Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: CO NONMETROPOLITAN AREA — October 2026
Colorado's aging workforce exit tightens IT talent despite rising joblessness.
Colorado unemployment rose to 4.1% even as the state is set to add 4,386 tech jobs in 2026, with 62% of labor force departures concentrated among workers 55 and older — exactly the tenure band staffing senior infrastructure and security roles.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Colorado unemployment rate: 4.1% — Highest since May 2025, up from 3.9% through July
- Labor force exit, age 55+: 62% — Share of CO's 95,000 two-year labor force decline
- 2026 Colorado tech job growth: +4,386 jobs (2.8%) — Rebound after prior-year sector losses
- State IT salary gap vs. market: -13.7% — Colorado state government IT base pay vs. market rate
Key takeaways
Aging-driven labor exit raises the stakes for retention.
62% of Colorado's labor force departures over the past two years are workers 55 and older, concentrated in the experienced tier that typically staffs senior infrastructure, network and security roles. Backfilling through external hiring at advertised rates may cost more than retaining incumbents through targeted counter-offers or phased retirement arrangements.
Network Engineer pay climbs while Systems Administrator pay lags nationally.
Metro Network Engineer pay sits above the national median ($118,795 vs $115,757) and is still climbing, while metro Systems Administrator pay trails the national figure ($97,117 vs $102,503) despite its own upward movement. Budget allocation across infrastructure roles should reflect this divergence with role-specific adjustments instead of a flat increase across the function.
Public-sector IT pay gap widens the state's own hiring risk.
Colorado's state IT base salary lags market by 13.7%, a disadvantage that compounds the statewide talent drain and pushes experienced public-sector IT staff toward private employers already competing for the same shrinking pool. Private-sector IT leaders should expect this to loosen supply of public-sector-trained infrastructure and security talent, though securing it will still require paying advertised-market rates.
Geographic pay compression inside Colorado favors remote-eligible hiring.
Denver IT support specialists average $66,277 against $51,680 in Colorado Springs, a gap wide enough to make remote work eligibility a meaningful cost lever for support and help desk headcount planning. Expanding sourcing beyond the Front Range's highest-cost labor markets may ease pressure on Help Desk budgets without sacrificing fill rates.
Median advertised pay by role — CO NONMETROPOLITAN AREA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $115,057 | $147,240 | $164,187 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $77,776 | $97,117 | $106,985 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $75,134 | $118,795 | $129,446 | Moderate increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $110,600 | $152,825 | $167,500 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $43,669 | $52,498 | $59,891 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $90,461 | $105,346 | $125,140 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $79,462 | $115,230 | $126,030 | 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
Colorado's labor force has shrunk by roughly 95,000 workers over two years, with 62% of that exit concentrated in residents age 55 and older — a structural drain that lands hardest on senior infrastructure and security roles where institutional knowledge is hard to replace. Statewide unemployment climbed to 4.1% in September, its highest since May 2025, even as the tech sector is positioned to add 4,386 jobs in 2026 (2.8% growth), signaling tightening competition for a smaller available talent pool amid steady demand.
What it means
Rising state unemployment alongside continued tech-sector hiring growth suggests displacement concentrated in white-collar corporate functions, with IT capacity holding steady, which keeps competition for infrastructure, security and cloud talent elevated even as headline joblessness ticks up. Network Engineer and Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay are both moving up at a moderate clip locally, consistent with employers paying to retain scarce specialized skills as the tighter labor market sustains hiring pressure. Consider reviewing retention compensation for mid-career infrastructure and security staff specifically, since the aging-driven exodus concentrates risk in exactly the tenure band most expensive to replace externally.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Colorado's October state unemployment data releases November 20, with metro-level figures following December 2 — watch whether the 4.1% state rate holds or climbs further, which would confirm broader labor slack even as tech hiring stays resilient.
Emerging pressure point: 133,417 tech layoffs nationally through late October, already exceeding all of 2025, raises the question of whether any of that displaced talent — particularly cloud and AI-adjacent skillsets — surfaces in the Colorado candidate pool over the next quarter.
Worth watching: Colorado's $6.7M share of a federal tech skills training grant creates a narrow hiring window before newly trained workers disperse to other states; IT leaders planning 2027 headcount may want to track program completion timelines.
Potential inflection point: Lockheed Martin's 1,250 planned Colorado hires will raise the wage floor in Douglas and Jefferson counties, with likely spillover into cybersecurity and systems engineering compensation benchmarks across the Front Range.
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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