Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL MSA — September 2026
Quad Cities IT talent tightens as overall payrolls shrink.
Illinois-side Davenport-Moline-Rock Island unemployment fell to 3.9% even as metro nonfarm payrolls dropped 2,100 jobs, while local IT Project Manager pay climbed to $123,689 — above the $117,530 national median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment (IL side): 3.9% — Down from 5.3% a year earlier, Aug 2026
- Metro nonfarm payroll change: -2,100 jobs — Largest % decline among IL metros, YoY
- IT Project Manager advertised pay: $123,689 — vs $117,530 national median
- National unemployment rate: 4.1% — One-year low, steady since July 2026
Key takeaways
Local labor supply is shrinking faster than demand.
Metro nonfarm payrolls fell 2,100 jobs year-over-year even as unemployment dropped to 3.9%, the largest rate decline of any Illinois metro. That combination typically signals workers leaving the labor force rather than genuine hiring strength — a scarcity dynamic that raises retention stakes for specialized IT talent already in short supply.
Project management pay is outrunning technical pay locally.
IT Project Manager advertised pay rose significantly to $123,689 locally, surpassing the $117,530 national median, while Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay moved only modestly. Employers appear to be paying for coordination and delivery capability as cloud/hybrid complexity grows, not for additional hands-on infrastructure headcount.
Cybersecurity pay parity with national rates is notable.
Local Cybersecurity Analyst pay at $108,160 now exceeds the $106,790 national median, an unusual inversion for this metro. Combined with national reports of 10-15% mid-level cybersecurity salary increases, this may suggest Quad Cities employers are competing directly against larger markets for a thin specialist pool rather than relying on geographic pay discounts.
Commodity IT roles face structural compression, not a local anomaly.
Help Desk/IT Support pay remains flat at $48,491 locally against a national backdrop where AI is reducing lower-level technical positions and 1.4 million US computing roles are projected unfilled by 2027. Local stability here likely reflects national skill deprecation trends rather than metro-specific demand, reinforcing the case for shifting support headcount toward higher-value tiers.
Median advertised pay by role — Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $113,377 | $138,800 | $156,628 | Moderate decline | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $79,537 | $82,889 | $92,500 | Moderate increase | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $58,167 | $99,680 | $110,917 | Stable | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $87,210 | $120,000 | $141,216 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $41,648 | $48,491 | $49,920 | Stable | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $85,504 | $108,160 | $112,362 | Stable | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $108,491 | $123,689 | $134,395 | Significant increase | $117,530 |
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
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island's Illinois-side unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in August 2026, down from 5.3% a year earlier, even as metro-wide nonfarm employment dropped 2,100 jobs year-over-year — a labor-tightening signal driven more by shrinking labor supply than by hiring expansion. Information-sector job losses at both the state and national level, paired with Illinois' new salary-range disclosure requirement, are compressing employer flexibility just as mid-level AI and cybersecurity talent nationally commands 8-9% annual pay gains.
What it means
Falling unemployment alongside shrinking payrolls points to a metro where available talent is scarcer, not more abundant — a dynamic that raises the cost of local hiring for specialized infrastructure and security roles even as commodity IT functions face continued margin pressure from outsourcing economics ($35-60/hour global sourcing versus $130-180K domestic developer salaries). IT Project Manager pay climbing to $123,689 locally, now exceeding the national median, suggests Quad Cities employers are paying a premium to manage increasingly complex cloud/hybrid transitions with leaner internal teams. Consider reviewing whether current build-vs-buy allocations still match this metro's tightening supply of specialized talent, particularly where premium local pay for coordination roles is outpacing commodity technical roles.
Looking ahead
Expected: October 28 brings the first official September 2026 BLS metro release, which should clarify whether August's unemployment drop reflects genuine tightening or labor-force exit. IT leaders benchmarking fourth-quarter headcount plans should treat current August figures as provisional.
Emerging pressure point: Illinois' 91 year-to-date WARN notices, including T-Mobile and GoHealth cuts affecting nearly 1,000 workers combined, have been concentrated outside the Quad Cities so far. Watch whether displaced tech and telecom talent from Chicago-area filings begins appearing in the local candidate pool.
Worth watching: Illinois' salary-range disclosure mandate is now fully in effect for Quad Cities postings, reducing negotiation room on both sides. Expect advertised pay ranges to compress toward posted medians as employers calibrate to avoid candidate pushback on wide bands.
Potential inflection point: National information-sector job losses in August, paired with local nonfarm payroll contraction, raise the question of whether Quad Cities IT headcount reductions are still ahead rather than behind. Monitor local WARN filings and information-sector employment in the October release for early signs.
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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