Austin Monthly Economic Indicators – September 2026

The Austin economy

Austin continues to perform well for job growth when compared to the largest metros in the US. For the full year ending in July 2026, Austin added 23,800 jobs or job growth of 1.7%, the second fastest growing of the Top 50 metros. Overall, Texas grew by 1.2% and the US by 0.2% during the same time-frame.

Austin’s job growth in both Professional & Business Services and Construction remains strong adding 9,200 jobs, 3.2% and 5,200 jobs, 5.5% respectively. The Manufacturing sector also added 1,400 jobs YoY.
Passenger activity at Austin’s airport this summer reached historic levels with June and July 2026 being the two busiest months in its history, seeing over 2.1 million passengers each month.
Positive net absorption of 1.4 M SF in the office real estate market saw the vacancy rate drop to 15.7% from 16.5% during the same time last year.

Non-Farm Payroll Job Growth

In July 2026, Austin added 1,500 jobs over the past month, according to the CES seasonally adjusted series. Year over year, the region has gained 23,800 since July ‘25.

Austin’s job growth of 1.7% from July 2025 to July 2026 exceeded the overall rate in TX (1.2%) and the US (0.2%). Austin was ranked as the 2nd best performing of the Top 50 metros in July 2026 for job growth. The metro with the fastest job growth was Salt Lake City at 3.2%, while Fort Worth and Nashville both at 1.6% were third and fourth. With growth of 1.5%, Houston (ranked 5th) was also in the Top 10.

Source:U.S. BLS, CES.

Top Job Gains/Losses by Industry, July 2026

The best performing industries in Austin over the last year were Professional & Business Services (9,200, 3.2%), Construction, Natural Resources, & Mining (5,200 additional jobs, 5.5%), and Leisure & Hospitality (2,700, 1.8%). Austin’s growth rate for Construction jobs significantly outperformed both TX and the US, while Professional & Business Services jobs matched the growth rate of TX and exceeded the US. The manufacturing sector added 1,400 jobs or 1.6% growth over the last year.

The worst performing industries within the Austin region were Information (-2,500, -4.9%), Wholesale Trade (-1,400,
-2.5%), and Government, (-100, 0.0%).

Source:U.S. BLS, CES.

Unemployment

After a steep 5.2% increase in the number of unemployed individuals in 2024, the number increased at a slower rate, 2.4% in 2025. The number of currently unemployed people is 11.3% higher than one year ago, while the number unemployed in Texas is also up by 8.1%. However, across the US 5.3% fewer people are unemployed.

In July 2026, the number unemployed totaled 62,817 in the Austin region, which is 6,367 more than one year ago. In TX, the state experienced 57,335 more unemployed over the past year, while the total across the US actually decreased by 412,000.

Source: U.S. BLS, LAUS.

Unemployment Rate Comparison

The unemployment rate for the Austin region was 4.0% in Jul 2026, which is 0.4 higher than one year ago. Austin’s rate continues to perform better than both TX and the U.S. at 4.8% and 4.4%, respectively. Other TX metros including Dallas-Fort Worth, 4.6%, San Antonio, 4.7%, and Houston, 5.1% were all higher than Austin’s rate. In July 2026, Austin had the twelfth lowest unemployment rate of the Top 50 US metros.

Since recovering from a peak of 11.5% during COVID, Austin’s rate averaged 3.5% in 2023, 2024, and 2025. TX’s rate rose to 12.3% during COVID and declined to 4.0% in 2023 and has since averaged 4.2% in 2025. The US rate reached 14.4% in COVID and declined to 3.6% in 2023 but has since risen to 4.3% in 2025.

Source: U.S. BLS, LAUS.

Workforce Hours & Earnings

The average number of hours worked for payroll jobs in the Austin region in July 2026 was 35.0, down from 35.5 this time last year. For 2026 YTD, hours worked is down 2.2% from 2025 YTD. Texas employees worked the same amount this year at 36.1 as last, while the US average was up a tenth at 34.3.

Average hourly earnings rose in Austin were $36.11 in 2025, up 3.9% compared to increases of 4.6% in Texas and 4.0% in US. For the first six months of 2026, average earnings in Austin were up 6% from $35.80 to 37.95. Increases both in the TX and the US were less profound at 2.7% and 3.4%, respectively.

Source:U.S. BLS, CES.

Metro Business Cycle Index

The Austin metro’s business cycle index continues to show growth in both the YTD and YoY comparison through Jun. After growth of 4.4% in 2025, the rate slowed to 3.1% for YTD 2026 compared to YTD 2025 growth of 4.8%.

Statewide, the business cycle index growth grew by 2.5% from YTD 2025 to YTD 2026, compared to growth of 2.9% from YTD 2024 to YTD 2025. Across Texas, YTD growth in the other major metros were 1.2% in Houston and 1.1% and San Antonio, while Dallas and Ft. Worth were 2.9% and 2.8%, respectively. Produced by the Federal Reserve of Dallas, the business cycle index reflects broad economic conditions including unemployment, inflation-adjusted wage and retail sales growth

Source:Dallas Federal Reserve.

Consumer Price Index

After reaching a 40-year high of 8.0% in the annual percent change in 2022, the U.S. Consumer Price Index growth fell to 2.9% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2025. For the year ending Jul 2026, the CPI increased 3.4%. The biggest contributors to the increase were Energy, up 14.7% from last year with Fuel oil up 39.1% and Gasoline up 24.6%. Shelter and Medical services were each up 3.0% and 2.7% from last year.

While a CPI is not produced for the Austin metro, the Houston and Dallas metro indices were both up by 1.3% in 2025, which is improved from inflation rates of 2.5% and 3.9% in 2024, respectively.

Source:U.S. BLS, CPI.

Sales Tax Receipts

Sales tax allocation payments to the City of Austin totaled $356 million in 2025, a slight increase of 0.4% over 2024. Previously, payments were up 2.4% in 2024. For Aug. 2026, the City of Austin received $34.9 million, up 10.6% from July 2025. YTD 2026 receipts are up 8.4% compared to -1.3% in YTD 2025.

In Round Rock, receipts totaled $129M and were up 10.5% in 2025 following a drop of -1.4% in 2024 and growth of 1.4% in 2023. San Marcos received 0.5% more in sales tax receipts in 2025 to $39M, which follows a decline of -2.1% in 2024 and growth of 4.2% in 2023. For YTD 2026 receipts were up 41.7% in Round Rock and up 3.4% in San Marcos over YTD 2025.

Source: Texas Comptroller.

AUS Airport Passenger Activity

Annual passenger counts through the Austin airport hit 21.6 million passengers in 2025, a drop of 0.4% from 2024. Through July 2026, YTD totals are 12.9 million, up from the same time last year at 12.4 million. July 2026 had a total passenger volume of 2.1 million, making it the second busiest month of all time behind June 2026.

Total cargo (including Belly freight, cargo and mail) totaled 276.4 million pounds in 2025, down 8.5% from 301.9 million pounds in 2024. The annual record for total cargo occurred in 2022 with 310.1 million pounds transported. July 2026 YTD cargo totaled 155.3 million pounds, which was a 1.2% decrease from the same period last year.

Source: City of Austin.

Patent Activity

Austin inventors are averaging 4,520 patents applied each year during the 2020’s, which is higher than the 3,762 averaged during the 2010’s. Patent activity totaled 4,442 in 2025, up 1.1% from 2024. Texas saw a 2.2% drop in patents in 2025, while the US was up 0.3%. In Austin, 2026 YTD patents filed totaled 2,896 through July, up by 14% from YTD 2025.

Austin represents approximately 32.2% of patent activity in TX this year. This is a truly remarkable data point since the Austin MSA only represents around 8% of the entire population of the State. Austin’s share of TX patents increased to 30.9% in 2025, up from 30.0% in 2024 and 29.5% in 2023.

Source:U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Venture Capital Investment

Venture Capital funding in Austin reached record levels with a total $7.24 billion raised in 2025, up 80.4% from $4.01 billion in 2024. Previously, Austin’s record VC funding year was 2021 when $6.88 billion was raised.

The Austin region continued it’s high pace of VC funds raised, with 2026 YTD data reaching $6.5B, more than twice the 2025 YTD funds raised of $2.9B. Austin remains the 5th biggest VC market in the United States, only behind San Francisco/San Jose, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston.

The largest deals in Q2 were NinjaOne, $400M; Ollin Biosciences, $330M, and Allen Control Systems, $200M.

Source: Pitchbook.

Housing Permit Activity

Building permits issued in the Austin region came down from historic highs of between 42,000 to 51,000 units in 2022 and 2021. Last year a total of 27,300 units were issued, down 15.4% from 2024. In Austin, 2026 YTD permits through July were 13,094 down from 15,999 last year, a 18.2% decrease. Nationally, total permits were down -1.1% this year.

For last year in the Austin region, the share of single-family units exceeded multifamily, a continuation from 2024. Previously from 2021 to 2023, multifamily permits exceeded single family. In July 2026, 1,419 single family permits were issued compared to only 1,186 multifamily units.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Home Sales

Home sales in the Austin region peaked at 41,094 in 2021. In the past 3 years, total sales have been lower, averaging 30,500. However, for YTD 2026, sales are up by about 1,550 or 8.7% compared to the same time last year. Statewide, YTD sales are up 2.8% compared to 2025, while U.S. sales are up 2.4%.

The average sales price in the Austin region was $570,480 in 2025, a slight increase of about $3,000 from 2024. In July 2026, the average sales price was $584,088, which was up from $568,961 one year ago. In July 2026, months on inventory in Austin was 5.6 months, 0.3 months less than one year ago.

Source: TX A&M Real Estate Research Center.

Commercial Real Estate Activity

After having office vacancy rates of around 7 to 8% just before COVID in the Austin region, continued new construction delivery and softened leasing activity has brought the office vacancy rate up to 16.5% in 2025 compared to 16.0% in 2024. The current office market totals 138M SF, having added 18.7M SF of new inventory since 2020 Q2. Quoted lease rates in 2026 Q2 ticked down to $43.46 from $44.06 in 2026 Q1.

Likewise, the Austin industrial market has grown to 179M SF, adding 64.5M SF since 2020 Q2 or 56% growth over 5 years. The vacancy rate reached 13.8% in 2025, up from 10.8% in 2024. Quoted lease rates were $15.08 in 2026 Q2.

Source: CoStar.

Upcoming Releases

The US Census Bureau will release 2025 Income Poverty and Health Insurance statistics from its Current Population Survey on September 15th. Typically, the Census Bureau also releases the American Community Survey data’s 1 year data in September, however, due to a new data disclosure policy, the Census Bureau is still determining when the ACS data will be released. The ACS data provides the most expansive look at Sociology-demographic data for US cities and counties.

The Texas Workforce Commission will release its monthly jobs & unemployment data for August on September 18th.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis will release State GDP estimates for 2026 Q2 on September 30th.