Killeen unemployment climbs to 5.4% as Texas job growth bypasses the metro
5.4%
Metro unemployment rate
Up from 4.9% in June; vs 4.0% Texas, 4.2% U.S.
$1,288
Average weekly wage, metro
vs $1,654 national average, Q1 2026
~800 service members
Fort Hood monthly transition volume
Monthly flow into civilian labor force
1.1%
Texas annual job growth
159,400 jobs added; outpaces U.S. by 0.7 pts
This Month's Takeaways
01
Wage floor gap may be an underused selling point.
Average weekly wages here ($1,288) trail the national figure ($1,654) by roughly 22%, a persistent structural gap rather than a new development. For commerce leaders courting employers on cost, this remains a quantifiable advantage, though it also signals constrained local purchasing power relative to the national economy.
02
Fort Hood's transition pipeline is a labor-supply wildcard.
Up to 800 service members leave active duty for the civilian workforce each month in this metro, a volume large enough to move local unemployment figures independent of private-sector hiring activity. Watching how that pipeline interacts with sectors like healthcare and skilled trades, where pay is strengthening nationally, is more informative than watching headline job counts alone.
03
Skilled-trade pay gains locally buck the metro's softer pattern.
HVAC technician pay is up significantly locally (to $61,000) and registered nurse pay is up significantly as well (to $93,600), even as unemployment rises and several other advertised-pay categories soften. Divergence between strengthening skilled-trade/healthcare pay and a cooling broader labor market is consistent with localized, sector-specific tightness rather than metro-wide momentum.
Local Economic Conditions
Killeen-Temple's unemployment rate climbed to 5.4% in July, the latest metro figure available, up from 4.9% in June and well above both the Texas rate of 4.0% and the national 4.2% reading for September, with Fort Hood's steady monthly transition of up to 800 service members into the civilian labor force continuing to add supply faster than local employers are absorbing it. Average weekly wages in the metro ($1,288 in Q1 2026) sit roughly 22% below the national average ($1,654), a structural gap tied to the area's military- and government-heavy employment base rather than a recent shift.
Open Threads in the Data
Rising local unemployment against a backdrop of still-positive statewide job growth (Texas added 159,400 jobs over the year) suggests Killeen's labor market is not tracking the broader Texas expansion, a divergence worth flagging for economic development planning and incentive targeting. Commerce leaders weighing expansion or relocation incentives should treat the area's below-national wage floor as a genuine cost advantage, but should also factor in a labor pool shaped heavily by military transition timing rather than organic population or sector growth. Current conditions suggest reviewing whether local workforce development programming is positioned to channel transitioning service members into the professional and construction roles showing wage strength statewide.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX 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 |
$27,040 |
→ Stable |
1,354 |
| Retail Cashier |
$27,107 |
→ Stable |
650 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$34,195 |
→ Stable |
225 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$77,351 |
↓ Moderate decline |
1,819 |
| Delivery Driver |
$31,667 |
↓ Moderate decline |
1,137 |
| Warehouse Manager |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$37,492 |
↓ Moderate decline |
68 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$71,345 |
→ Stable |
214 |
| HVAC Technician |
$61,000 |
↑ Significant increase |
74 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$35,360 |
→ Stable |
93 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$31,720 |
↓ Moderate decline |
469 |
| Operations Manager |
$83,712 |
↓ Moderate decline |
467 |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$28,080 |
↓ Significant decline |
52 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$35,839 |
→ Stable |
647 |
| Registered Nurse |
$93,600 |
↑ Significant increase |
1,443 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$36,379 |
→ Stable |
220 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$161,356 |
↑ Significant increase |
164 |
| Data Engineer |
$150,725 |
↑ Significant increase |
46 |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$65,000 |
→ Stable |
130 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$54,762 |
→ Stable |
65 |
| Marketing Specialist |
$40,000 |
↓ Significant decline |
11 |
| Business Analyst |
$81,268 |
↓ Significant decline |
11 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$80,146 |
↓ Significant decline |
25 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$56,210 |
↑ Significant increase |
1,665 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$63,357 |
↓ Moderate decline |
75 |
Industry Snapshot · Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX 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 |
↑ +5.8% |
↑ +12.7% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +12.6% |
↑ +95.7% |
| Retail Trade |
↑ +5.1% |
↑ +60.6% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↑ +11.1% |
↑ +142.0% |
| Information |
↑ +6.8% |
↑ +78.5% |
| Financial Activities |
↑ +4.3% |
↑ +130.1% |
| Professional & Business Services |
↓ −18.4% |
↑ +156.6% |
| Education & Health Services |
↑ +21.3% |
↑ +46.9% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
→ −2.8% |
↑ +47.7% |
| Government |
↑ +94.4% |
↑ +1132.1% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Expected
BLS publishes September metro-level employment and unemployment data on October 28, which will show whether July's uptick to 5.4% was a one-month blip or the start of a trend. Commerce leaders should hold off on drawing firm conclusions about metro trajectory until that release.
Worth watching
Texas's statewide labor force grew by just 10,900 over the year despite adding 17,100 in August alone, a supply constraint that could interact with Fort Hood's transition flow to either ease or tighten depending on how many separating service members stay local. Track Central Texas Workforce Board reporting for signs of where that labor is landing.
Emerging pressure point
Statewide manufacturing wage growth (4.8% over the year, the strongest since December 2023) and accelerating Texas manufacturing activity in September stand in contrast to flat-to-declining manufacturing pay signals locally. Watch whether any announced manufacturing or data-center investment reaches this metro given the Dallas Fed's upgraded statewide forecast.
Potential inflection point
National wage growth slowed to 3.0% annually in September, its weakest pace since May 2021, while inflation runs at 3.4% — a gap that, if it persists, could further pressure local consumer spending given this metro's already-below-national wage base. Local retailers and service providers may be first to feel any softening in discretionary spending.
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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