Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Akron, OH MSA — September 2026
Akron network engineer pay craters while software talent pulls away.
Akron's network engineer median fell to $78,000 — $36,400 below the national figure — even as Software Engineer pay climbed to $143,872, a split that reflects a metro economy shedding jobs at 92 per month despite a tight 3.6% unemployment rate.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Akron unemployment rate: 3.6% — vs 4.1% national (July 2026)
- Metro monthly job change: -92/month avg — vs +317/month 5-yr trend
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $78,000 — down significantly; $36,400 below national
- Ohio labor force change: -95,000 YoY — employment up only 5,000 over same period
Key takeaways
Network engineering pay collapse signals a commodity role, not a talent gap.
Metro median pay fell significantly to $78,000, now $36,400 below the national figure and roughly even with Systems Administrator pay. This looks less like scarcity and more like local employers deprioritizing in-house network expertise — a build-vs-buy signal worth testing against vendor pricing.
Software Engineer pay is pulling away from the rest of the local IT stack.
Metro median climbed significantly to $143,872, closing most of the gap with the $153,652 national figure even as the broader Akron economy sheds jobs. Scarcity in development talent appears to be holding firm independent of macro softness, raising retention risk for any employer under-benchmarked on this role.
Cybersecurity and IT Project Manager pay are rising together — a budget-reallocation story.
Both roles posted significant upward movement locally ($102,570 and $113,779 respectively), mirroring national momentum in security and delivery-oversight hiring. Consider whether this reflects employers consolidating headcount into fewer, higher-value coordination and security roles rather than adding net positions.
Headline unemployment is flattering a metro that is actually contracting.
Akron's 3.6% rate reads tighter than the 4.1% national figure, yet the metro is projected for -0.65% annual employment decline and has averaged negative monthly job growth through 2026. Workforce planning built on the unemployment rate alone risks missing the underlying demand erosion.
Median advertised pay by role — Akron, OH MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $76,861 | $123,360 | $123,360 | Stable | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $65,912 | $78,996 | $90,000 | Moderate increase | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $59,591 | $78,000 | $86,107 | Significant decline | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $110,325 | $143,872 | $154,307 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $38,806 | $49,188 | $55,359 | Moderate increase | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $79,536 | $102,570 | $103,562 | Significant increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $92,926 | $113,779 | $121,625 | Significant increase | $117,530 |
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Akron's 3.6% July unemployment rate sits well below the national 4.1%, but the headline masks structural contraction: the metro has shed jobs at an average pace of 92 per month in 2026 against a five-year trend of +317, a reversal consistent with continued softening in manufacturing and logistics employment. Charter Communications' 259-worker facility closure and Summit County's below-state-average standing (46th of 88 Ohio counties) point to a labor market that looks tight on paper while actual hiring momentum fades.
What it means
Network Engineer advertised pay in Akron has fallen significantly to a $78,000 median — now matching Systems Administrator pay and running $36,400 below the national network engineer median — a signal that local infrastructure roles are being commoditized faster than peer metros, which strengthens the case for outsourcing routine network operations while reserving in-house headcount for cloud and security specialists. Meanwhile Software Engineer pay rose significantly to $143,872, nearly closing the gap with the $153,652 national figure, suggesting Akron employers are paying a premium to compete for scarce development talent even as broader metro employment contracts. Consider reviewing whether infrastructure support functions are candidates for managed-service arrangements given the pay compression, freeing budget to defend competitive software engineering and cybersecurity compensation.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Watch whether Charter Communications' 259-worker closure and other regional WARN activity release any network or telecom infrastructure talent into the Akron candidate pool over the next 60 days. A sudden supply increase could further depress network engineering pay, which has already fallen significantly.
Emerging pressure point: Ohio's labor force has contracted by 95,000 workers statewide year-over-year even as employment barely grew by 5,000 — a participation problem, not a hiring boom. If this pattern holds locally, IT leaders should expect sourcing difficulty for mid-level technical roles to persist despite headline unemployment staying low.
Potential inflection point: Columbus's data center boom (54% infrastructure employment growth 2021–2024) is reshaping regional cloud and database engineer demand. Akron employers competing for the same statewide talent pool should monitor whether Columbus wage gravity begins pulling specialized candidates away from Northeast Ohio.
Early indicator: National AI-driven compression of entry-level and commodity technical roles is accelerating, per CompTIA and Addison Group data. Track whether Akron's already-weak network engineer pay trend extends into help desk and support postings over the next quarter.
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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