{"schema_version": 1, "id": "lewiston-id-wa-msa/life-sciences/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 241, "label": "Lewiston, ID-WA MSA", "slug": "lewiston-id-wa-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "life_sciences", "slug": "life-sciences", "label": "Life Sciences"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T04:18:24.630793+00:00", "headline": "Lewiston clinical pay climbs as local hiring cools", "headline_summary": "Nez Perce County unemployment rose to 3.3% even as metro Clinical Research Associate pay hit $108,215, well above the $90,065 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Nez Perce County unemployment", "value": "3.3%", "context": "Up from 3.2% in July 2026"}, {"label": "Lewiston MSA nonfarm payrolls", "value": "-0.7%", "context": "Year-over-year decline, Sept. 2026"}, {"label": "CRA advertised pay, metro vs. national", "value": "$108,215 vs $90,065", "context": "Metro running 20% above national median"}, {"label": "LC State College enrollment", "value": "-3.4%", "context": "Fall 2026 vs. record 2025 levels"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Clinical talent pay is outrunning the national trend here.", "body": "Metro CRA pay ($108,215) and Clinical Data Manager pay ($125,237) both post significant advertised increases, with CRA pay now running well above the national median of $90,065. That reversal suggests local employers are paying a scarcity premium that outpaces national wage benchmarks."}, {"headline": "Lab support compensation is lagging behind clinical roles.", "body": "Lab Technician advertised pay sits at $42,640 locally, trailing the $47,840 national median and showing only moderate movement. Widening gap between lab and clinical compensation may push technicians toward clinical support roles, straining bench capacity for R&D and quality functions."}, {"headline": "Regulatory Affairs pay is rising locally while falling nationally.", "body": "Metro Regulatory Affairs Specialist pay moved up moderately to $87,849 even as the national median declined to $103,780. Divergence suggests Lewiston-area employers are competing against a shrinking supply of regulatory-fluent candidates locally, even as national demand softens."}, {"headline": "A shrinking college pipeline raises the stakes on retention.", "body": "Lewis-Clark State College enrollment fell 3.4% this fall, following a record 2025 class, just as the metro's largest hospital employer changes ownership under Lifepoint Health. Fewer entry-level scientific and clinical graduates locally means retention of current regulatory and clinical staff carries more weight than in past cycles."}], "local_conditions": "Nez Perce County's unemployment rate ticked up to 3.3% in August from 3.2% in July, while the broader Lewiston MSA posted a 0.7% year-over-year decline in nonfarm payrolls, signaling a cooling local labor market even as north-central Idaho's unemployment rate held near multi-year lows. St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center's acquisition by Lifepoint Health, finalized ahead of a July close, consolidates one of the metro's largest healthcare employers under a national system just as regional Life Sci employers compete for the same clinical and scientific talent pool.", "implications": "Metro-level pay for specialized roles \u2014 Clinical Research Associate at $108,215 and Clinical Data Manager at $125,237 \u2014 is rising faster than national medians in some cases, suggesting Lewiston employers are bidding aggressively for a thin local bench despite limited broad labor slack. Declining enrollment at Lewis-Clark State College (-3.4% fall 2026) compounds this, narrowing the pipeline for lab and clinical support roles precisely as nonfarm employment softens region-wide. Consider evaluating whether build-vs-outsource tradeoffs for CRA and clinical data functions should shift toward CRO partnerships given how thin the local credentialed talent pool appears relative to advertised pay growth.\n\n", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Lifepoint Health's integration of St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center may reshape clinical and regulatory staffing patterns across the metro's largest healthcare employer. Watch for consolidation-driven departures that could add experienced clinical talent to the local candidate pool."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Nez Perce County unemployment has risen two consecutive months (3.2% to 3.3%), a reversal from the region's tighter spring conditions. Confirm whether this reflects broader nonfarm softness or isolated sector movement before adjusting headcount plans."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Lewis-Clark State College's enrollment decline is a leading signal for the region's future lab technician and entry-level scientific pipeline. Life Sci employers relying on local graduates should factor longer time-to-fill into 2027 workforce planning."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Continued divergence between rising local Regulatory Affairs pay and falling national pay may widen further if Idaho's broader wage growth (third-highest nationally) persists. Consider whether current regulatory compensation structures hold up against this trajectory into Q1 2027."}], "roles": [{"role": "Research Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 109700.0, "metro_p50": 123482.0, "metro_p75": 149000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 130339.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Clinical Research Associate", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 60000.0, "metro_p50": 108215.0, "metro_p75": 113374.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 90065.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "significant"}, {"role": "Lab Technician", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 37517.25, "metro_p50": 42640.0, "metro_p75": 43420.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 47840.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Regulatory Affairs Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 77370.75, "metro_p50": 87849.0, "metro_p75": 113287.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 103779.6, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Clinical Data Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 111109.0, "metro_p50": 125236.8, "metro_p75": 169000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 123653.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Biostatistician", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 95629.75, "metro_p50": 128298.8, "metro_p75": 128486.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 131958.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Validation Engineer", "data_scope": null, "metro_p25": null, "metro_p50": null, "metro_p75": null, "metro_trend_direction": null, "metro_trend_magnitude": null, "national_p50": 106478.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Federal Reserve Economic Data / BLS", "source_url": null, "statement": "Nez Perce County unemployment rose to 3.3% in August 2026"}, {"source_name": "Idaho Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Lewiston MSA nonfarm payrolls fell 0.7% year-over-year"}, {"source_name": "Idaho Department of Labor LMI", "source_url": null, "statement": "Lifepoint Health acquisition of St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center"}, {"source_name": "Idaho Department of Labor LMI", "source_url": null, "statement": "Lewis-Clark State College fall 2026 enrollment declined 3.4%"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS", "source_url": null, "statement": "Idaho ranks third nationally for wage growth"}], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "lewiston-id-wa-msa/life-sciences/2026-10.html", "pdf": "lewiston-id-wa-msa/life-sciences/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:25:03.180895+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lewiston-id-wa-msa/life-sciences/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lewiston-id-wa-msa/life-sciences/2026-10.pdf"}