{"schema_version": 1, "id": "st-george-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 362, "label": "St. George, UT MSA", "slug": "st-george-ut-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "human_resources", "slug": "human-resources", "label": "Human Resources"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T02:44:48.251049+00:00", "headline": "St. George wages outpace Utah while HR support roles flatten.", "headline_summary": "Washington County wage growth hit 7% year-over-year \u2014 nearly double the statewide pace \u2014 even as local HR Coordinator pay fell to $46,584, below the $50,460 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Washington County wage growth", "value": "7.0%", "context": "vs 4.3%-4.0% in Weber, Salt Lake, Utah counties"}, {"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "3.5%", "context": "Down from 3.6% a year earlier; vs 4.1% US"}, {"label": "County employment growth", "value": "4.0%", "context": "Year-over-year through August 2026"}, {"label": "HR Coordinator advertised pay", "value": "$46,584", "context": "Down moderately; below $50,460 national median"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Washington County wages are outrunning the state by a wide margin.", "body": "Seven percent year-over-year wage growth locally compares to 4.3%-4.0% in Weber, Salt Lake, and Utah counties, signaling that St. George employers face a distinct compensation environment set apart from the state trend. Pay strategies built on statewide averages risk underpricing roles in this metro."}, {"headline": "Compensation expertise is getting repriced upward even as coordination roles flatten.", "body": "Compensation Analyst advertised pay rose to a metro median of $110,649 \u2014 above the $100,798 national figure \u2014 while HR Coordinator pay fell to $46,584 locally, below the $50,460 national median. Employers appear to be investing in strategic pay design capability while treating administrative HR support as a cost to hold flat."}, {"headline": "Healthcare non-compete restrictions tighten right as the sector keeps growing.", "body": "Utah's ban on new healthcare worker non-competes, in force since May, lands as Washington County's hospital and healthcare employment continues expanding alongside Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital's footprint. Retention now depends on total rewards design, raising the stakes on benefits and career-path differentiation as contractual restrictions ease."}, {"headline": "Low statewide hiring urgency hasn't reached this metro's wage curve.", "body": "Utah's broader low-hire, low-fire pattern and 20-week average job search contrast with Washington County's above-average wage acceleration, consistent with a local labor market where demand for specific skill sets still outpaces supply despite slower overall churn. Expect continued difficulty filling specialized roles even as total requisition volume looks modest."}], "local_conditions": "Washington County's 3.5% unemployment rate and 4% year-over-year employment growth through August reflect an economy still absorbing new residents and business relocations drawn by Utah's corporate climate, with healthcare, tourism, and retail anchoring job creation. Average weekly wages in the county climbed 7% year-over-year \u2014 more than double the Utah average \u2014 a pace that compounds the compensation pressure already building from statewide talent tightness and a 20-week average job search for displaced workers.", "implications": "Wage growth running at 7% locally against a national backdrop of compositional wage stalling (3.0% year-over-year, Baby Boomer-to-junior-tenure turnover) means St. George employers can no longer rely on national pay trend data to set competitive offers \u2014 the metro is moving faster than the country. Compensation Analyst pay up significantly locally while HR Coordinator and Recruiter roles hold flat or decline suggests employers are investing in pay strategy infrastructure even as they compress cost on administrative and sourcing functions. Consider reviewing which roles in your HR function are being priced against stale national data versus Washington County's accelerated wage curve.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Compliance deadline", "body": "Utah hospitals must adopt anti-retaliation policies covering reporting and investigation participation by November 1. St. George health systems should confirm policy rollout and manager training are complete ahead of that date."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Healthcare non-compete restrictions combined with continued sector job growth may accelerate clinical and administrative turnover at Intermountain St. George and other local providers. Watch whether competing offers from regional health systems intensify over the next two months."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Washington County's 7% wage growth has outpaced every other major Utah county; whether this holds through year-end data releases will determine if 2026 was an outlier year or the start of a sustained repricing of the metro's labor market."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Job listings in St. George have risen steadily since 2020, but national postings data shows AI-related roles now exceeding 7% of all postings \u2014 a share Washington County employers in healthcare, education, and government have not yet needed to compete for. Monitor whether tech-adjacent hiring begins drawing talent away from traditional anchor sectors."}], "roles": [{"role": "Compensation Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95948.0, "metro_p50": 110649.0, "metro_p75": 116791.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 100798.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Business Partner", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 53600.0, "metro_p50": 71389.0, "metro_p75": 90909.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 83900.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Benefits Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 78000.0, "metro_p50": 116048.0, "metro_p75": 127488.75, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 118618.2, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HRIS Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 81000.0, "metro_p50": 97578.0, "metro_p75": 105408.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 95000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Coordinator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 40040.0, "metro_p50": 46584.2, "metro_p75": 65000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 50460.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Recruiter", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 42870.0, "metro_p50": 60036.6, "metro_p75": 69338.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 67234.2, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Payroll Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 45760.0, "metro_p50": 48290.8, "metro_p75": 51151.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 61103.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Washington County unemployment and year-over-year job growth figures"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services / Zions Bank economist commentary", "source_url": null, "statement": "Washington County average weekly wages rose 7% year-over-year"}, {"source_name": "Utah State Legislature", "source_url": null, "statement": "Utah ban on new non-competes for healthcare workers since May 6, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Utah Department of Health", "source_url": null, "statement": "Utah hospitals must adopt anti-retaliation policies by November 1, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": "https://www.bls.gov", "statement": "National average hourly earnings up 3.0% year-over-year amid compositional shift"}, {"source_name": "St. George News / Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Washington County employment grew 4% over the past year, reaching ~93,566 jobs"}], "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": "st-george-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "pdf": "st-george-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:30:57.494423+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/st-george-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/st-george-ut-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}