Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Binghamton, NY MSA — September 2026
Binghamton IT pay splits sharply: infrastructure up, support down.
Metro Network Engineer pay jumped to $110,500 and Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose to $78,806, while Help Desk pay fell to $45,760 — a bifurcation that should reshape headcount and outsourcing decisions this quarter.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.4% — Steady since July 2026, vs 4.1% US rate
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $110,500 — Up significantly, nearing $114,400 national median
- Help Desk advertised pay: $45,760 — Down significantly, vs stable $53,644 nationally
- Regional WARN notices (90 days): 46 notices / 4,694 workers — Statewide NY total, no large-scale local layoffs
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is pulling away from the regional pack.
Metro Network Engineer advertised pay rose to a $110,500 median, a significant year-over-year gain that now sits within striking distance of the $114,400 national figure. This narrowing gap suggests Binghamton employers are competing harder for infrastructure talent than the metro's overall wage profile would predict.
Help Desk compensation is eroding, not just stagnating.
Advertised pay for Help Desk/IT Support fell significantly to $45,760, well below the stable $53,644 national median. Combined with national reporting that AI is compressing entry-level and commodity IT roles, this looks structural rather than seasonal — a strong signal for reassessing in-house support staffing ratios.
Cybersecurity Analyst pay is rising locally but still lags badly nationally.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay climbed significantly to $78,806, yet remains nearly $28,000 below the $106,790 national median. Local employers appear to be bidding up scarce security talent off a low base, meaning retention risk for any analyst with multi-metro mobility remains elevated despite the local gain.
Software Engineer pay decline bucks the national script.
Metro Software Engineer advertised pay dropped moderately to $120,000 even as the national median held stable near $153,652 — a gap approaching $34,000. This divergence may reflect softer local demand for generalist development work relative to the specialized infrastructure and data roles pulling wages upward elsewhere in the metro.
Median advertised pay by role — Binghamton, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $135,547 | $147,060 | $163,180 | Significant increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $72,140 | $77,854 | $84,943 | Stable | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer * | $74,815 | $110,500 | $128,000 | Significant increase | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $72,500 | $120,000 | $132,834 | Moderate decline | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $42,941 | $45,760 | $51,859 | Significant decline | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $70,829 | $78,806 | $84,055 | Significant increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $79,719 | $105,820 | $105,820 | Stable | $117,530 |
* 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
Binghamton metro unemployment held at 4.4% in August, essentially unchanged from earlier in Q3, as employed residents in Broome and Tioga counties rose modestly to 103,800 against a payroll base of 99,300 — a labor market neither tightening nor loosening materially. Healthcare and social assistance remains the dominant employer base at 16% of regional employment, anchoring demand for IT support infrastructure around systems like Guthrie and United Health Services even as broader tech-adjacent hiring signals stay muted compared to national AI-driven compensation acceleration.
What it means
Metro IT compensation is diverging sharply by tier: Network Engineer and Data Scientist advertised pay are climbing significantly while Help Desk/IT Support and Software Engineer rates are falling, suggesting local demand is consolidating around infrastructure and data specialization rather than general technical staffing. This bifurcation strengthens the case for outsourcing commodity support functions where advertised pay is actively declining, while reserving permanent headcount investment for network and data roles showing genuine upward pressure. Consider reviewing whether current help desk and general software engineering roles could be restructured toward contract or managed-service delivery given the metro's softening advertised pay in those functions.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Sodexo's 471-worker WARN notice tied to Binghamton University dining operations closed out in February, but any further university-linked contractor notices could signal broader pressure on the region's largest non-healthcare institutional employer, with downstream effects on IT support demand tied to campus operations.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide reporting shows weaker demand for entry-level tech and administrative support tied to AI adoption. Watch whether Binghamton's already-declining Help Desk advertised pay accelerates further over the next two months as this pattern filters down from larger NY metros.
Potential inflection point: Network Engineer and Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay are both moving up significantly from a low local base. If this gap-closing trend continues into Q4, it may justify shifting planned headcount budgets toward retention increases for incumbent infrastructure and security staff before external offers trigger departures.
Expected: New York State's Q3 employment data showed Information sector headcount declining over the past three months even as manufacturing and transportation added jobs. Expect continued softness in generalist software and IT project management hiring locally, reinforcing the case for selective rather than broad-based headcount expansion.
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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.