Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Boise City-Nampa, ID MSA — October 2026
Eagle metro IT pay splits: engineers up, infrastructure down.
Software Engineer advertised pay climbed to a $162,218 metro median even as Systems Administrator pay fell to $88,789, nearly $14,000 below the national figure.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Southwestern Idaho unemployment: 3.5% — vs 4.1% national rate, Sept 2026
- Software Engineer advertised pay: $162,218 — Metro median, up significantly vs $154,403 national
- Systems Administrator advertised pay: $88,789 — Metro median, down vs $102,503 national
- Tech sector layoffs YTD: 133,417 — Through Oct 21, 2026 — exceeds all of 2025
Key takeaways
Engineering pay is pulling away from infrastructure roles locally.
Software Engineer advertised pay rose significantly to a $162,218 metro median while Systems Administrator and Network Engineer medians fell to $88,789 and $100,624, both now trailing national figures. Organizations weighting headcount toward delivery over operations should expect sharper competition — and risk — on the infrastructure side.
IT management pay lags the roles it's meant to retain.
State research shows IT Manager IV and V positions sitting 5-8% below market despite significant turnover, even as Idaho pushes 4.5% market-based increases for IT roles in state government. A leadership pay gap during a software and project-management hiring surge is a structural retention risk that will persist beyond this month.
Support and technician pay sits well below national floors.
Technical support averages $60,584 annually, 11% below the national figure, and IT technicians average $23.96/hour, 7% under national benchmarks. That gap strengthens the case for outsourcing or offshoring routine support functions instead of competing locally at current advertised rates.
Falling wages amid rising postings point to a filled-rate problem.
Statewide, job postings — a signal of hiring demand, where one ad often covers several openings — and employer counts rose year-over-year while median advertised hourly wages declined and listings stayed open longer, a sign employers are struggling to clear the market at current offers. For IT leaders, this may suggest budgeted pay bands need revisiting before headcount plans stall on unfilled requisitions.
Median advertised pay by role — Boise City-Nampa, ID MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $94,343 | $156,920 | $181,398 | Moderate decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $68,405 | $88,789 | $102,884 | Moderate decline | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $77,553 | $100,624 | $134,136 | Moderate decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $119,445 | $162,218 | $176,798 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $40,149 | $48,690 | $52,829 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $76,810 | $100,028 | $121,814 | Stable | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $104,432 | $132,036 | $139,490 | Significant 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
Southwestern Idaho's unemployment rate sat at 3.5% in September, well below the national 4.1%, while the civilian labor force and employment levels both edged down month-over-month, signaling a market that remains tight even as growth slows. Idaho's wage growth ranks third nationally and Ada County pay has risen roughly twice the national pace, but local IT advertised pay data this month shows a split: Software Engineer and IT Project Manager rates climbing significantly while Systems Administrator, Network Engineer, and Data Scientist rates moved down even as their national counterparts held flat or rose.
What it means
Rising Software Engineer and IT Project Manager pay against falling Systems Administrator and Network Engineer rates suggests budget is concentrating toward build and delivery roles while infrastructure and operations talent face softer local demand, a pattern consistent with Idaho's 32% year-over-year jump in software developer postings and 52% rise in project management roles statewide. With technical support pay running 7-11% below national averages and IT Manager IV/V roles still 5-8% under market despite turnover, retaining infrastructure and leadership talent locally may require targeted adjustments even as overall headcount growth stays modest. Consider reviewing whether infrastructure and support compensation has fallen out of step with the premium being paid for engineering and delivery talent, since that gap is a likely driver of attrition on its own.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Ada County's labor force and employment both dipped in September even as unemployment held near 3.5%; watch whether that reflects seasonal softening or a real pullback in local hiring appetite heading into Q4 budget cycles.
Emerging pressure point: Technologist layoffs nationally have already exceeded all of 2025, with 133,417 cuts through October 21. Track whether displaced talent, particularly in cloud and AI-adjacent roles, begins surfacing in the Boise-area candidate pool and softens competition for scarce specialists.
Potential inflection point: State government's proposed 4.5% market-based increase for IT roles, if enacted, could reset local pay expectations for public and private employers alike. Watch legislative movement on this through year-end budget decisions.
Early indicator: AI-related job postings now represent 7.3% of all national postings, more than double the 2022 peak. Monitor whether Micron and other large Ada County employers begin advertising AI-specific infrastructure or security roles at premiums that pull talent from traditional sysadmin and network tracks.
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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