Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI MSA — October 2026
Chicago IT pay splits: security climbs as support and PM roles retreat.
Chicago Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose to $101,920 and Software Engineer pay hit $152,162 even as metro unemployment climbed to 4.8% and Help Desk pay fell to $56,077.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.8% — Up from 4.4% a year earlier (Sept 2026)
- Chicago nonfarm payroll change: -2,700 jobs — Year-over-year, Sept 2026, IDES
- National tech layoffs YTD: 133,417 workers — Through Oct 21, 2026 — exceeds all of 2025
- Cook County unemployment: 5.9% — Up 1.2 pts YoY, Aug 2026 (BLS)
Key takeaways
Support roles are softening while security pay keeps climbing.
Metro Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay dropped to $56,077 while Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose to $101,920 — a $46k spread that widened this month. Headcount planning should treat these as separate labor markets within the broader IT budget.
Software Engineer pay strength bucks the metro's broader job losses.
Metro Software Engineer median reached $152,162, up and outpacing the stable national figure of $154,403, even as Chicago-area nonfarm payrolls fell 2,700 year-over-year. Demand for build-capable engineering talent appears resilient despite softening in adjacent white-collar roles — a signal this skill set is holding steady through the broader slowdown.
IT Project Manager pay retreat may reflect fewer discretionary initiatives.
Metro IT Project Manager advertised pay fell to $123,671, now trailing the national median of $118,150 by a shrinking margin after running well ahead historically. Lagging state payroll growth (0.2% year-over-year versus 0.3% nationally) is consistent with enterprises pausing discretionary modernization work that project managers typically staff.
Data center buildout is pulling infrastructure talent away from app roles.
National data center postings, a signal of hiring demand where one posting can reflect several openings, are up 20% in three months and 147% above June 2024 levels, a trend Illinois IT leaders should expect to compete against for systems and network talent even though Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay locally remain stable. Static local pay against rising national demand (Systems Admin national median up to $102,503) may signal Chicago employers are underpricing these roles relative to where competition is heading.
Median advertised pay by role — Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $110,929 | $136,730 | $157,070 | Moderate decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $81,548 | $95,000 | $106,563 | Stable | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $75,917 | $111,047 | $130,600 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $114,992 | $152,162 | $167,755 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $45,760 | $56,077 | $62,500 | Moderate decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $88,374 | $101,920 | $110,885 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $86,682 | $123,671 | $130,333 | Moderate decline | $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
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin unemployment climbed to 4.8% in September, up from 4.4% a year earlier, even as nonfarm payrolls contracted by 2,700 year-over-year — a combination that points to employers trimming headcount while skilled labor supply stays scarce. Professional and business services remains the metro's largest employment base at 817,900 jobs, but national tech layoffs (133,417 through October 21, already above all of 2025) are colliding with sustained local demand for infrastructure and security talent, producing a bifurcated market with pockets of tightness alongside broader softening.
What it means
Rising metro unemployment alongside flat-to-declining IT headcount suggests layoffs are concentrated in generalist and administrative tech roles while specialized infrastructure, cloud, and security positions stay tight — Chicago's Cybersecurity Analyst pay climbed to a $101,920 median while Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay fell to $56,077, a signal of where bargaining power sits. This divergence sharpens build-vs-buy tradeoffs: commodity support functions look increasingly suited to outsourcing or offshoring given the 41% of technologists willing to trade salary for remote flexibility, while differentiated infrastructure and security roles still command premiums that justify in-house investment. Consider reviewing headcount allocation role-by-role, shifting discretionary budget away from flat-demand generalist titles and toward the security and systems roles still seeing upward pay pressure.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Cook County unemployment hit 5.9% in August, 1.2 points above a year earlier — well above the metro average. Watch whether released talent from professional services and information-sector layoffs begins flowing into IT support and junior infrastructure applicant pools over the next two months.
Emerging pressure point: National tech layoffs already exceed all of 2025 (133,417 through October 21), yet Chicago's Cybersecurity Analyst and Software Engineer pay continue rising. Monitor whether displaced talent from other metros relocates or goes remote into Chicago-based roles, which could cool advertised pay gains for mid-2027 hiring.
Potential inflection point: State payroll growth is lagging national growth (0.2% vs 0.3%), and Chicago nonfarm jobs fell 2,700 year-over-year. If this trend deepens into Q1 2027, expect discretionary IT project and generalist hiring to slow further ahead of infrastructure and security roles.
Worth watching: Illinois ranks 47th nationally in job opportunities per capita despite a declining unemployment rate statewide — a mismatch signal. Track whether this skills gap widens specifically in cloud and security disciplines, where Chicago employers may need to pay above current advertised medians to close pipeline gaps.
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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