Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Austin-Round Rock, TX MSA — October 2026
Austin's tight labor market is outpricing its own IT pay bands.
Austin unemployment fell to 3.7% in September even as Systems Administrator pay held flat at $93,637 against a rising $102,503 national median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Austin unemployment rate: 3.7% — Down from 3.9% in August; vs 4.1% US, 4.4% TX
- Austin average wage growth: 6% — Jan-Aug 2026, $35.82 to $37.91 average
- Systems Administrator pay gap: $93,637 vs $102,503 — Metro flat vs national trending up
- National tech layoffs YTD: 133,417 workers — 325 companies, already exceeds all of 2025
Key takeaways
Systems Administrator pay is flat here while the US median climbs.
Metro median sits at $93,637, stable, against a national median of $102,503 trending up. Local infrastructure talent is being drawn toward semiconductor and data center projects, and flat advertised pay for this role may understate what it now takes to retain or backfill it.
Cybersecurity Analyst pay lags the national market by $13,000-plus.
Metro median of $93,867 is stable against a national median of $107,327 that is trending up. Texas's Responsible AI Governance Act, in effect since January, adds compliance-driven security workload that this pay gap does not yet reflect.
Software Engineer and Network Engineer roles show where local demand is real.
Both post upward, moderate metro pay movement ($158,734 and $119,600 respectively) alongside national gains, consistent with continued enterprise and infrastructure-buildout hiring. These are the roles where Austin employers are competing hardest and pay signals should move fastest in response.
Sub-4% unemployment is a retention signal as much as a hiring one.
Austin's 3.7% September rate is nearly half a point below the national average and the tightest reading among the metro's recent trend. Current conditions suggest internal mobility and retention investment compete directly with external recruiting budgets for the same scarce infrastructure and security talent.
Median advertised pay by role — Austin-Round Rock, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $118,417 | $152,500 | $167,216 | Moderate increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $77,077 | $93,637 | $107,498 | Stable | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $84,988 | $119,600 | $135,737 | Moderate increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $118,370 | $158,734 | $176,567 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $42,028 | $52,000 | $58,704 | Moderate increase | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $80,235 | $93,867 | $104,999 | Stable | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $92,605 | $116,251 | $126,414 | Moderate increase | $118,150 |
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
Austin's unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in September from 3.9% in August, a tighter reading than both the Texas (4.4%) and national (4.1%) rates, while advertised wages across the metro rose 6% over the first eight months of 2026 to $37.91 average. Semiconductor fab buildout and data center infrastructure projects are pulling skilled technical labor away from enterprise IT roles even as information-sector hiring nationally remains soft, creating a localized talent squeeze while the national tech sector sheds 133,417 workers through October.
What it means
Austin's sub-4% unemployment rate combined with fab and data center competition for infrastructure talent means enterprise IT organizations are bidding against capital-intensive projects with deep pockets, alongside other tech employers — this is most visible in Systems Administrator pay, flat locally at $93,637 against a rising national median of $102,503, suggesting Austin employers may be under-pricing a role now facing new external demand. National tech layoffs are creating a visible candidate pool for cloud-native and software talent, but that pool looks thinner for on-prem infrastructure and hardware-adjacent skills being absorbed by local semiconductor expansion. Consider reviewing Systems Administrator and infrastructure pay bands against the national trajectory, given where competing demand is actually coming from.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether semiconductor and data center project timelines in the Austin corridor accelerate hiring announcements over the next two months — any acceleration will tighten competition for infrastructure and facilities-adjacent IT talent further.
Compliance pressure point: Texas's Responsible AI Governance Act requires audits of any AI tool used in screening or monitoring; expect increased demand for compliance-literate security and IT governance talent as enterprises adjust hiring systems.
Worth watching: National tech layoffs exceeding 133,000 year-to-date have not yet shown up as a visible surge in Austin's unemployment rate. Track whether laid-off cloud and software talent from other hubs begins relocating into the metro's candidate pool.
Potential inflection point: Dallas Fed's service sector wages/benefits index hit its highest reading since January 2023 in October. If that pressure extends to Austin, expect upward movement in roles like Cybersecurity Analyst and Systems Administrator that have lagged national pay trends.
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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