October 2026
About this month's data
October 12–13 cleanup: we removed 134 listings re-posted from Indeed, ZipRecruiter and Snagajob, merged duplicate listings, dropped roles located outside Arkansas, and retired about 145 closed postings left behind by replaced scrapers.
We also repaired the City of Fayetteville, City of Springdale, Harps and CEI sources and added 16 public employers on October 13 (UAMS Northwest, the City of Siloam Springs, six more school districts, Fayetteville Public Library, Ozark Regional Transit and others). Changes from September reflect these coverage changes as much as hiring.
Because our coverage changed, this report doesn't show month-over-month changes.
Active postings
2,914
New postings
503
Employers hiring
97
Postings showing pay
46%
Advertised Pay
Hourly roles — median
$20.50/hr
475 postings from 35 employers. Middle half: $19.11/hr to $24.61/hr.
Walmart posted 42% of these; without Walmart the median is $20.00/hr.
Salaried roles — median
$135,000
872 postings from 39 employers. Middle half: $100,000 to $165,000.
Walmart posted 58% of these; without Walmart the median is $127,750.
Top Hiring Employers
Hiring by Category
Pay by Category
| Category | Hourly median | Salaried median |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | $23.55/hr(42) | $93,304(23) |
| Engineering | $20.65/hr(59) | $117,500(62) |
| Technology | $30.50/hr(14) | $165,000(337) |
| Education | $17.00/hr(34) | $36,300(15) |
| Supply Chain | $21.05/hr(56) | $117,500(121) |
| Retail Operations | $20.50/hr(180) | — |
| Finance & Accounting | — | $135,000(94) |
| Human Resources | $23.10/hr(22) | $117,500(72) |
| Construction & Trades | $22.18/hr(29) | $85,000(21) |
| Hospitality & Tourism | $14.50/hr(27) | — |
| Marketing & Creative | — | $148,360(40) |
| Sales | — | $129,750(45) |
Medians shown only where at least 10 postings from at least 3 employers list pay on that basis.
City Breakdown
| City | Active Postings | Hourly median | Salaried median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bentonville | 937 | $21.88/hr(158) | $135,000(577) |
| Fayetteville | 663 | $20.67/hr(118) | $139,500(200) |
| Springdale | 552 | $20.50/hr(81) | $70,000(33) |
| Rogers | 232 | $20.50/hr(52) | $92,500(41) |
| Siloam Springs | 147 | $20.50/hr(23) | — |
| Region-wide (no town listed) | 134 | — | — |
| Lowell | 96 | — | — |
| Gentry | 37 | — | — |
| Johnson | 36 | — | — |
| Tontitown | 18 | — | — |
| Centerton | 13 | — | — |
| Pea Ridge | 13 | — | — |
Charts & Data
Each chart carries its date and source. Use them in your own reporting with attribution to NWA Job Search.
How to cite
NWA Job Search, "NWA Job Market Report — October 2026," nwajobsearch.com/reports/2026-10 (preliminary data as of October 15, 2026).
Methodology, corrections and custom data requests: see press & data.
Methodology
Figures are computed from job postings collected daily from the career sites of Northwest Arkansas employers (Walmart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, hospitals, cities, school districts and dozens more). We don't include listings re-posted by job boards such as Indeed or ZipRecruiter.
Active postings, employers and pay come from the last daily snapshot of the month (2026-10-15). New postings are openings we first saw during the month, counted once each. Postings the employer had listed more than 14 days before we found them (for example, when we add a new employer) don't count as new.
Pay uses the midpoint of each advertised range. Hourly and salaried roles are reported separately, because one combined figure is dominated by whichever group is larger. Postings that don't list pay are left out of pay figures. Where one employer posts most of a group, we name it and give the median without it.
Free to cite with attribution to NWA Job Search. Explore the live data in the NWA salary explorer.