Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: El Paso, TX MSA — September 2026
El Paso software engineering pay surges while security talent drains out.
El Paso's software engineer median jumped to $140,063 — nearly closing the gap with the $153,652 national figure — while cybersecurity analyst pay lags the national median by $18,700, a gap that widens further against Texas's $170K-$230K senior security pay.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.8% — vs 3.9% Texas statewide (August 2026)
- Software engineer pay gap: $13,589 — Metro $140,063 vs national $153,652, narrowing fast
- Cybersecurity pay gap: $18,688 — Metro $88,102 vs national $106,790 median
- Texas software developer openings: 10,843 — Statewide, TWC September 2026 data
Key takeaways
Software engineering pay is converging with national rates fast.
Metro median pay for software engineers jumped to $140,063, a significant move that narrows the gap with the $153,652 national figure. This compresses the traditional cost advantage of hiring locally and raises the real question of whether El Paso-based development headcount still pencils out versus remote or contract alternatives.
Infrastructure roles remain the metro's quiet value play.
Systems administrator ($80,823) and network engineer ($94,274) pay rose only moderately, both still well below national medians. Organizations anchoring infrastructure and support functions in El Paso retain a genuine cost edge even as premium technical roles get more expensive.
Cybersecurity pay gap signals building retention risk.
Local cybersecurity analyst pay sits at $88,102 against a $106,790 national median — an $18,700 gap that widens further against Texas's statewide senior security compensation of $170K-$230K. As security analyst roles project 29% growth nationally through 2034, that spread gives mobile security talent a clear financial reason to leave for Austin, Dallas, or remote national employers.
Metro unemployment slack hasn't reached the IT labor pool.
El Paso's 4.8% unemployment rate sits a full point above the state average, but nearly every IT role tracked locally shows upward pay pressure. Broader metro softness is concentrated in retail, logistics, and government — not translating into easier or cheaper technical hiring.
Median advertised pay by role — El Paso, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $102,615 | $109,443 | $113,895 | Stable | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $70,098 | $80,823 | $86,755 | Moderate increase | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $71,568 | $94,274 | $105,336 | Moderate increase | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $91,284 | $140,063 | $149,950 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $40,841 | $56,201 | $67,363 | Moderate increase | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $79,667 | $88,102 | $128,600 | Moderate increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager * | $88,412 | $115,230 | $127,284 | Stable | $117,530 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
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
El Paso's unemployment rate held at 4.8% in August, a full percentage point above the Texas rate of 3.9%, as the metro's heavy reliance on retail, government, and logistics employment keeps overall labor demand soft relative to tech-forward Texas metros like Austin and Dallas. Statewide data center and AI-related expansion is pulling specialized IT talent toward Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth, leaving El Paso employers competing for a thinner bench of cloud, security, and infrastructure candidates without the wage leverage those larger metros can offer.
What it means
El Paso's software engineering pay has moved up significantly to a $140,063 metro median, closing much of the gap with the $153,652 national figure and signaling that local employers are paying premium rates to compete for scarce development talent rather than relying on geographic discount. Meanwhile, systems administrator and network engineer pay are climbing at a more moderate pace, suggesting infrastructure roles still offer relative cost advantage for organizations willing to build rather than buy in this market. Current conditions suggest organizations evaluate whether rising software engineering costs justify continued local hiring versus shifting discretionary development work to contract or nearshore arrangements while preserving in-house headcount for infrastructure and security functions.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Texas Workforce Commission reports 10,843 open software developer positions statewide as of September — watch whether El Paso's share of that demand continues pulling local advertised pay higher or whether Austin/Dallas absorb most of the growth.
Emerging pressure point: The $18,700 cybersecurity pay gap versus national median, layered against Dallas Fed data showing Texas security leaders earning $170K-$230K, creates a retention watch item for any El Paso organization with even one or two security specialists approaching market.
Potential inflection point: September's Fall into a New Job Fair drew employers like Teleperformance and Allied Universal rather than tech-sector names — a signal that local hiring volume is concentrated outside IT, meaning technical talent pools may stay thin regardless of broader metro employment gains.
Expected: Statewide information-sector employment is down 5.3% year-over-year even as software development demand grows nationally, a divergence worth tracking locally to see whether El Paso's IT job postings follow the statewide information-sector contraction or the national developer demand trend.
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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