{"schema_version": 1, "id": "logan-ut-id-msa/human-resources/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 277, "label": "Logan, UT-ID MSA", "slug": "logan-ut-id-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "human_resources", "slug": "human-resources", "label": "Human Resources"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T02:30:02.438628+00:00", "headline": "Logan's tight labor market meets a persistent pay gap.", "headline_summary": "Cache County unemployment held at 3.2% in July while Logan's $28.31 average hourly wage trailed the national $33.54 rate by nearly 16%, forcing employers to compete on factors beyond base pay.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Cache County unemployment", "value": "3.2%", "context": "vs. 3.5% Utah, 4.1% national"}, {"label": "Logan avg. hourly wage", "value": "$28.31", "context": "vs. $33.54 national average"}, {"label": "Logan civilian labor force", "value": "~83,400", "context": "~81,000 employed, near full employment"}, {"label": "Utah statewide unemployment", "value": "3.5%", "context": "up from 3.3% in Jan 2025"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Logan's wage gap to national rates is widening in HR roles.", "body": "Recruiter pay sits at $42,778 locally versus $67,234 nationally, and HR Coordinator at $39,104 versus $50,460 \u2014 gaps exceeding 20-30% that make remote and Wasatch Front competition for entry-level HR talent increasingly difficult to win on pay alone."}, {"headline": "HR Business Partner pay is moving in opposite directions locally and nationally.", "body": "Metro HRBP pay is down moderately to $60,180 while national pay is up moderately to $83,900, a divergence that may reflect Logan employers restructuring HR generalist roles or absorbing responsibilities into adjacent functions as they deprioritize direct competition for standalone HRBP talent."}, {"headline": "HRIS Analyst demand looks like the metro's clearest compensation signal this month.", "body": "Advertised pay rose moderately to $97,578, now exceeding the stable national median of $95,000 \u2014 a sign that Logan employers are actively bidding for systems and data expertise even as softer HR-support roles see pay erode."}, {"headline": "Tight local labor supply is colliding with below-average advertised wages.", "body": "A 3.2% county unemployment rate signals minimal slack, yet the metro's $28.31 average hourly wage lags the national figure by nearly $5.25 an hour \u2014 a mismatch that typically precedes either accelerated local wage catch-up or sustained vacancy duration."}], "local_conditions": "Cache County unemployment held at a tight 3.2% in July, well below the state's 3.5% and national 4.1%, while the metro's civilian labor force of roughly 83,400 continues to run near full employment. Advertised pay in Logan remains structurally compressed relative to national rates \u2014 the metro's $28.31 average hourly wage trails the U.S. average of $33.54 by nearly 16% \u2014 a gap that is forcing HR teams to compete on factors beyond base pay as local labor supply stays scarce.", "implications": "Sub-4% unemployment paired with a persistent wage gap to national rates means Logan employers cannot rely on pay alone to close talent gaps against remote or multi-market competitors, particularly for roles like HR Business Partner and Recruiter where advertised pay sits 28-36% below national medians. Retention economics favor developing internal talent given how thin the local candidate pool runs, and the compression in HR-support roles specifically may signal employers shifting headcount toward higher-value HRIS and compensation functions. Consider reviewing total rewards packages for roles exposed to this metro-to-national pay gap, with particular attention to whether non-cash benefits can offset the differential.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Compliance deadline", "body": "Utah's November 1 deadline for hospital anti-retaliation policies lands directly on Logan Regional Hospital and other health system employers; HR teams should confirm policy documentation and manager training are complete before the deadline."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Healthcare non-compete restrictions in effect since May mean Logan's hospital and clinic employers have fewer retention levers for clinical staff, raising the stakes on compensation and scheduling flexibility as retention tools."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Statewide information-sector job losses (-1,700) have not yet shown up distinctly in Logan MSA data; watch whether displaced tech and IT talent begins appearing in the local candidate pool given Northrop Grumman's footprint in the metro."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Construction wage growth is projected to exceed 5% statewide; Logan employers competing for skilled trades against Wasatch Front projects should monitor whether local advertised rates begin tracking that trajectory."}], "roles": [{"role": "Compensation Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 74182.25, "metro_p50": 101975.8, "metro_p75": 116644.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 100798.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Business Partner", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 38586.5, "metro_p50": 60179.6, "metro_p75": 93509.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 83900.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Benefits Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 78000.0, "metro_p50": 116048.0, "metro_p75": 127488.75, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 118618.2, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HRIS Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 81000.0, "metro_p50": 97578.0, "metro_p75": 105408.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 95000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Coordinator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 35537.0, "metro_p50": 39104.0, "metro_p75": 41600.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 50460.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Recruiter", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 33280.0, "metro_p50": 42777.8, "metro_p75": 50424.25, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 67234.2, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Payroll Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 46440.0, "metro_p50": 51750.0, "metro_p75": 51888.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 61103.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Cache County unemployment at 3.2% in July 2026"}, {"source_name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Logan MSA average hourly wage of $28.31 in May 2025"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Utah statewide unemployment rate of 3.5%"}, {"source_name": "Utah State Legislature", "source_url": null, "statement": "Utah hospital anti-retaliation policy deadline of November 1, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Utah State Legislature", "source_url": null, "statement": "Healthcare non-compete restrictions in effect since May 6, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Logan MSA civilian labor force of approximately 83,400"}], "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": "logan-ut-id-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "pdf": "logan-ut-id-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:25:13.101235+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/logan-ut-id-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/logan-ut-id-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}