Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Knoxville, TN 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
Knoxville MSA unemployment rate was 2.7% in May 2026
Knoxville Chamber of Commerce ECO Report — Monthly economic conditions report citing BLS-sourced metro unemployment data
National wage growth slowed to 3.0% annual increase, below 3.4% inflation
Bureau of Labor Statistics — September 2026 employment situation report, average hourly earnings
This Month's Takeaways
Davidson County weekly wages rose 6.6% YoY, the largest gain among major TN counties
Bureau of Labor Statistics — Q1 2026 County Employment and Wages report
Local Economic Conditions
Knoxville MSA lost 1,200 jobs in June 2026, averaging -133/month for 2026
USA Facts / Bureau of Labor Statistics — Metro-level nonfarm payroll employment data
Knox County average weekly wages were $1,316 in Q1 2026, up 2.7% YoY
Bureau of Labor Statistics — County Employment and Wages (QCEW) report
Looking Ahead
TikTok's Nashville office closure affecting 250 workers scheduled for Oct. 5, 2026
Tennessee WARN Notices — State WARN Act filing disclosure
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