Unemployment rate
3.7%
-0.2 pp vs Aug
unchanged vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED
Austin metro economy by the numbers
The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area covers Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties: Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, San Marcos, Kyle and Bastrop. 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
3.7%
Sep 2026 · unchanged from a year earlier
Next metro jobs releaseDec 2, 202610:00 ETFull calendar →
Unemployment
3.7%
Sep 2026 · unchanged y/y
Payrolls y/y
0.9%
Sep 2026 · -0.8 pp y/y
House prices y/y
0.3%
Q2 2026 · +0.8 pp y/y
Listing price
$446,450
Sep 2026 · -9.8% y/y
Weekly wages
$1,851
Q1 2026 · +5.6% y/y
CPI y/y
3.7%
Sep 2026 · +1.0 pp y/y
Jobs
Civilian labor force
1,572,032
+0.4% vs Aug
+0.4% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED
Nonfarm payroll employment
1,421.1K
-0.1% vs Aug
+0.9% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED
Payroll employment, year over year
0.9%
-0.2 pp vs Aug
-0.8 pp vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs
Housing
Housing units authorized by building permits
3,257
+69.3% vs Aug
+24.2% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro), via FRED
FHFA house price index (all transactions)
506.3
+0.9% vs Q1
+0.3% vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED
House prices, year over year
0.3%
+1.3 pp vs Q1
+0.8 pp vs Q2 2025
Q2 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs
Median listing price
$446,450
-0.8% vs Aug
-9.8% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED
Active listings
12,083
-3.5% vs Aug
+1.4% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED
Median days on market
80
+9.6% vs Aug
+1.3% vs Sep 2025
Sep 2026 · not seasonally adjusted · Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED
Wages
Average weekly wages, all covered employment
$1,851
+0.9% vs Q4
+5.6% vs Q1 2025
Q1 2026 · seasonally adjusted · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro), via FRED
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, via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs
Unemployment by county
| County | Rate | Year ago | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travis County | 3.6% | 3.6% | unchanged |
| Williamson County | 3.7% | 3.8% | -0.1 pp |
| Hays County | 3.7% | 3.7% | unchanged |
| Bastrop County | 3.7% | 3.9% | -0.2 pp |
| Caldwell County | 3.9% | 3.9% | unchanged |
Sep 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, via FRED.
Why Austin
Austin added jobs faster than any large US metro through the early 2020s and then saw one of the sharpest housing corrections in the country. Whether payrolls, permits and listing prices have found a floor is the question these series answer each month. Texas has no Austin CPI; the South region index is the closest official measure of prices.
Questions readers ask
- What is the unemployment rate in Austin?
- The Austin metro unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Local Area Unemployment Statistics figure for the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan 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 Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties.
- How many jobs does the Austin 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.
- Are Austin 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.
- Austin metro unemployment rate: 3.7% in September 2026, unchanged from 3.7% in September 2025; prior reading 3.9% (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro civilian labor force: 1,572,032 in September 2026, up 0.4% from 1,566,059 in September 2025; prior reading 1,566,354 (August 2026). Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro nonfarm payroll employment: 1,421.1 thousand in September 2026, up 0.9% from 1,408.2 thousand in September 2025; prior reading 1,422.6 thousand (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro payroll employment, year over year: 0.9% in September 2026, down 0.8 percentage points from 1.7% in September 2025; prior reading 1.1% (August 2026). Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro housing units authorized by building permits: 3,257 in September 2026, up 24.2% from 2,623 in September 2025; prior reading 1,924 (August 2026). Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro FHFA house price index (all transactions): 506.3 in Q2 2026, up 0.3% from 504.6 in Q2 2025; prior reading 501.7 (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro house prices, year over year: 0.3% in Q2 2026, up 0.8 percentage points from -0.5% in Q2 2025; prior reading -0.9% (Q1 2026). Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (metro), via FRED; year-over-year change computed by MarketIntelLabs; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro median listing price: $446,450 in September 2026, down 9.8% from $495,000 in September 2025; prior reading $450,000 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro active listings: 12,083 in September 2026, up 1.5% from 11,910 in September 2025; prior reading 12,517 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro median days on market: 80 in September 2026, up 1.3% from 79 in September 2025; prior reading 73 (August 2026). Source: Realtor.com Housing Inventory (metro), via FRED; not seasonally adjusted.
- Austin metro average weekly wages, all covered employment: $1,851 in Q1 2026, up 5.6% from $1,753 in Q1 2025; prior reading $1,835 (Q4 2025). Source: BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (metro), via FRED; seasonally adjusted.
- Austin 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.
- Travis County unemployment rate: 3.6% in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Williamson County unemployment rate: 3.7% in September 2026, down 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Hays County unemployment rate: 3.7% in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Bastrop County unemployment rate: 3.7% in September 2026, down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
- Caldwell County unemployment rate: 3.9% in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier. Source: BLS LAUS (county), not seasonally adjusted.
Fact sheet id bea34d51ca43 · data through Sep 2026
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