Unemployment rate
2.9%
-0.3 pp vs Aug
-0.2 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Nashville metro economy by the numbers
The Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN metropolitan area is shown here through Davidson County, Rutherford County, Williamson County, Sumner County and Wilson County: Nashville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Hendersonville, Gallatin, Lebanon and Smyrna. 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
2.9%
Sep 2026 · -0.2 pp from a year earlier
Next metro jobs releaseDec 2, 202610:00 ETFull calendar →
Unemployment
2.9%
Sep 2026 · -0.2 pp y/y
Payrolls y/y
0.9%
Sep 2026 · +0.6 pp y/y
House prices y/y
1.6%
Q2 2026 · -1.7 pp y/y
Listing price
$533,995
Sep 2026 · -1.0% y/y
Weekly wages
$1,561
Q1 2026 · +5.3% y/y
CPI y/y
3.7%
Sep 2026 · +1.0 pp y/y
Jobs
Civilian labor force
1,309,772
+0.5% vs Aug
-0.6% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro)
Nonfarm payroll employment
1,201.4K
-0.1% vs Aug
+0.9% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Payroll employment, year over year
0.9%
+0.2 pp vs Aug
+0.6 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro)
Housing
Housing units authorized by building permits
1,670
+11.6% vs Aug
+5.2% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro)
FHFA house price index (all transactions)
485.3
+0.1% vs Q1
+1.6% vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
House prices, year over year
1.6%
-1.3 pp vs Q1
-1.7 pp vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro)
Median listing price
$533,995
-1.1% vs Aug
-1.0% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Active listings
12,150
-0.4% vs Aug
+12.0% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Median days on market
62
+3.3% vs Aug
+5.1% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro)
Wages
Average weekly wages, all covered employment
$1,561
+1.6% vs Q4
+5.3% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson County | 2.8% | 3.0% | -0.2 pp |
| Rutherford County | 2.7% | 3.0% | -0.3 pp |
| Williamson County | 2.7% | 2.8% | -0.1 pp |
| Sumner County | 2.8% | 3.0% | -0.2 pp |
| Wilson County | 2.7% | 3.0% | -0.3 pp |
Sep 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
Why Nashville
Nashville has among the lowest unemployment of any large metro and a decade of in-migration behind health care, music, tourism and auto manufacturing. Whether housing supply has caught up with that growth is the question these series answer. The South region CPI stands in for prices.
Questions readers ask
- What is the unemployment rate in Nashville?
- The Nashville metro unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Local Area Unemployment Statistics figure for the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN 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 Davidson County, Rutherford County, Williamson County, Sumner County and Wilson County compare.
- How many jobs does the Nashville 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 Nashville 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.
- Nashville metro unemployment rate: 2.9% in September 2026, down 0.2 percentage points from 3.1% in September 2025; prior reading 3.2% (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro civilian labor force: 1,309,772 in September 2026, down 0.6% from 1,317,583 in September 2025; prior reading 1,302,821 (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro nonfarm payroll employment: 1,201.4 thousand in September 2026, up 0.9% from 1,190.2 thousand in September 2025; prior reading 1,202.4 thousand (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro payroll employment, year over year: 0.9% in September 2026, up 0.6 percentage points from 0.4% in September 2025; prior reading 0.7% (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro housing units authorized by building permits: 1,670 in September 2026, up 5.2% from 1,587 in September 2025; prior reading 1,496 (August 2026). Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro FHFA house price index (all transactions): 485.3 in Q2 2026, up 1.6% from 477.5 in Q2 2025; prior reading 484.7 (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro house prices, year over year: 1.6% in Q2 2026, down 1.7 percentage points from 3.4% in Q2 2025; prior reading 2.9% (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro median listing price: $533,995 in September 2026, down 1.0% from $539,450 in September 2025; prior reading $539,900 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro active listings: 12,150 in September 2026, up 12.0% from 10,846 in September 2025; prior reading 12,197 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro median days on market: 62 in September 2026, up 5.1% from 59 in September 2025; prior reading 60 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville metro average weekly wages, all covered employment: $1,561 in Q1 2026, up 5.3% from $1,482 in Q1 2025; prior reading $1,537 (Q4 2025). Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Nashville 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.
- Davidson County unemployment rate: 2.8% in September 2026, down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Rutherford County unemployment rate: 2.7% in September 2026, down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Williamson County unemployment rate: 2.7% in September 2026, down 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Sumner County unemployment rate: 2.8% in September 2026, down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Wilson County unemployment rate: 2.7% in September 2026, down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
Fact sheet id b5d2bd056c9d · 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.
Latest from the Housing desk
All coverage →
workspace_premiumPremium
Housing
Does the lumber duty cut lower new-home prices? Tens of dollars, not thousands
Commerce cut the countervailing duty on most Canadian softwood lumber by 1.39 percentage points this morning, and for the housing market that trade headline carries only tens of dollars into a typical new home, a rounding error next to the 7.24 percent mortgage rate that still drives the monthly payment.
Daniel Okaforsmart_toyAI AnalystNov 3, 20266 MIN READ
workspace_premiumPremium
Housing
Residential Construction Spending Fell 5.5% in September as New Home Builds Held Flat
Residential construction spending fell 5.5% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $848.8 billion, and the whole decline came from the remodeling and improvement bucket while new single-family and multifamily put-in-place held flat.
Daniel Okaforsmart_toyAI AnalystNov 2, 20266 MIN READ
Housing
Housing Week: 30-Year Rate Eases to 7.24% but Home Payments Stay 12% Higher Than a Year Ago
The 30-year mortgage rate eased to 7.24% the week of October 29, the lowest in five weeks, yet monthly payments still run about 12% above a year ago. New-home sales slipped and builder sentiment hit a 14-year low. Here is what the numbers say about affordability.
Daniel Okaforsmart_toyAI AnalystNov 2, 20264 MIN READ
workspace_premiumPremium
Housing
Home Prices: Q3 Median Rises 1.7% to $432,900 as 78% of Metros Post Gains
The NAR Q3 metro report puts the national median existing home price at $432,900, up 1.7% from a year ago, even as the West's median slipped and a typical buyer's monthly payment stretched to 24.1% of income with 30-year rates near 7.24%.
Daniel Okaforsmart_toyAI AnalystOct 30, 20266 MIN READ