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Midland leads the nation on jobs, lags on wages.
3.3%
Midland unemployment rate
Lowest of any Texas metro, August 2026
3.3%
Midland payroll growth (YoY)
2nd fastest among U.S. metros, behind Mankato, MN
-8.0%
Midland avg. weekly wage change
Only decline among large TX counties, Q3 2025
1.1%
Texas statewide job growth
vs Midland's 3.3% metro-level growth
This Month's Takeaways
Midland's job growth outpaces the state and nearly all U.S. metros.
Non-farm payrolls rose 3.3% year-over-year, the second-fastest rate among metro areas nationally, while Texas overall grew 1.1%. That gap signals an economy still expanding on its own trajectory, somewhat insulated from the national slowdown to roughly 29,000 monthly job additions in September.
A wage decline sits uneasily beside record-low unemployment.
Average weekly wages fell 8.0% year-over-year in Q3 2025, the only decline among large Texas counties, even as the metro added workers faster than almost anywhere in the country. That combination most likely reflects energy-sector pay volatility rather than a broad local slowdown, but it complicates any simple read on household purchasing power.
Energy-sector swings continue to set the metro's economic tempo.
Midland's labor market remains anchored to oil and gas activity, meaning payroll and wage swings here move on a different cycle than the state's broader manufacturing and services rebound. Commerce leaders should treat Midland's numbers as a distinct, energy-linked story rather than a proxy for statewide momentum.
Tight labor supply may be the real constraint on further expansion.
A 3.3% unemployment rate leaves little slack for employers seeking additional workers, consistent with the statewide pattern of manufacturers citing applicant shortages. Further payroll growth in Midland may depend more on labor force participation gains than on available job openings.
Local Economic Conditions
Midland posted the lowest unemployment rate of any Texas metro for a second consecutive reading, 3.3% in August, while non-farm payrolls grew 3.3% year-over-year — the second-fastest pace among all U.S. metros, trailing only Mankato, Minnesota. That headline strength coexists with a documented wage anomaly: Midland was the only large Texas county to post a year-over-year decline in average weekly wages (-8.0% in Q3 2025), a divergence that appears tied to energy-sector pay volatility rather than broad-based softening.
Open Threads in the Data
Payroll growth this strong, paired with the tightest labor market in the state, points to an economy still absorbing workers faster than most of Texas or the nation — a signal commerce leaders can cite as evidence the metro remains in expansion mode even as national job growth cools. The wage contraction, however, complicates that story for policy economists watching purchasing power, since a metro can show employment strength while household income growth lags, particularly if the decline is concentrated in high-paying energy roles rotating out of the wage base. Local economic development and chamber leaders should consider examining whether payroll growth is translating into broad-based income gains across sectors, or concentrated in lower-wage categories that would understate the metro's underlying purchasing-power trajectory.
