Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA — October 2026
Eugene IT pay splits sharply between scarce skills and shrinking support roles.
Eugene's Data Scientist pay hit $190,559 against a $145,881 national median, while Help Desk pay fell to $47,861 as statewide IT job postings stayed deep in negative territory.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Lane County nonfarm employment: -1.0% YoY — August 2026, led by govt and financial activities losses
- Eugene-Springfield median advertised salary: $58,240 — Up 4.93% QoQ, March 2026
- Oregon software developer postings: -26.9% — Q1 2026, vs server postings +4.5%
- Lane County unemployment rate: 5.1% — vs 4.2% US rate, August 2026
Key takeaways
Data Scientist pay is pulling away from the rest of the local IT ladder.
Metro median advertised pay of $190,559 sits well above the $145,881 national figure, even as overall Oregon postings remain soft. This reflects a scarce-skills premium concentrated in a handful of specialized roles.
Systems Administrator pay rose sharply but still lags the national rate.
Local median climbed to $94,275, a significant gain, yet trails the $102,503 national figure by roughly 8%. Infrastructure roles tied to on-prem and hybrid environments may require closer benchmarking as regional demand (e.g., data center buildout in Hermiston-Pendleton) pulls talent toward higher-paying opportunities.
Help Desk compensation decline signals a buyer's market for entry-level support.
Metro median fell significantly to $47,861, tracking a national decline but outpacing it. Organizations weighing in-house support versus managed services may find outsourcing economics more favorable as advertised pay compresses further.
Software developer scarcity is reshaping build-versus-buy math statewide.
Oregon software development postings fell 26.9% in Q1 even as server/infrastructure postings rose 4.5%, consistent with employers shifting hiring toward operations roles while developer talent grows harder to source locally. Smaller Eugene-area employers may find cloud migration and vendor-built solutions more practical than competing for scarce developer talent.
Median advertised pay by role — Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $61,302 | $190,559 | $190,803 | Significant increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $69,193 | $94,275 | $108,847 | Significant increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $75,596 | $91,631 | $141,294 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $87,070 | $156,000 | $170,000 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $40,710 | $47,861 | $55,120 | Significant decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $88,118 | $110,510 | $130,083 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $115,153 | $121,848 | $133,650 | Moderate increase | $118,150 |
* 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
Lane County's nonfarm employment contracted 1% year-over-year through August, with government and financial activities leading losses while private education and health services expanded — a pattern consistent with Oregon's broader hiring caution amid negative year-over-year job postings. Eugene-Springfield's median advertised salary rose to $58,240 in March, a 4.93% quarterly gain that reflects a compositional shift toward higher-paid specialized postings in a shrinking ad pool.
What it means
Metro conditions diverge sharply by role: Data Scientist pay at $190,559 and Systems Administrator pay at $94,275 both post significant local gains even as statewide IT postings for software development fell 26.9% in Q1, signaling employers are concentrating compensation dollars on scarce technical and infrastructure skills. Help Desk pay dropping to $47,861 locally — against a national decline of its own — suggests entry-level support roles face continued downward pressure, widening the gap IT leaders must manage between commodity and specialized talent. Current conditions suggest reviewing whether infrastructure and data roles are priced to compete against national figures, since Eugene's Systems Administrator median already trails the national rate by over $8,000 despite local gains.
Looking ahead
Expected: Oregon's October unemployment figures release November 18; watch whether Lane County's 5.1% rate holds or climbs further given 19 months of statewide stagnation between 5.0% and 5.3%.
Emerging pressure point: PacificSource's fourth layoff round since September 2025, cutting 134 jobs across Springfield, Bend, Salem and Portland by December 31, may release health-tech and systems talent into the regional candidate pool worth monitoring for infrastructure and support hiring.
Worth watching: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers through late October, surpassing all of 2025; watch whether displaced talent from larger markets begins targeting Eugene-area roles given its lower cost structure.
Potential inflection point: Amazon's Hermiston-Pendleton data center buildout drove 32% year-over-year postings growth regionally in Q3; sustained momentum could tighten infrastructure and network engineering talent availability across the broader Oregon market, including Eugene.
Sources
- Oregon Employment Department — Lane County nonfarm employment declined 1% year-over-year through August 2026
- Labor market intelligence research notes — Eugene-Springfield median advertised salary rose to $58,240 in March 2026
- Oregon Business & Industry — Oregon software development postings fell 26.9% in Q1 2026 while server postings rose 4.5%
- Oregon WARN Act filings — PacificSource layoffs totaling 134 workers across multiple Oregon cities effective Dec. 31
- Oregon Business & Industry Q3 report — Amazon's Hermiston-Pendleton data center hiring drove 32% YoY postings growth
- Layoffs.fyi / tech layoff tracker — 133,417 tech employees laid off at 325 companies through October 21, 2026
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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