Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Battle Creek, MI MSA — October 2026
Battle Creek IT pay splits: security climbs, admin pay slips.
Calhoun County unemployment fell to 4.6% in September even as metro Systems Administrator pay dropped to $99,736 while Cybersecurity Analyst and Network Engineer pay both rose.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Calhoun County unemployment: 4.6% — Down from 5.3% in August, -0.4 pts year-over-year
- Systems Administrator pay (metro): $99,736 — Down locally vs. up moderately nationally ($102,503)
- National tech layoffs, YTD: 133,417 — Already exceeds all of 2025 across 325 companies
- Michigan IT employment growth: 8% past 5 yrs, +5% projected — vs. 1% overall state job growth
Key takeaways
Security and network pay is pulling away from general IT.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst ($99,237) and Network Engineer ($100,987) pay both moved up this month while Systems Administrator pay slipped to $99,736, a reversal from national direction. Compression between admin and security roles may force a rethink of internal pay bands ahead of attrition surfacing the problem.
A tighter labor pool is a hidden tax on IT recruiting.
Calhoun County's unemployment drop to 4.6% reflects fewer available workers, a signal distinct from stronger local job creation, since Michigan's labor force contracted statewide in September. Smaller candidate pools in a metro this size mean IT openings may sit longer or require wider pay concessions than national benchmarks suggest.
National tech layoffs create a sourcing opportunity, not a pay cut.
Over 133,000 tech layoffs nationally through October exceed all of 2025, but Battle Creek's advertised Software Engineer and Data Scientist pay remain stable to rising locally. Displaced talent may be reachable at current rates, making this a moment for targeted sourcing ahead of aggressive renegotiation.
Help desk pay stagnation strengthens the case for outsourcing Tier 1.
Metro Help Desk/IT Support pay has held flat at $46,882 while national rates are declining, widening the gap between what the role costs locally and what it costs to outsource. Current conditions suggest evaluating managed services or RPA for commodity support tickets while reinvesting headcount into security and infrastructure roles seeing wage growth.
Median advertised pay by role — Battle Creek, MI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $114,215 | $156,435 | $156,435 | Significant increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $79,741 | $99,736 | $107,500 | Moderate decline | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $77,468 | $100,987 | $109,081 | Moderate increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer * | $108,752 | $152,056 | $165,025 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $41,737 | $46,882 | $51,974 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $84,765 | $99,237 | $120,000 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $94,897 | $106,437 | $106,437 | Stable | $118,150 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
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
Calhoun County's unemployment rate fell to 4.6% in September, down 0.7 points from August as seasonal hiring resumed with the school year, tightening a labor pool already constrained by a shrinking regional workforce. Manufacturing stability combined with expanding healthcare, warehousing, and logistics hiring is drawing from the same limited candidate base that supplies technical and support talent, intensifying competition for IT skills even in a metro far smaller than Detroit or Grand Rapids.
What it means
Metro-level pay data shows Network Engineer and Cybersecurity Analyst rates climbing while Systems Administrator pay has softened, suggesting local employers are reallocating compensation toward security and infrastructure resilience ahead of general administration. With Michigan's information-sector hiring cooling statewide and national tech layoffs running ahead of 2025's full-year total, Battle Creek organizations have a window to recruit displaced talent at reasonable cost — but only if they move faster than peer employers chasing the same shrinking labor force. Consider reviewing whether current infrastructure and security headcount plans account for this local pay divergence before the next budget cycle.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Michigan's IT employment is projected to keep growing roughly 5% against 1% statewide job growth, which should keep pressure on local compensation for data and systems roles even as broader hiring cools. Track whether Battle Creek employers begin advertising premiums to compete with Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids for the same shrinking talent pool.
Potential inflection point: National AI-related job postings now exceed 7% of all postings, well past the 2022 peak, while Michigan's data scientist roles show the fastest growth of any IT function at 28.3%. Watch whether Battle Creek's modest Data Scientist pay movement this month ($156,435, up significantly) becomes the leading edge of a broader local AI-skills premium.
Early indicator: Michigan WARN filings are down 33% year over year, but national tech layoff totals already exceed all of 2025, concentrated outside Michigan so far. A single large regional filing could shift the local talent calculus quickly, given how thin Calhoun County's labor force already is.
Emerging pressure point: Systems Administrator pay fell locally this month while rising nationally, an unusual divergence worth monitoring for a second consecutive month before treating it as a trend. If it persists, it may reflect employers shifting routine infrastructure work toward outsourced or cloud-managed arrangements ahead of in-house administration.
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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