{"schema_version": 1, "id": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 480, "label": "Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA", "slug": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "restaurant_industry", "slug": "restaurant-industry", "label": "Restaurant Industry"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:35:54.218435+00:00", "headline": "Scranton restaurant pay lags national rates as local unemployment climbs.", "headline_summary": "Crew pay fell to a $27,040 metro median against a stable $29,839 nationally, while metro unemployment at 4.7% in July ran well above Pennsylvania's 4.1% average.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "4.7%", "context": "July 2026, vs 4.1% PA and US rates"}, {"label": "Luzerne County unemployment", "value": "5.0%", "context": "September 2026, above metro average"}, {"label": "National food service job openings", "value": "673,000", "context": "Down from 916,000 in January 2026"}, {"label": "Regional food service median wage", "value": "$29,296", "context": "vs $33,478 national median"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Metro unemployment running hotter than the state norm.", "body": "Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's 4.7% July rate and Luzerne County's 5.0% September rate both outpace Pennsylvania's 4.1% average, suggesting a modestly deeper local candidate pool than state figures imply. Restaurant operators recruiting FOH and crew roles may find marginally easier fills than peers in tighter PA metros."}, {"headline": "Server pay stuck below national levels despite tight supply.", "body": "Metro server pay sits at $31,194 against a $35,012 national median, a gap wide enough that it likely signals ongoing vulnerability to turnover toward better-tipped markets or adjacent industries. Advertised stability in this rate, rather than growth, suggests operators are competing more on tip potential and shift flexibility than base pay."}, {"headline": "Catering Manager pay softening while national rate holds firm.", "body": "Metro catering manager pay is down moderately to $52,337 even as the national median stabilizes at $50,960, narrowing what had been a local premium. Operators managing event and catering staffing should reassess whether this role still commands a local premium or if budgets have begun converging toward national norms."}, {"headline": "Crew wage declines may widen churn risk at the entry tier.", "body": "Crew pay fell moderately to a metro median of $27,040 while the national figure held stable near $29,839, pulling local entry-level compensation further from national norms. Given food service employment's 20% regional growth since 2020, continued softening here risks feeding the turnover the industry is already working to reduce."}], "local_conditions": "Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's seasonally adjusted unemployment sat at 4.7% in July, running above both the 4.1% state and national rates, while Luzerne County registered 5.0% in September \u2014 a labor supply picture that is loosening even as Pennsylvania's $7.25 minimum wage freeze holds restaurant wage floors flat for a 17th straight year. Food service employment in Northeast PA grew 20% between 2020 and 2025, but regional food service workers still earn a median of $29,296 against a $33,478 national median, suggesting the hiring boom hasn't closed the local pay gap that likely drives churn.", "implications": "Softening job openings nationally (673,000 in accommodation and food services by July, down from 916,000) and a smaller-than-usual September seasonal pullback locally point toward a labor market where candidate pools are modestly deeper but still tight at the entry-level, tipped-wage tier. With Pennsylvania's tipped cash wage locked at $2.83 and the 80/20 rule constraining back-of-house cross-utilization, labor cost control increasingly depends on scheduling precision rather than wage floor relief. Consider reviewing scheduling optimization and cross-training investments now, since neither state wage policy nor a dramatically looser labor market appears poised to ease cost pressure in the next two quarters.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "Watch whether Luzerne County's 5.0% unemployment rate and the metro's 4.7% reading converge or diverge over the next two monthly releases \u2014 a widening gap would signal uneven labor supply across the MSA's distribution-heavy versus hospitality-heavy submarkets."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National job openings in accommodation and food services have fallen from 916,000 to 673,000 since January; track whether this translates locally into faster fills for FOH roles or simply reflects fewer postings overall."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Pennsylvania's H.B. 2189 minimum wage bill passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate \u2014 any movement there would be the first material change to the state's $7.25 floor in 17 years and would immediately reshape tipped-wage math for every Scranton operator."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National operators report 49% planning retention-strategy investment and 45% optimizing scheduling as labor-cost levers; expect regional franchise and multi-unit groups to signal similar shifts in Q4 budget planning as crew and server pay here lag national benchmarks."}], "roles": [{"role": "Assistant Restaurant Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 23417.0, "metro_p50": 39520.0, "metro_p75": 44859.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 39000.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Catering Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 39158.5, "metro_p50": 52337.0, "metro_p75": 58786.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 50960.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Crew", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 24278.0, "metro_p50": 27040.0, "metro_p75": 31200.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 29839.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Line Cook", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29719.0, "metro_p50": 34320.0, "metro_p75": 36400.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 36826.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Restaurant Manager/General Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 45946.0, "metro_p50": 57500.0, "metro_p75": 62500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 59618.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Server", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 27613.5, "metro_p50": 31193.6, "metro_p75": 33759.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 35012.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Shift Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 27701.0, "metro_p50": 33280.0, "metro_p75": 35360.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 32731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "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": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.html", "pdf": "scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:36:15.521201+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/scranton-wilkes-barre-pa-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.pdf"}