trend (29,000 September payroll additions, well below trend). For commerce leaders, this divergence is the month's most quotable fact: Green Bay is outperforming its own state, not just riding a national wave.
02
Manufacturing and healthcare are carrying the metro, not diversifying it.
Manufacturing (29,386 jobs) and healthcare (24,451 jobs) together anchor the local wage base at $1,310–$1,360 weekly, while statewide manufacturing employment is declining 0.2% and trade/transportation contracting roughly 1%. Concentration in two sectors means local economic resilience is tied closely to how those industries weather national tariff and demand shifts — a factor worth monitoring, not advocating on.
03
Real wages may be flattening even where job counts look healthy.
Several metro advertised-pay categories — customer service, food service, marketing, warehouse/fulfillment — show declining or softening trends while Wisconsin core inflation runs near 3.9%. That combination is consistent with a local economy where employment volume is strong but purchasing power for a meaningful share of the workforce is not keeping pace.
04
Professional and technical pay gains suggest a two-speed local economy.
Software engineering, data engineering, registered nursing, and accounting roles in the metro show upward advertised-pay momentum even as retail, food service, and administrative categories soften or decline. This split mirrors the national divergence between hands-on/skilled-service growth and white-collar softness, and is worth watching as an indicator of which parts of the local business base are expanding.
Local Economic Conditions
Green Bay metro unemployment held at 3.1% in May 2026 — well below the long-term metro average of 4.56% — even as Brown County nonfarm payrolls climbed to roughly 180,800 jobs, a sign the local economy is tightening faster than Wisconsin or the nation as a whole. Manufacturing (29,386 jobs, $1,360 average weekly wage) and healthcare (24,451 jobs, $1,310 weekly) remain the metro's two structural pillars, with continued advertised activity from employers including American Foods Group, Procter & Gamble, and HSHS Prevea Health pointing to steady, broad-based labor demand rather than a single-sector spike.
Open Threads in the Data
Metro-level tightness — a 3.1% jobless rate against a statewide pattern of flat-to-declining job counts — suggests Green Bay's economy is better insulated than Wisconsin's overall, which lost roughly 8,100 jobs since late 2024, making the metro a relative bright spot for commerce leaders assessing expansion or investment timing. At the same time, wage-versus-inflation dynamics are unfavorable statewide (3.9% core CPI against a 4.2% forecast wage gain) and several metro advertised-pay categories — warehouse/fulfillment, customer service, food service, marketing — are trending down or softening, which may compress local consumer purchasing power even as headline employment looks strong. Current conditions suggest economic development and chamber leaders track wage-versus-CPI trends alongside job counts, since a tight labor market with eroding real pay can mask softening retail and service-sector demand.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the Green Bay, WI MSA metro — median advertised pay, its recent trend, and the number of active postings behind each figure. Jobs are grouped for readability and are not the same as the 10 sector classifications on the next page. For additional job detail contact WageScape.
Retail Trade
| Retail Sales Associate |
$30,454 |
→ Stable |
1,152 |
| Retail Cashier |
$29,331 |
→ Stable |
693 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$37,440 |
↓ Moderate decline |
391 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$77,712 |
↑ Moderate increase |
2,470 |
| Delivery Driver |
$37,440 |
↓ Moderate decline |
1,171 |
| Warehouse Manager |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$41,600 |
→ Stable |
287 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$72,432 |
→ Stable |
314 |
| HVAC Technician |
$65,000 |
→ Stable |
44 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$39,572 |
→ Stable |
574 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$38,282 |
↓ Moderate decline |
504 |
| Operations Manager |
$82,250 |
↑ Moderate increase |
63 |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$31,671 |
↓ Moderate decline |
35 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$42,640 |
↓ Moderate decline |
812 |
| Registered Nurse |
$99,320 |
↑ Moderate increase |
2,103 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$39,520 |
→ Stable |
314 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$130,019 |
↑ Moderate increase |
195 |
| Data Engineer |
$129,002 |
↑ Significant increase |
18 |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$68,565 |
↑ Moderate increase |
197 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$62,496 |
↑ Moderate increase |
93 |
| Marketing Specialist |
$53,550 |
↓ Significant decline |
44 |
| Business Analyst |
$73,612 |
↓ Significant decline |
53 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$82,175 |
↑ Moderate increase |
83 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$37,440 |
→ Stable |
965 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$92,095 |
↑ Moderate increase |
362 |
Industry Snapshot · Green Bay, WI MSA
Advertised pay and job-posting trends across the whole metro economy, rolled up by employer industry — not just the bellwether roles above.
| Sector |
Median Pay Change |
Job Postings Change |
| Construction |
→ +2.7% |
↑ +202.9% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +3.3% |
↑ +115.4% |
| Retail Trade |
↑ +8.6% |
↑ +67.6% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↑ +14.3% |
↑ +84.1% |
| Information |
↑ +22.7% |
↑ +74.0% |
| Financial Activities |
→ +2.1% |
↑ +128.9% |
| Professional & Business Services |
→ −0.9% |
↑ +116.5% |
| Education & Health Services |
↑ +14.1% |
↑ +58.0% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
→ −1.7% |
↑ +60.6% |
| Government |
↑ +18.2% |
↑ +229.6% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Expected
Official June–September 2026 BLS data for the Green Bay MSA has not yet posted as of this briefing; expect a data catch-up in coming weeks that will clarify whether May's 3.1% rate held through summer or drifted toward the metro's historical 4.56% average.
Emerging pressure point
Wisconsin's 56 WARN notices in 2026 (3,914 workers affected) run below 2025 levels, but national WARN activity remains elevated among large employers in retail, logistics, and food processing. Watch whether any multi-site regional employers with Green Bay operations appear on forthcoming state filings.
Worth watching
Statewide equity data shows Black unemployment at 7.2% against a 2.3% white rate in Q1 2026, alongside falling overall labor force participation (64.5%, down from 65.4% a year ago). Local economic development groups may want to track whether Brown County's participation rate is following or diverging from this statewide slide.
Potential inflection point
National wage growth has slipped to its lowest annual pace since May 2021 (3.0%) against 3.4% inflation, reversing two years of real wage gains. If that gap persists into Green Bay's next wage data release, it would mark the first real-wage erosion period for the metro's workforce since 2022.
Sources & Methodology
Pay and hiring data provided by WageScape. See every source cited in this report, with links →
Advertised pay reflects the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro, not survey or payroll data. Pay trends compare the current period with the prior period for the same metro and role. Sector figures group postings by the employer's industry classification; sectors with limited classified postings are marked as such rather than estimated. This briefing is independent of, and complements, official statistics from the BLS and state labor market information offices.
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