San Angelo holds near-record-low unemployment as wage gains split sharply by sector.
3.6%
San Angelo unemployment rate
2nd-lowest TX metro; vs 4.4% state, 4.1% U.S.
63.9%
Labor force participation
Tom Green County; vs 63.7% TX, 61.8% U.S.
-significant local vs +4.8% TX
Manufacturing wage divergence
Metro production worker pay down vs TX mfg up
3.0% wage growth vs 3.4% CPI
National wage-inflation gap
Lowest annual wage gain since May 2021
This Month's Takeaways
01
San Angelo's labor market is tighter than the state's, not looser.
A 3.6% unemployment rate against Texas's 4.4% and the nation's 4.1% signals a shallow pool of available workers locally, even as labor force participation near 63.9% shows most residents who can work already are. Any business considering local expansion should weigh worker availability, not just demand conditions, before committing.
02
Manufacturing wages are falling locally while rising statewide.
Metro manufacturing production worker pay dropped significantly even as Texas manufacturing wages posted 4.8% annual growth, the strongest pace since late 2023. The gap may suggest San Angelo's manufacturing base is structurally different from the state's data-center and AI-adjacent growth story, a distinction economic development planners should track closely.
03
Skilled trades and healthcare pay are pulling away from retail and food service.
HVAC technician pay rose significantly and registered nurse pay rose significantly locally, while retail cashier and food service pay stayed flat or declined. This bifurcation is consistent with the national pattern of hands-on, credentialed work outpacing lower-wage service roles, and points to where local wage-driven consumer spending power is actually concentrated.
04
National payroll deceleration has not yet reached San Angelo's numbers.
September's national payroll add of just 29,000 and downward revisions to July and August stand in contrast to San Angelo's improving unemployment trajectory from 3.8% in July to 3.4% not seasonally adjusted in September. Local resilience may reflect the metro's public-sector and healthcare employment base, which is less exposed to the finance and information-sector softness dragging on the national count.
Local Economic Conditions
San Angelo's August unemployment rate held at 3.6%, the second-lowest among Texas metros and well below both the state's 4.4% and the national 4.1% reading, even as local civilian labor force participation sits near 63.9% against a 62.2% statewide figure. Momentum appears concentrated in education/health services and leisure/hospitality, the metro's two largest employment sectors, while advertised pay for skilled trades — HVAC, CDL driving, registered nursing — continues rising even as manufacturing production wages fell sharply, pointing to an economy expanding unevenly across skill tiers rather than broadly.
Open Threads in the Data
Divergence between a near-record-low jobless rate and a significant decline in manufacturing production wages suggests San Angelo's labor market is tightening fastest in services and skilled trades while manufacturing softens locally even as Texas manufacturing wages accelerate statewide — a signal worth distinguishing before drawing conclusions about the metro's industrial base. Commerce leaders weighing local expansion or investment should treat the 3.6% unemployment rate as evidence of a thin available labor pool rather than broad economic weakness; current conditions suggest reviewing which sectors are actually absorbing the area's modest labor force growth before assuming across-the-board tightness applies to a specific expansion plan.
Advertised Pay Indicators · WageScape Benchmark 25 Jobs
Job postings data for the San Angelo, TX MSA metro — median advertised pay, its recent trend, and the number of active postings behind each figure. Jobs are grouped for readability and are not the same as the 10 sector classifications on the next page. For additional job detail contact WageScape.
Retail Trade
| Retail Sales Associate |
$28,080 |
→ Stable |
476 |
| Retail Cashier |
$25,304 |
↓ Moderate decline |
230 |
Transportation & Warehousing
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate |
$36,308 |
↑ Moderate increase |
105 |
| CDL Truck Driver |
$81,817 |
↑ Moderate increase |
488 |
| Delivery Driver |
$33,208 |
↓ Moderate decline |
295 |
| Warehouse Manager |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Construction
| Construction Laborer |
$36,505 |
↑ Moderate increase |
13 |
Construction/Skilled Trades
| Electrician |
$67,846 |
↓ Moderate decline |
56 |
| HVAC Technician |
$69,087 |
↑ Significant increase |
5,969 |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler |
$28,822 |
↓ Significant decline |
24 |
Cross-Sector
| Customer Service Representative |
$36,562 |
↑ Moderate increase |
61 |
| Operations Manager |
— |
Limited local postings |
— |
Leisure & Hospitality
| Food Service Worker |
$27,040 |
→ Stable |
27 |
Healthcare
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide |
$34,010 |
↑ Moderate increase |
243 |
| Registered Nurse |
$92,503 |
↑ Significant increase |
860 |
Admin/Office Support
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk |
$35,994 |
→ Stable |
61 |
Information/Technology
| Software Engineer |
$152,465 |
↑ Moderate increase |
75,144 |
| Data Engineer |
$136,140 |
↑ Moderate increase |
29,902 |
Professional & Business Services
| Accountant |
$65,000 |
↑ Significant increase |
27 |
| HR Generalist/Manager |
$72,500 |
↑ Significant increase |
7,980 |
| Marketing Specialist |
$60,734 |
→ Stable |
6,674 |
| Business Analyst |
$97,107 |
→ Stable |
26,220 |
Finance & Insurance
| Financial Analyst |
$93,298 |
↑ Moderate increase |
13,103 |
Government/Education
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher |
$51,507 |
↑ Significant increase |
512 |
Cross-Sector Sales
| Account Manager |
$79,022 |
↑ Significant increase |
16 |
Industry Snapshot · San Angelo, TX MSA
Advertised pay and job-posting trends across the whole metro economy, rolled up by employer industry — not just the bellwether roles above.
| Sector |
Median Pay Change |
Job Postings Change |
| Construction |
↑ +10.9% |
↑ +54.8% |
| Manufacturing |
↑ +17.3% |
↑ +180.4% |
| Retail Trade |
↓ −5.7% |
↑ +59.3% |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities |
↑ +14.6% |
↑ +121.7% |
| Information |
↑ +7.5% |
↑ +78.4% |
| Financial Activities |
↑ +13.8% |
↑ +69.6% |
| Professional & Business Services |
↑ +47.6% |
↑ +131.4% |
| Education & Health Services |
↑ +17.6% |
↑ +15.4% |
| Leisure & Hospitality |
↑ +6.3% |
↑ +35.4% |
| Government |
↑ +94.4% |
↑ +1087.5% |
Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days
Worth watching
Texas's statewide wage-vs-inflation margin has narrowed to roughly 2.7% year-over-year for average hourly earnings against a national CPI running near 3.4%. Watch whether San Angelo's healthcare and skilled-trades wage gains are enough to keep local purchasing power ahead of inflation as the year closes.
Early indicator
Texas WARN filings remain concentrated in transportation/logistics and manufacturing statewide, with total affected workers down 45% year over year. San Angelo has not appeared prominently in recent WARN activity, but commerce leaders should monitor whether that holds given the metro's declining manufacturing wage signal.
Potential inflection point
National labor force participation has plateaued at 61.8% with government payrolls shedding workers for a full year. San Angelo's public-sector stability, anchored by education, government, and corrections employment, is a local counterweight worth tracking if that national government drawdown trend reaches Texas municipal or county payrolls.
Expected
Dallas Fed's upward revision of 2026 Texas job growth to 2.0% reflects data-center and AI-related activity concentrated in larger metros. San Angelo's smaller, services-heavy base makes it unlikely to capture much of that growth directly, which is relevant for regional economic development messaging that leans on statewide figures.
Sources & Methodology
Pay and hiring data provided by WageScape. See every source cited in this report, with links →
Advertised pay reflects the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro, not survey or payroll data. Pay trends compare the current period with the prior period for the same metro and role. Sector figures group postings by the employer's industry classification; sectors with limited classified postings are marked as such rather than estimated. This briefing is independent of, and complements, official statistics from the BLS and state labor market information offices.
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