Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA MSA — October 2026
Houma IT pay lags national gains as job growth accelerates.
Metro Systems Administrator pay sits at $95,572 against $102,503 nationally, even as Houma-Thibodaux employment is forecast to grow 3.1% through Q2 2027 — the fastest pace of any Louisiana metro.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro nonfarm employment: 86,300 — Up 500 YoY, flat vs. August 2026
- Metro employment growth forecast: 3.1% — Through Q2 2027, fastest in Louisiana
- Terrebonne Parish unemployment: 4.1% — Among Louisiana's lowest, vs. 4.0% statewide
- Louisiana quits vs. layoffs: 43,000 vs. 22,000 — October 2025 data, signals active churn
Key takeaways
Systems administrator pay is falling behind the national curve.
Metro median of $95,572 compares to $102,503 nationally, both trending up but the metro lagging — a widening gap that raises retention risk for infrastructure staff with other-market options, including remote ones.
Cybersecurity pay strength looks like the metro's one bright spot.
Local Cybersecurity Analyst pay at $105,205, up and moving in tandem with the $107,327 national figure, suggests employers are matching national urgency on security talent even where other IT roles are not keeping pace.
Support-role economics favor outsourcing over build.
Statewide IT technician pay of $41,044 against $93,813 for general IT roles is a 56% gap that, combined with 95% in-person job distribution for support work, limits remote arbitrage and strengthens the case for third-party or managed support desks.
Metro job growth forecast adds competitive pressure to a thin bench.
Projected 3.1% employment growth through Q2 2027 — fastest of any Louisiana metro — will pull from the same limited pool of administrators and analysts IT departments already compete for against energy and maritime employers.
Median advertised pay by role — Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $119,451 | $151,577 | $164,187 | Moderate increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator * | $76,914 | $95,572 | $105,684 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer * | $56,023 | $100,659 | $127,631 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer * | $118,333 | $153,604 | $170,033 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist * | $41,655 | $52,498 | $58,276 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $87,087 | $105,205 | $125,425 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $79,462 | $114,290 | $125,776 | Stable | $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
Houma-Thibodaux nonfarm employment held nearly flat month-over-month at 86,300 in September but is up 500 jobs year-over-year, with the metro's energy and maritime base keeping transportation and material-moving employment at 14.5% of local jobs versus 8.8% nationally. Terrebonne Parish unemployment near 4.1% and metro-wide employment forecast to grow 3.1% through Q2 2027 — Louisiana's fastest metro pace — point to a labor pool tightening further just as local IT roles already trail national advertised pay in most categories.
What it means
Metro Systems Administrator pay at $95,572 sits roughly 7% below the $102,503 national median, and local Help Desk pay of $52,498 is now flat while national rates are drifting down — signaling the gap that typically opens between coastal/urban tech markets and secondary energy-economy metros like Houma is narrowing from the wrong direction locally. With statewide IT technician pay averaging just $41,044 against $93,813 for general IT roles, the economics of outsourcing routine infrastructure and support work remain compelling while the metro's projected job growth adds competition for the scarce administrators and analysts needed to run hybrid environments. Consider reviewing whether current systems administration and support staffing should shift toward a managed-services or outsourced support model while reinvesting retained headcount in cybersecurity and architecture roles where local pay is still rising.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Terrebonne Parish's sub-4.2% unemployment tightens further as the metro's forecast 2,700-job gain through Q2 2027 materializes; a thinner local pool raises the cost of filling infrastructure and support roles.
Emerging pressure point: Systems Administrator pay growth nationally (up, moderate) is outpacing the metro's own moderate gain — a continued divergence over the next two reporting cycles would sharpen the case for remote hiring or pay adjustments to retain incumbents.
Worth watching: National tech layoffs already exceeding 133,000 year-to-date could push displaced cloud and security talent toward lower-cost metros like Houma; monitor whether applicant volume for architecture and cybersecurity roles increases in coming weeks.
Potential inflection point: Louisiana's 43,000 quits against 22,000 layoffs signals active churn; if that pattern extends into IT support and admin roles locally, expect accelerated requisition cycles and higher counteroffer activity.
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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