{"schema_version": 1, "id": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 415, "label": "Port St. Lucie, FL MSA", "slug": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "restaurant_industry", "slug": "restaurant-industry", "label": "Restaurant Industry"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T07:02:03.685330+00:00", "headline": "Port St. Lucie's wage ladder is flattening as the $15 floor lands.", "headline_summary": "Metro Line Cook pay fell to $36,244 against a $30,160 Crew median, narrowing the BOH premium just as Florida's $15 minimum and $11.98 tipped wage took full effect September 30.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "5.2%", "context": "vs 4.4% Florida, 4.2% national (Sept. 2026)"}, {"label": "Florida minimum wage", "value": "$15.00/hr", "context": "Final step effective Sept. 30; tipped min. $11.98"}, {"label": "St. Lucie County wage growth", "value": "2.9% YoY", "context": "Q1 2026, trails $15 floor increase closely"}, {"label": "National restaurant turnover", "value": "~80% annual", "context": "Up from 72% pre-pandemic baseline"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Entry and skilled pay are converging in Port St. Lucie.", "body": "Crew pay rose to a metro median of $30,160 while Line Cook pay fell to $36,244 \u2014 a gap of roughly $6,000, thinner than the premium BOH roles typically command nationally. Operators risk losing the wage incentive that keeps cooks from drifting to easier front-of-house or retail work."}, {"headline": "Catering Manager pay is diverging sharply from the national trend.", "body": "Metro Catering Manager pay climbed significantly to $33,922 even as the national median fell to $50,076, a reversal large enough to suggest local banquet and event demand \u2014 tied to the metro's winter tourism build-up \u2014 is outpacing comparable markets. Compensation strategy for this role should track local event volume over national survey data."}, {"headline": "Assistant Manager pay is sliding against a stable national benchmark.", "body": "Metro Assistant Restaurant Manager pay dropped significantly to $31,885 against a stable national figure of $39,211, a gap wide enough to threaten the metro's ability to backfill GM pipelines locally. Combined with Florida's $15 wage floor compressing entry pay, the management career ladder here looks shallower than peer metros."}, {"headline": "The new tipped-wage rule gives FOH scheduling more flexibility.", "body": "DOL's October withdrawal of the 80/20 rule lets operators pay the $11.98 Florida tipped minimum for side work without the prior 20% cap, reducing direct wage exposure during slow shifts. This may create room to reallocate labor budget toward BOH retention without raising total FOH cost."}], "local_conditions": "Port St. Lucie's unemployment rate held at 5.2% in September, still running above both the Florida (4.4%) and national (4.2%) averages, even as St. Lucie County wages grew 2.9% year-over-year through Q1 2026. Florida's final minimum wage step to $15.00 and tipped minimum to $11.98, effective September 30, lands directly on a metro economy already carrying elevated construction-sector wage competition and a workforce where over 60% commute outside the county for work.", "implications": "Metro-level wage growth of 2.9% trails the state's $15 wage floor increase closely enough that many Port St. Lucie operators are likely compressing pay near the new minimum, flattening the ladder between entry crew and tenured staff. Local advertised pay confirms this: Crew pay is up moderately to $30,160 while Line Cook pay fell to $36,244, narrowing the BOH skill premium right as cooks face 12% projected growth in demand through 2035. Consider reviewing whether Line Cook and Shift Manager pay still clears Crew pay by a margin wide enough to justify internal promotion over external hiring.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "Florida's $15 minimum and $11.98 tipped floor took full effect September 30; watch October-November P&Ls for the first full-month read on labor cost as a share of revenue before winter tourism staffing ramps."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "BOH wage compression (Line Cook pay down to $36,244 against rising demand projections) suggests cook turnover could accelerate into the winter season staffing push. Monitor whether BOH openings take longer to fill than FOH as volume builds."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Catering Manager pay's sharp local rise against a national decline points to event and banquet demand building ahead of peak tourist season. Track whether this spreads to other event-adjacent roles like Banquet Captain or Sales Coordinator."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Metro unemployment at 5.2% remains a full point above the national 4.2%, yet construction continues absorbing labor at 6.2% of local employment versus 4.1% nationally. Watch whether softening construction activity this winter releases labor into restaurant-adjacent roles."}], "roles": [{"role": "Assistant Restaurant Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 24235.0, "metro_p50": 31885.0, "metro_p75": 38992.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 29014.0, "metro_p50": 33921.6, "metro_p75": 53552.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 50076.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Crew", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 27006.0, "metro_p50": 30160.0, "metro_p75": 31352.0, "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": 31239.0, "metro_p50": 36244.0, "metro_p75": 39520.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 50142.0, "metro_p50": 60000.0, "metro_p75": 66500.0, "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": 27480.0, "metro_p50": 32486.0, "metro_p75": 35639.0, "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": 28853.0, "metro_p50": 33280.0, "metro_p75": 37440.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 33024.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Florida Department of Commerce", "source_url": null, "statement": "Port St. Lucie MSA unemployment rate at 5.2% for September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Florida Department of Commerce", "source_url": null, "statement": "Florida minimum wage rose to $15.00, tipped minimum to $11.98, effective Sept. 30, 2026"}, {"source_name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "BLS projects cooks to grow 12% from 2025-2035 versus 2% for waiters"}, {"source_name": "U.S. Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "DOL withdrew the 80/20 tipped wage rule in October 2026"}, {"source_name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "St. Lucie County average weekly wages rose 2.9% YoY in Q1 2026"}, {"source_name": "Industry turnover research", "source_url": null, "statement": "Restaurant annual turnover reached approximately 80%, up from 72% pre-pandemic"}], "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": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.html", "pdf": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:28:27.153119+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/port-st-lucie-fl-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/port-st-lucie-fl-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-10.pdf"}