Main Street Health Report
June 2026
Labor and wage stats
Every month we measure how small businesses are actually doing, from the timesheets of more than 100,000 of them: who is working, how many hours, what they are paid, and how that compares with the same month in previous years.
Employees working increased +2.5% from May to June, matching 2024’s pace and outpacing the +1.9% gain seen in 2025. After a soft start to spring, June showed a clearer seasonal rebound in Main Street labor activity.
- Hourly employees
- 2M+
- Small businesses
- 100K+
- Measured, not surveyed
- Timesheet data
Hourly employees
Small businesses
Measured, not surveyed
Main Street at a glance
The top things to know this month
+2.5%
Employees working increased +2.5% from May to June, matching 2024’s pace and outpacing the +1.9% gain seen in 2025. After a soft start to spring, June showed a clearer seasonal rebound in Main Street labor activity.
+2.4%
Hours worked rose +2.4% in June, ahead of last year’s +1.8% gain and just below 2024’s +2.7% pace. Businesses appear to be leaning into stronger summer demand, with labor utilization rising alongside participation.
+1.2%
This has been a stronger seasonal June upswing in the Midwest (+1.2%) and Northeast (+1.8%) than in either of the prior two years. Elsewhere, warm-to-hot weather is leading to the typical June closures in the Southeast (-0.3%), Southwest (-0.3%), and West (-0.5%).
What the data shows
Each finding below takes one measure of Main Street, participation, hours, wages, hiring and turnover, and compares June 2026 with the same month in the two years before it. Every chart is drawn from the figures, which are published alongside it for anyone who wants to check or reuse them.
Employees Working
Workforce Participation Accelerates Into Summer
Employees working increased +2.5% from May to June, matching 2024’s pace and outpacing the +1.9% gain seen in 2025. After a soft start to spring, June showed a clearer seasonal rebound in Main Street labor activity.
(Monthly change in 7-day average of “Employees Working”, relative to January of respective year)
| Category | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Feb | 2.1% | (1.4%) | 0.0% |
| Feb – Mar | 1.2% | 2.1% | 0.9% |
| Mar – Apr | 0.3% | 1.1% | 0.8% |
| Apr – May | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| May – Jun | 2.5% | 1.9% | 2.6% |
Hours Worked
Hours Worked Rise With Seasonal Demand
Hours worked rose +2.4% in June, ahead of last year’s +1.8% gain and just below 2024’s +2.7% pace. Businesses appear to be leaning into stronger summer demand, with labor utilization rising alongside participation.
(Monthly change in 7-day average of “Hours Worked”, relative to January of respective year)
| Category | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Feb | 2.7% | (1.4%) | 0.7% |
| Feb – Mar | 2.1% | 2.9% | 1.0% |
| Mar – Apr | (0.6%) | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| Apr – May | 2.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% |
| May – Jun | 2.7% | 1.8% | 2.5% |
Businesses Open, by region
Midwest and Northeast Lead as Sun Belt Lags
This has been a stronger seasonal June upswing in the Midwest (+1.2%) and Northeast (+1.8%) than in either of the prior two years. Elsewhere, warm-to-hot weather is leading to the typical June closures in the Southeast (-0.3%), Southwest (-0.3%), and West (-0.5%).
(Month-over-month change in “Businesses Open”, by Census region)
| Region | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midwest | +0.8% | +1.1% | +1.3% |
| Northeast | +1.0% | +1.1% | +1.9% |
| Southeast | −0.5% | −1.0% | −0.3% |
| Southwest | +0.3% | −1.6% | −0.2% |
| West | −0.2% | −0.5% | −0.4% |
| Mid-Atlantic | +1.4% | +0.7% | +1.2% |
| Other | +0.2% | −0.2% | +0.8% |
Region classification - Midwest: ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, IA, MO, WI, IL, IN, OH, MI; West: NV, UT, AZ, NM, CO, WY, MT, ID, OR, WA,
Employees Working
World Cup Effect: Small, at Most
If there is a World Cup effect in June’s data, it’s a small one. June seasonal employment growth in entertainment (+26.3%) and food, drink & dining (+1.5%) was comparable to the prior 2 years. Perhaps the only unusually strong World Cup related segment was hospitality (+9.5%), which grew by a little more than in June 2024 and June 2025.
(Monthly change in 7-day average of “Employees Working”, relative to January of respective year)
| Category | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Feb | 2.1% | (1.4%) | 0.0% |
| Feb – Mar | 1.2% | 2.1% | 0.9% |
| Mar – Apr | 0.3% | 1.1% | 0.8% |
| Apr – May | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| May – Jun | 2.5% | 1.9% | 2.6% |
Entertainment includes events/festivals, sports/recreation, parks, movie theaters, and other categories.
Hourly Wages
Wage Growth Remains Steady and Elevated
Wage growth was 7.0% Y/Y in June, and has not varied much in the past 2 years (aside from a brief bump last year).
(Percent change in average “Hourly Wages” across all jobs, relative to January 2022)
| Period | All industries |
|---|---|
| Point 1 | 1.3% |
| Point 2 | 1.1% |
| Point 3 | 2.7% |
| Point 4 | 3.3% |
| Point 5 | 3.7% |
| Point 6 | 4.4% |
| Point 7 | 5.1% |
| Point 8 | 6.0% |
| Point 9 | 7.3% |
| Point 10 | 7.7% |
| Point 11 | 9.4% |
| Jan'23 | 11.8% |
| Point 13 | 13.4% |
| Point 14 | 13.5% |
| Point 15 | 14.1% |
| Point 16 | 15.0% |
| Point 17 | 15.7% |
| Point 18 | 16.6% |
| Point 19 | 16.7% |
| Point 20 | 18.5% |
| Point 21 | 19.8% |
| Point 22 | 21.2% |
| Point 23 | 22.2% |
| Jan'24 | 24.7% |
| Point 25 | 25.9% |
| Point 26 | 25.8% |
| Point 27 | 26.5% |
| Point 28 | 26.9% |
| Point 29 | 27.5% |
| Point 30 | 27.9% |
| Point 31 | 28.5% |
| Point 32 | 29.3% |
| Point 33 | 29.8% |
| Point 34 | 30.9% |
| Point 35 | 31.4% |
| Jan'25 | 33.7% |
| Point 37 | 35.6% |
| Point 38 | 35.8% |
| Point 39 | 35.9% |
| Point 40 | 35.9% |
| Point 41 | 36.6% |
| Point 42 | 37.5% |
| Point 43 | 37.3% |
| Point 44 | 38.8% |
| Point 45 | 40.1% |
| Point 46 | 40.8% |
| Point 47 | 41.6% |
| Jan'26 | 42.6% |
| Point 49 | 43.5% |
| Point 50 | 43.7% |
| Point 51 | 43.7% |
| Point 52 | 44.0% |
| Jun'26 | 44.7% |
Hourly Wages
Health Care and Professional Services Remain Highest-Paid
Health Care remained the highest-paid category at $20.78/hour, followed by Professional Services at $18.15. Retail rose to $15.91 and total average wages reached $16.55, while Entertainment dipped to $14.92 despite leading the month’s staffing gains.
(Average “Hourly Wages” across all jobs)
| Category | June 2026 |
|---|---|
| Food & Drink | $14.11 |
| Entertainment | $14.78 |
| Retail | $15.85 |
| Health Care | $20.62 |
| Professional Services | $17.86 |
Number of Jobs Added
Hiring Eases After Spring Ramp
Hiring was down 2.8% Y/Y in June - a smaller decline than we saw during much of 2025, but not yet at a trough. Hiring was down by 1.2% Y/Y in the 11 World Cup cities, and by 3.5% Y/Y outside those cities.
(Monthly change in average “Number of Jobs Added” across all jobs)
| Category | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Feb | 3.1% | 5.0% | 3.8% |
| Feb – Mar | 0.7% | 0.4% | 2.9% |
| Mar – Apr | 7.0% | 5.5% | 4.5% |
| Apr – May | 2.8% | 6.4% | 6.4% |
| May – Jun | 1.2% | (0.4%) | (0.9%) |
Number of Jobs Archived
Turnover Jumps as Seasonal Churn Builds
Jobs archived surged in June, and are now up by 7.6% Y/Y. While we think this surge is mostly noise, turnover has been running above year-ago levels for 3 consecutive months. The June turnover surge happened outside of the 11 World Cup cities.
(Monthly change in average “Number of Jobs Archived” across all jobs)
| Category | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Feb | (1.7%) | 0.4% | (3.4%) |
| Feb – Mar | (0.1%) | (3.9%) | (0.3%) |
| Mar – Apr | 9.6% | 2.5% | 7.1% |
| Apr – May | 6.0% | 3.4% | 4.5% |
| May – Jun | (10.8%) | 1.2% | 7.5% |
How we measure Main Street
The dataset is based on Homebase data gathered from more than 100,000 businesses and 2 million hourly employees active in the US on our platform, one of the largest and most trusted sources of real-time data on employment growth across the small business landscape.
Data from prior years uses similar cohort-based logic. Unless indicated otherwise, daily figures are calculated relative to the median value for that specific day for the baseline month, net of the first four days of the month.
Every chart on this page is drawn from the underlying figures rather than copied from the PDF. Those figures come from the same model the report is built on, which is refreshed each month as more timesheets land, so a value here may differ slightly from the one printed in the original slide. The PDF stays available above as published.
If you use any content from this report, please include a link to joinhomebase.com.
Measured from timesheets, not surveys
- Hourly employees
- 2M+
- Small businesses
- 100K+
Hourly employees
Small businesses
- Hours worked
Calculated from hours recorded in Homebase timecards.
- Businesses open
Based on whether a business had at least one employee clock-in.
- Employees working
The distinct number of hourly workers with at least one clock-in.
- Wage inflation
The monthly change in average hourly wages at businesses that ran Payroll with Homebase in March 2026 and March 2025.
The story behind the numbers
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