Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Dayton, OH MSA — October 2026
Dayton infrastructure pay converges with national rates as technician gap widens
Systems Administrator pay in Dayton climbed to $106,828 — nearly matching the $102,503 national median — as Ohio reports five open technician jobs for every qualified candidate.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.7% — Aug 2026, down 1.0pt year-over-year
- Ohio technician shortage ratio: 5:1 — Open roles per qualified candidate, statewide
- Metro job change, August: -1,000 — Reversed July's +700 gain
- Systems Administrator pay gap: $4,325 — Metro $106,828 vs national $102,503, narrowing
Key takeaways
Systems Administrator pay is outrunning the national trend.
Metro median advertised pay for Systems Administrators sits at $106,828, up significantly and now close to the national figure of $102,503. Convergence with national pay in a traditionally lower-cost metro suggests local infrastructure talent has become scarce, with pricing pressure as one clear sign of that scarcity.
Network Engineer demand is repricing faster than software roles.
Network Engineer advertised pay rose significantly to $108,819 locally while Software Engineer pay held flat at $121,490. Pattern is consistent with data center and defense-adjacent infrastructure buildout pulling network talent out of a thin regional bench faster than general software hiring pressure.
IT Project Manager pay softening may reflect project pipeline caution.
Metro IT Project Manager pay fell moderately to $111,411 even as infrastructure and security roles gained. Decline may signal employers pausing discretionary technology initiatives while prioritizing operational and infrastructure headcount tied to defense and data center work.
Help Desk pay gains locally while national rates retreat.
Metro Help Desk/IT Support pay rose moderately to $50,695 against a national decline to $53,129. Divergence suggests Dayton employers are competing harder for entry-level technical talent than the national market, consistent with the region's broader technician shortage.
Median advertised pay by role — Dayton, OH MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $100,564 | $114,376 | $122,768 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $83,101 | $106,828 | $115,545 | Significant increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $79,340 | $108,819 | $122,257 | Significant increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $102,197 | $121,490 | $132,584 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $42,175 | $50,695 | $59,280 | Moderate increase | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $88,386 | $111,635 | $119,400 | Stable | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $109,495 | $111,411 | $115,374 | 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
Dayton's metro unemployment rate held near 3.7% in August 2026, a full point below year-ago levels, even as the region shed 1,000 jobs that month after a July gain, suggesting cyclical cooling inside a structurally tight labor pool. Defense spending, data center buildout, and continued manufacturing and logistics expansion keep demand elevated for technical talent even as broader hiring momentum decelerates.
What it means
Tight local labor supply alongside softening month-to-month job growth signals a market where IT leaders face limited near-term risk of flooded candidate pools but growing pressure to justify every open requisition. Infrastructure and security headcount planning should account for Ohio's technician shortfall — five open technician roles per qualified candidate statewide — which pushes build-vs-buy decisions toward training incumbents or expanding regional outsourcing to fill roles that would otherwise compete for scarce external hires. Consider reviewing whether JobsOhio's Technician Path matching-fund program offsets internal upskilling costs for infrastructure and support roles before expanding external recruiting budgets.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether the August metro job loss of 1,000 extends into a multi-month trend or proves a one-off pullback from July's gain. A sustained slowdown would ease some hiring competition even as technician-level scarcity persists.
Policy watch: JobsOhio's Technician Path program requires 1:1 employer matching funds; track uptake among Dayton-area IT and infrastructure employers as an indicator of how many organizations are shifting toward build-from-within strategies.
Worth watching: TechCred credential reimbursement funds are exhausted for the fiscal year statewide. Expect employers to self-fund upskilling for only the most critical infrastructure and security roles through year-end, narrowing the scope of internal development options.
Potential inflection point: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers through late October, well above all of 2025. Monitor whether any released talent, particularly from defense-adjacent or aerospace tech firms, surfaces in the Dayton candidate pool given the metro's defense-sector concentration.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Dayton metro unemployment rate and year-over-year change
- USA Facts — Dayton metro lost 1,000 jobs in August 2026 after July gain
- JobsOhio — Ohio has five open technician jobs per qualified candidate
- Layoffs.fyi / industry tracking — Tech layoffs exceeded 133,000 workers through October 21, 2026
- Ohio TechCred Program — TechCred reimbursement funds exhausted halfway through fiscal year
- JobsOhio — JobsOhio Technician Path program requires 1:1 employer matching
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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