{"schema_version": 1, "id": "napa-ca-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 366, "label": "Napa, CA MSA", "slug": "napa-ca-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "restaurant_industry", "slug": "restaurant-industry", "label": "Restaurant Industry"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T06:52:23.372399+00:00", "headline": "Napa pay climbs for crew, falls for managers.", "headline_summary": "Napa Line Cook pay rose to $48,578 and Crew to $42,640 even as Assistant Restaurant Manager pay fell significantly to $57,397, compressing the promotion incentive amid 4.2% metro unemployment.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Napa MSA unemployment", "value": "4.2%", "context": "vs 5.1% California statewide"}, {"label": "Assistant Manager pay shift", "value": "$57,397", "context": "Down significantly, metro median"}, {"label": "CA leisure/hospitality job loss", "value": "-9,600", "context": "Largest sectoral decline, Sept. 2026"}, {"label": "Local WARN filing", "value": "91 workers", "context": "Renteria Vineyard Mgmt, effective Oct. 15"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Management pay is falling while crew pay climbs.", "body": "Assistant Restaurant Manager advertised pay dropped significantly to $57,397 and Shift Manager pay fell to $43,472, even as Crew ($42,640) and Line Cook ($48,578) wages moved up moderately. Shrinking the supervisory premium weakens the financial case for promoting from within, a structural risk given 80% annual restaurant turnover nationally."}, {"headline": "Seasonal hospitality losses may not be seasonal alone.", "body": "California leisure and hospitality lost 9,600 jobs in September, the state's largest sectoral decline, landing alongside a 91-worker Renteria Vineyard Management WARN notice local to Napa. Tasting-room and vineyard-adjacent food service operators should watch whether this fall's contraction is deeper than typical seasonal patterns given broader winery layoff activity (Gallo's nearly 100 cuts earlier in 2026)."}, {"headline": "Napa's tight labor market keeps wage floors elevated.", "body": "4.2% unemployment, nearly a full point below the state's 5.1%, signals Napa operators compete in a tighter labor pool than most California metros even during seasonal slowdown. Expect limited relief on entry-level wage pressure even as hospitality headcount contracts seasonally."}, {"headline": "Catering Manager pay signals event-side demand strength.", "body": "Catering Manager advertised pay rose moderately to $63,006 locally while the national median fell to $50,076 \u2014 a growing local premium that appears to reflect Napa's events, tourism and wine-country hospitality economy outperforming generic foodservice trends elsewhere."}], "local_conditions": "Napa MSA unemployment held at 4.2% in October, well below California's 5.1% statewide rate, even as agriculture-dependent seasonal employment continues its annual wind-down and a 91-worker WARN filing from Renteria Vineyard Management hit the local labor pool effective October 15. Statewide, leisure and hospitality shed 9,600 jobs in September \u2014 the largest sectoral decline in California \u2014 suggesting Napa's restaurant and tasting-room workforce faces the same seasonal contraction pressure even as the metro's overall labor market stays tight.", "implications": "Advertised pay for Line Cook ($48,578) and Crew ($42,640) is climbing locally while Assistant Restaurant Manager pay has dropped significantly to $57,397 and Shift Manager pay has softened to $43,472 \u2014 a compression pattern that mirrors the statewide wage-floor squeeze where $16.90 minimum wage growth narrows the gap between entry-level and supervisory compensation. With California's no-tip-credit structure already flooring front-of-house labor costs and BOH roles like cooks projected to grow 12% in demand against 2% for servers nationally, operators are effectively competing hardest for back-of-house talent while management tiers lose their pay advantage. Consider reviewing assistant manager and shift manager pay bands against crew-level advertised rates to confirm promotion incentives haven't eroded to the point of discouraging internal advancement.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Watch whether additional WARN filings follow Renteria Vineyard Management's 91-worker notice as wineries and vineyard-adjacent employers continue adjusting headcount; any spillover into tasting-room and hospitality staffing would tighten an already thin local labor pool further."}, {"category": "Policy to monitor", "body": "DOL's October withdrawal of the federal 80/20 tipped-wage rule doesn't change California's no-tip-credit floor directly, but operators with multi-state footprints should track whether it shifts corporate side-work scheduling practices that could migrate to California operations."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "California's Fast Food Council retains authority to adjust the $20 fast-food wage floor annually; any announced increase would further compress the crew-to-supervisor pay gap already visible in Napa's falling Assistant Manager and Shift Manager advertised rates."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Track whether Napa's 4.2% unemployment rate holds through the winter off-season or drifts toward the 4.3% level seen in August, which would signal slack building in the exact season operators need lean, predictable staffing."}], "roles": [{"role": "Assistant Restaurant Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 45760.0, "metro_p50": 57397.0, "metro_p75": 68880.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 39211.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Catering Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 43680.0, "metro_p50": 63006.0, "metro_p75": 74560.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 50076.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Crew", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29971.0, "metro_p50": 42640.0, "metro_p75": 42640.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 30066.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Line Cook", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 40513.0, "metro_p50": 48577.8, "metro_p75": 52000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 37421.4, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Restaurant Manager/General Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 67070.0, "metro_p50": 87855.0, "metro_p75": 108486.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 59724.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Server", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 35152.0, "metro_p50": 37440.0, "metro_p75": 41196.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 35024.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Shift Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 32512.0, "metro_p50": 43472.0, "metro_p75": 45602.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 33024.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "California Employment Development Department", "source_url": null, "statement": "Napa MSA unemployment rate at 4.2% for October 2026"}, {"source_name": "California EDD", "source_url": null, "statement": "California statewide unemployment rate at 5.1%"}, {"source_name": "California EDD", "source_url": null, "statement": "California leisure and hospitality lost 9,600 jobs in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "California WARN Act filings", "source_url": null, "statement": "Renteria Vineyard Management WARN notice for 91 workers"}, {"source_name": "Industry operator survey data", "source_url": null, "statement": "Restaurant annual turnover reached approximately 80%"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "BLS projects cooks to grow 12% 2025-2035 vs 2% for waiters"}], "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": "napa-ca-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.html", "pdf": "napa-ca-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:26:50.304901+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/napa-ca-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/napa-ca-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.pdf"}