Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Fort Collins-Loveland, CO MSA — October 2026
Fort Collins infrastructure pay outpaces the nation as labor tightens.
Systems Administrator pay jumped to a $97,500 metro median even as Colorado's labor force shrinks by roughly 95,000 workers and statewide unemployment climbs to 4.1%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Fort Collins unemployment rate: 3.2% — vs 4.1% Colorado, 4.1% national
- Larimer County wage growth: 9.3% — Fastest among CO's 9 largest counties, Q3 2025
- Colorado labor force contraction: ~95,000 — Over two years; 62% of leavers aged 55+
- Colorado tech sector job growth (2026): +4,386 jobs — 2.8% growth after prior year losses
Key takeaways
Systems Administrator pay is outrunning the national trend.
Metro median hit $97,500, a significant increase that exceeds the national Systems Administrator gain. Local infrastructure hiring may be absorbing wage pressure faster than headcount plans account for — worth revisiting budget assumptions for on-prem and hybrid support roles.
Cybersecurity pay climbs while network engineering pay softens.
Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay rose significantly to $104,976 locally while Network Engineer pay fell moderately to $101,336. Diverging trajectories for adjacent infrastructure-security roles may reflect employers reallocating budget toward security headcount at the expense of network capacity.
Data Scientist pay is retreating locally against a stable national market.
Metro median fell to $113,478 while the national figure held at $145,881, a wide and widening gap. Local demand for data science talent appears softer than national trends suggest, which may support local hiring over competing for scarce national AI-adjacent talent.
Aging-out of the Colorado tech workforce is a structural retention risk.
62% of Coloradans who've exited the labor force are 55 and older, compounding a tech sector that still needs 4,386 new jobs filled in 2026. Fort Collins employers competing for experienced infrastructure and security staff should expect this drain to continue regardless of near-term hiring conditions.
Median advertised pay by role — Fort Collins-Loveland, CO MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $73,142 | $113,478 | $130,804 | Moderate decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $75,050 | $97,500 | $112,593 | Significant increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $79,658 | $101,336 | $110,000 | Moderate decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $114,066 | $151,378 | $175,183 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $42,720 | $52,455 | $58,595 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $75,000 | $104,976 | $123,500 | Significant increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $101,748 | $121,728 | $123,728 | Stable | $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
Fort Collins-Loveland labor supply remains unusually tight for a metro its size — 3.2% unemployment against Colorado's climbing 4.1% rate — even as the state's overall labor force shrinks under retirement-driven attrition. Larimer County's 9.3% average weekly wage growth, the fastest among Colorado's nine largest counties, signals employers are bidding up pay to hold workers in a county that still imports nearly 60% of its workforce daily.
What it means
Tight local supply combined with statewide tech sector contraction (Colorado's labor force down roughly 95,000 in two years, 62% of leavers aged 55+) means infrastructure and support roles here face compounding pressure: fewer available workers locally and a shrinking pipeline of experienced talent statewide. Systems Administrator pay up significantly to $97,500 metro median — outpacing even the national increase — suggests Fort Collins employers are already competing aggressively for infrastructure talent ahead of softer conditions. Consider reviewing whether current infrastructure and support compensation reflects this metro's tighter supply conditions over statewide or national benchmarks.
Looking ahead
Expected release: Colorado's October employment data and Fort Collins MSA unemployment figures post November 20. Watch whether Larimer County's wage growth premium persists as statewide labor force contraction deepens.
Emerging pressure point: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers in 2026, yet Fort Collins unemployment keeps falling. Monitor whether displaced talent from larger tech hubs begins appearing in the local candidate pool given Colorado's relative labor tightness.
Early indicator: State IT base salaries lag market by -13.7%, creating recruitment disadvantage for public-sector and public-adjacent IT operations in the region. Watch whether this gap widens enough to pull public-sector infrastructure and support talent toward private employers.
Worth watching: Data center postings are up 20% nationally over three months while Seattle and San Francisco pull back hiring. Fort Collins, as a lower-cost secondary market, may see increased interest from employers relocating infrastructure roles, easing competition for cloud-native talent in expensive metros.
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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