Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Great Falls, MT MSA — September 2026
Great Falls IT pay splits: security and support up, networking down.
Systems Administrator and Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay rose significantly in Great Falls to $73,335 and $100,000 respectively, while Network Engineer pay fell even as the national median climbed to $114,400.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Cascade County unemployment: 3.0% — July 2026, vs 4.1% national rate
- Systems Administrator pay gap: -27.5% — Great Falls $73,335 vs national $101,168
- Montana employment trend: First annual decline since 2020 — 2025 statewide, per state labor office
- Montana wage growth: 4.7% YoY — 2024-2025, 2nd highest among US states
Key takeaways
Systems Administrator pay is catching up fast, not keeping pace.
Advertised pay rose significantly in Great Falls this month, yet the metro median of $73,335 still sits nearly 28% below the national figure of $101,168. Local employers appear to be bidding up a historically undervalued role rather than closing the gap with competitive markets — a trend worth tracking against retention outcomes.
Network Engineer pay is falling locally while rising nationally.
Great Falls advertised pay for Network Engineers moved down even as the national median climbed to $114,400. This divergence is consistent with reduced local demand for on-prem networking expertise, reinforcing the broader national signal that traditional infrastructure roles face permanent demand compression.
Cybersecurity pay strength signals a defensive hiring posture.
Local Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose significantly to a $100,000 median, tracking closely with national increases tied to AI-driven threat complexity and the national average topping $191,700 for senior roles. Even a federally anchored, defense-adjacent economy like Great Falls appears unwilling to lose ground on security talent.
Help Desk pay gains may reflect a shrinking local candidate pool.
Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay rose significantly in Great Falls despite sitting well below the stable national median of $53,644. Montana's tight labor market and modest 2025 employment decline may be forcing employers to pay more just to fill entry-tier roles that were once easy to source.
Median advertised pay by role — Great Falls, MT MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $116,946 | $151,867 | $164,187 | Moderate increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $57,293 | $73,335 | $75,253 | Significant increase | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $69,234 | $77,511 | $82,272 | Moderate decline | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $108,624 | $121,936 | $139,900 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $38,626 | $39,922 | $41,600 | Significant increase | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $88,344 | $100,000 | $126,000 | Significant increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager * | $81,835 | $116,046 | $125,793 | Moderate increase | $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
Cascade County's unemployment rate held near 3.0% through mid-2026, consistent with Montana's twelfth consecutive month below 3% statewide, while Malmstrom Air Force Base and federal civilian employment continue anchoring roughly half of the county's basic industry income. Labor supply remains thin against this backdrop, and Montana's first annual employment decline since 2020 suggests hiring pressure may be plateauing even as wage expectations set during the tighter 2025 market persist.
What it means
Metro-level pay movements this month cut in two directions that matter for workforce architecture: Systems Administrator advertised pay rose significantly even as the role trades at a steep discount to national median ($73,335 vs $101,168), while Network Engineer pay moved down against a rising national trend — a divergence that signals local employers may be deprioritizing on-prem networking investment relative to cloud migration. Thin local supply for specialized cloud, security, and architecture talent, combined with Montana's documented wage acceleration, strengthens the case for outsourcing non-core infrastructure functions while reserving permanent headcount for roles tied directly to mission-critical systems. Consider evaluating which infrastructure functions currently staffed locally could shift to managed service or remote-hire arrangements given the persistent gap between Great Falls and national pay levels for networking and systems administration talent.
Looking ahead
Expected: October 20 brings the next BLS release covering September county and metro unemployment data. Watch whether Cascade County's rate holds near 3.0% or drifts upward, which would support further easing of hiring pressure for cloud and security headcount expansion.
Emerging pressure point: Montana's first annual employment decline since 2020 has not yet shown up clearly in Great Falls IT advertised pay, but a softening labor force combined with rising Systems Administrator and Help Desk pay suggests employers may be competing harder for a shrinking qualified pool rather than expanding headcount.
Worth watching: National WARN activity remains elevated at major tech-adjacent employers including Amazon, Meta, and Oracle. Any ripple effect reaching Montana's small information-sector footprint would be a notable source of released cloud or security talent entering a metro with limited local supply.
Potential inflection point: Network Engineer pay's local decline against a rising national trend may mark an early signal of on-prem-to-cloud migration accelerating in the metro. Confirm whether infrastructure job postings increasingly specify cloud platforms over traditional networking certifications in coming weeks.
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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