Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: El Paso, TX MSA — October 2026
El Paso's IT pay splits sharply between engineering and security roles.
Software Engineer pay in El Paso rose to $132,376 even as Cybersecurity Analyst pay fell to $79,667, a divergence against national trends where security pay is climbing toward $107,327.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.3% — Down from 4.6% in August, 4.8% a year ago
- Metro avg weekly wage: $1,031 — vs $1,654 national average (Q1 2026)
- Metro annual job growth: +2,800 jobs — 0.8% YoY, despite -900 jobs in latest month
- Cybersecurity Analyst pay gap: $79,667 vs $107,327 — Metro down significantly vs national up moderate
Key takeaways
Cybersecurity pay is falling locally while national rates climb.
Metro advertised pay for Cybersecurity Analyst sits at $79,667, down significantly, against a national median of $107,327 trending up. The widening gap is consistent with security work migrating toward centralized or outsourced delivery instead of local hire, and organizations retaining in-metro security staff should benchmark against the national trajectory as the key reference point.
Software engineering pay is pulling away from the rest of the metro stack.
Metro Software Engineer pay rose significantly to $132,376, the only role in this market showing strong upward movement, while Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay stayed flat to moderate. That divergence suggests employers are competing hardest for engineering capacity tied to product or modernization work, with infrastructure operations drawing comparatively less competitive pressure — a signal worth factoring into headcount mix as budgets are set.
IT Project Manager pay decline may reflect flatter delivery structures.
Metro IT Project Manager pay dropped significantly to $89,943, a steeper fall than the stable national median of $118,150. Consistent with Texas-wide reports of firms growing output without adding headcount, this may point to consolidation of PM responsibilities into fewer, more senior roles even as project volume holds steady.
Low metro wage levels keep El Paso attractive for infrastructure buildout.
Metro average weekly wages of $1,031 remain far below the $1,654 national figure, even as Texas overall posts 4.5% year-over-year wage growth. That gap supports the case for siting support, help desk, and systems administration functions in El Paso as an alternative to higher-cost Texas metros competing for semiconductor and data center talent.
Median advertised pay by role — El Paso, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $103,634 | $105,377 | $113,895 | Moderate decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $70,270 | $80,823 | $90,744 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $71,691 | $93,916 | $107,505 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $92,335 | $132,376 | $149,476 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $39,436 | $54,714 | $56,952 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $79,667 | $79,667 | $80,006 | Significant decline | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $83,615 | $89,943 | $92,656 | Significant 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
El Paso's unemployment rate improved to 4.3% in September from 4.6% in August, with annual employment growth of 2,800 positions even as the metro shed 900 jobs month-over-month and professional services continued contracting from late-2025 losses. Average weekly wages in the metro ($1,031 in Q1 2026) remain well below the national figure ($1,654), reflecting a labor market where cost structure continues to shape where employers choose to locate infrastructure and support functions, with pay competition playing a smaller role.
What it means
Metro-level wage compression alongside a tightening unemployment rate signals that El Paso remains a cost-efficient location for infrastructure, help desk, and systems administration roles even as specialized talent — cybersecurity, data science, project management — shows advertised pay declines that suggest employers are repricing these roles downward locally while retaining candidates who might otherwise pursue competing offers. That repricing is a double-edged signal: it may reflect softened local demand for these functions, or a shift toward remote/outsourced delivery of specialized work while routine infrastructure stays on-site. Consider reviewing whether cybersecurity and project management roles are being backfilled locally at lower advertised rates or increasingly routed to contractors and MSPs outside the metro.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: El Paso's professional services sector lost 1,050 jobs in the most recent annualized period; watch whether IT and technical consulting roles are part of that contraction or holding steady, since it will clarify whether local project-based IT work is shrinking or shifting to contractors.
Emerging pressure point: National cybersecurity pay is rising while El Paso's is falling sharply — a gap that could widen further if Texas's AI governance law pushes compliance and security work toward specialized firms and away from in-house teams this quarter.
Potential inflection point: Texas Enterprise Fund reforms lowering job-creation thresholds to 40 jobs or $5M payroll could pull smaller tech and AI employers into El Paso's incentive pipeline over the next two months, a development worth tracking for its effect on local IT hiring competition.
Early indicator: Statewide productivity gains without headcount growth suggest El Paso employers may continue favoring automation and managed services over new IT hires; watch whether local job ad volume (a signal of hiring demand, where one ad often covers several openings) for infrastructure and support roles softens further in November data.
Sources
- Texas Workforce Commission — El Paso unemployment rate improved to 4.3% in September from 4.6% in August
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — El Paso average weekly wages were $1,031 in Q1 2026 vs $1,654 national
- Texas Enterprise Fund policy reporting — Texas Enterprise Fund reforms proposing lower job thresholds for tech/AI firms
- Texas Legislature — Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act took effect January 1, 2026
- CompTIA / Texas labor market analysis — Texas firms growing output without adding headcount amid constrained labor supply
- Texas Workforce Commission — El Paso employment contracted with professional services losses of 1,050 jobs
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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