Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA — September 2026
Albany's job growth stalls while IT pay specialization accelerates.
Metro job gains have slowed to 250 losses a month on average in 2026 — the weakest since 2020 — even as Data Scientist pay climbs to a $155,000 local median, above the $148,250 national figure.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro monthly job change, 2026 avg: -250/mo — vs +267/mo in 2025, weakest since 2020
- Albany County unemployment: 3.9% — vs 4.3% NY state, 4.1% national (Aug 2026)
- Data Scientist advertised pay, metro: $155,000 — vs $148,250 national median, up significantly
- Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay, metro: $49,308 — vs $53,644 national, trending down
Key takeaways
Metro job growth has effectively stalled, but talent isn't getting easier to find.
Average monthly job losses of 250 in 2026 mark the weakest metro performance since 2020, yet Albany and Rensselaer County unemployment sit near 3.9% — below the 4.3% state rate. Soft aggregate growth is not translating into a looser pool for specialized IT roles.
Data Scientist pay is outrunning the national market by a wide margin.
Metro median advertised pay for Data Scientist roles reached $155,000, above the $148,250 national figure, with a significant upward trend locally. Given the metro's lean toward government and institutional employers, this suggests even non-tech-sector organizations are competing hard for applied analytics talent.
Support-tier pay is softening while architect-tier roles pull away.
Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay fell to $49,308 locally, well below the $53,644 national median, even as Infrastructure and Security Architect roles statewide command $170,000-$200,000. Current conditions suggest the economic case for outsourcing entry-level support functions is strengthening faster than wage data alone would indicate.
Cybersecurity compensation growth looks structural, not seasonal.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose significantly to $105,000, tracking a national pattern where senior security talent reaches $400K and statewide skill-specific growth hits 346% above baseline occupational growth (CompTIA). Retention planning for security staff may warrant more frequent benchmarking cycles than other IT functions.
Median advertised pay by role — Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $122,178 | $155,000 | $167,500 | Significant increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $77,744 | $97,500 | $106,202 | Moderate increase | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $70,000 | $106,561 | $128,472 | Moderate increase | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $119,800 | $154,110 | $171,150 | Stable | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $43,101 | $49,308 | $55,806 | Moderate decline | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $85,403 | $105,000 | $124,827 | Significant increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $86,372 | $116,514 | $128,360 | Moderate 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
Albany-Schenectady-Troy's economy decelerated sharply through 2026, averaging monthly job losses of 250 versus a 267-job monthly gain in 2025 — the weakest performance since 2020 — while county unemployment held tight at 3.9% in Albany and 4.2% in Schenectady. Government and office employment, still roughly 86% of downtown Albany's job base, is insulating the metro from the steeper information-sector contraction seen statewide, but it also means local IT hiring is tracking public-sector budget cycles more than private tech demand.
What it means
Slowing headcount growth combined with persistently low unemployment signals a labor market where IT leaders can't rely on layoffs elsewhere to loosen the candidate pool — specialized talent in cloud, security, and AI-adjacent roles remains as hard to source locally as it is nationally, even as aggregate job creation stalls. Statewide architect-tier compensation ($170K-$200K) versus support-tier pay ($76K-$91K) widens the economic case for outsourcing commodity infrastructure work while concentrating permanent headcount in scarce specialties. Consider reviewing which infrastructure and support functions could shift to contract or managed-service arrangements before the next budget cycle, freeing permanent headcount capacity for cybersecurity and cloud architecture roles where advertised pay is moving fastest.
Looking ahead
Expected: October's state labor report will bring the first full September metro unemployment reading. A continued slide below 4% locally, against a stalling job count, would confirm a supply-constrained rather than demand-driven tightness — relevant to how aggressively leaders need to counter-offer for infrastructure and security talent.
Worth watching: Albany's apartment vacancy rate of 3.6% — the tightest among tracked U.S. metros — may act as a soft ceiling on inbound relocation hiring for specialized roles. Organizations recruiting cloud or security talent from outside the metro should factor housing friction into offer timelines.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide WARN filings remain low (46 notices, 4,694 workers over 90 days) with no concentration in information or tech services locally. Absent a release event, expect continued reliance on direct competition and counteroffers rather than displaced-talent hiring to fill cloud and security openings.
Potential inflection point: National Indeed Job Postings Index turned positive year-over-year for the first time in nearly four years, even as the information sector lost jobs in August. Watch whether that national postings recovery reaches Albany's office-anchored economy or remains concentrated in sectors the metro underrepresents.
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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