Unemployment rate
3.3%
-0.4 pp vs Aug
-0.6 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Charlotte metro economy by the numbers
The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan area is shown here through Mecklenburg County, Union County, Cabarrus County, Gaston County and York County, SC: Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Rock Hill, Huntersville, Kannapolis and Monroe. These are the official monthly and quarterly numbers for the metro's jobs, housing, wages and prices, each one dated and linked to its source, updated the day the agency publishes.
Unemployment rate
3.3%
Sep 2026 · -0.6 pp from a year earlier
Next metro jobs releaseDec 2, 202610:00 ETFull calendar →
Unemployment
3.3%
Sep 2026 · -0.6 pp y/y
Payrolls y/y
1.2%
Jul 2026 · -0.1 pp y/y
House prices y/y
1.5%
Q2 2026 · -1.7 pp y/y
Listing price
$424,950
Sep 2026 · -3.1% y/y
Weekly wages
$1,558
Q1 2026 · +3.5% y/y
CPI y/y
3.7%
Sep 2026 · +1.0 pp y/y
Jobs
Civilian labor force
1,494,983
+0.8% vs Aug
+0.2% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Nonfarm payroll employment
1,402.8K
+0.2% vs Jun
+1.2% vs Jul 2025
Jul 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Payroll employment, year over year
1.2%
+0.0 pp vs Jun
-0.1 pp vs Jul 2025
Jul 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Housing
Housing units authorized by building permits
1,200
-27.1% vs Aug
-24.3% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro)
FHFA house price index (all transactions)
412.4
+0.3% vs Q1
+1.4% vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
House prices, year over year
1.5%
-1.4 pp vs Q1
-1.7 pp vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
Median listing price
$424,950
-0.9% vs Aug
-3.1% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Active listings
11,182
-0.7% vs Aug
+10.3% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Median days on market
64
+4.9% vs Aug
+10.3% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Wages
Average weekly wages, all covered employment
$1,558
+0.8% vs Q4
+3.5% vs Q1 2025
Q1 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro)
Prices
Consumer prices, South region, year over year
3.7%
+0.3 pp vs Aug
+1.0 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Consumer Price Index, South region, all items
Unemployment by county
| County | Rate | Year ago | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg County | 3.3% | 3.8% | -0.5 pp |
| Union County | 2.9% | 3.4% | -0.5 pp |
| Cabarrus County | 3.0% | 3.6% | -0.6 pp |
| Gaston County | 3.2% | 3.9% | -0.7 pp |
| York County, SC | 3.7% | 4.5% | -0.8 pp |
Sep 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
Why Charlotte
Charlotte is the second-largest banking center in the United States and a fast-growing logistics and manufacturing region that spills into South Carolina. The South region CPI stands in for prices.
Questions readers ask
- What is the unemployment rate in Charlotte?
- The Charlotte metro unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Local Area Unemployment Statistics figure for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metropolitan statistical area, not seasonally adjusted, published about six weeks after the month ends. The headline at the top of this page is the latest print; the county table shows how Mecklenburg County, Union County, Cabarrus County, Gaston County and York County, SC compare.
- How many jobs does the Charlotte metro have?
- Nonfarm payroll employment counts jobs on employer payrolls in the metro, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, from the BLS Current Employment Statistics survey. The year-over-year line shows whether hiring is accelerating or slowing; it is the cleanest single read on the local labor market.
- Are Charlotte home prices going up or down?
- Two measures are shown. The FHFA house price index tracks repeat sales of the same homes each quarter, so it measures price change rather than the mix of what sold. The Realtor.com median listing price is the monthly asking price of homes on the market; with active listings and days on market it shows how the market feels to a buyer today.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- Every series is a public federal statistic (BLS, Census Bureau, FHFA) or Realtor.com's monthly housing inventory, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database. Each figure links to its source series. MarketIntelLabs computes the year-over-year changes and writes the fact sheet; nothing on this page is estimated or modelled.
Fact sheet
Every figure above, as one dated sentence each. This is the text our desk writes from; a local newsroom may quote it with attribution to the source named in each line.
- Charlotte metro unemployment rate: 3.3% in September 2026, down 0.6 percentage points from 3.9% in September 2025; prior reading 3.7% (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro civilian labor force: 1,494,983 in September 2026, up 0.2% from 1,492,535 in September 2025; prior reading 1,483,879 (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro nonfarm payroll employment: 1,402.8 thousand in July 2026, up 1.2% from 1,385.7 thousand in July 2025; prior reading 1,400.4 thousand (June 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro payroll employment, year over year: 1.2% in July 2026, down 0.2 percentage points from 1.4% in July 2025; prior reading 1.2% (June 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro housing units authorized by building permits: 1,200 in September 2026, down 24.3% from 1,586 in September 2025; prior reading 1,645 (August 2026). Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro FHFA house price index (all transactions): 412.4 in Q2 2026, up 1.5% from 406.5 in Q2 2025; prior reading 411.2 (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro house prices, year over year: 1.5% in Q2 2026, down 1.7 percentage points from 3.2% in Q2 2025; prior reading 2.8% (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro median listing price: $424,950 in September 2026, down 3.1% from $438,475 in September 2025; prior reading $429,000 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro active listings: 11,182 in September 2026, up 10.3% from 10,137 in September 2025; prior reading 11,263 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro median days on market: 64 in September 2026, up 10.3% from 58 in September 2025; prior reading 61 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro average weekly wages, all covered employment: $1,558 in Q1 2026, up 3.5% from $1,505 in Q1 2025; prior reading $1,545 (Q4 2025). Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Charlotte metro consumer prices, South region, year over year: 3.7% in September 2026, up 1.0 percentage point from 2.7% in September 2025; prior reading 3.4% (August 2026). Source: BLS Consumer Price Index, South region, all items, via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Mecklenburg County unemployment rate: 3.3% in September 2026, down 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Union County unemployment rate: 2.9% in September 2026, down 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Cabarrus County unemployment rate: 3.0% in September 2026, down 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Gaston County unemployment rate: 3.2% in September 2026, down 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- York County, SC unemployment rate: 3.7% in September 2026, down 0.8 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
Fact sheet id 4bbfa3cbe63b · data through Sep 2026
Sources: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro); BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro); Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro); FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro); Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro); BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro); BLS Consumer Price Index, South region, all items. Official statistics retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database; MarketIntelLabs computes the changes shown. Nothing on this page is estimated.
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