Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: IN NONMETROPOLITAN AREA — October 2026
Warsaw IT pay splits: infrastructure rises, support and PM roles fall.
Metro Network Engineer pay rose to $101,644 even as Help Desk/IT Support fell significantly to $49,920 and IT Project Manager pay dropped to $94,791, against a statewide labor force that shrank by roughly 18,900 workers over the year.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Indiana unemployment rate: 3.4% — Up from 3.3%, first rise since Aug. 2024
- Statewide open IT-relevant job postings: 106,223 — As of Sept. 30, 2026 statewide
- Metro Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay: $49,920 — Down significantly vs. national $53,129
- Indiana labor force change (YoY): -18,900 workers — Shrinking pool despite stable postings
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is rising while support roles get cut.
Metro Network Engineer advertised pay climbed to $101,644 while Help Desk/IT Support fell to $49,920, a significant decline. Diverging trajectories within the same IT org may signal employers reallocating budget toward infrastructure buildout and away from frontline support headcount.
IT Project Manager pay drop may reflect fewer standalone PM hires.
Metro IT Project Manager advertised pay fell significantly to $94,791 against a stable national median of $118,150. Consider whether this reflects project leadership folding into technical management roles instead of being hired as a dedicated function.
Data Scientist and Software Engineer pay both soften locally against stable national trends.
Metro Data Scientist pay ($120,262) and Software Engineer pay ($118,138) are both down moderately, while national medians hold near $145,881 and $154,403. Widening metro-national gaps on these roles may indicate Warsaw-area employers are losing pricing power to compete for cloud and AI-adjacent talent.
Statewide talent scarcity is structural.
Indiana's labor force shrank by about 18,900 over the year even as job postings held above 106,000 statewide. Build-vs-buy decisions for specialized infrastructure and security roles should account for a tightening pool that outside recruiting alone won't solve.
Median advertised pay by role — IN NONMETROPOLITAN AREA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $110,428 | $120,262 | $131,116 | Moderate decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $70,083 | $87,430 | $92,965 | Stable | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $77,500 | $101,644 | $121,547 | Moderate increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $99,025 | $118,138 | $135,911 | Moderate decline | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $43,811 | $49,920 | $54,080 | Significant decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $75,889 | $83,371 | $97,871 | Stable | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $65,976 | $94,791 | $102,529 | 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
Warsaw metro IT hiring is unfolding against a state labor pool that is shrinking — Indiana's labor force fell by roughly 18,900 workers over the past year even as the unemployment rate edged up to 3.4% in September, a sign of fewer available workers amid steady demand. Statewide IT pay fragmentation is widening: general IT averages $104,393 against $78,589 for technicians and expert-level ML roles reaching $204,804–$315,344, pulling specialist compensation decisions upward even as support-tier roles stay cost-favorable.
What it means
Shrinking labor supply alongside 106,223 open Indiana job postings means external IT hiring pipelines will likely stay thin through year-end, pushing retention and internal mobility ahead of recruiting as the primary lever for infrastructure and security headcount. Locally, advertised pay for Help Desk/IT Support ($49,920, down significantly) and IT Project Manager ($94,791, down significantly) is softening even as Network Engineer pay rises ($101,644), suggesting employers are consolidating support functions while protecting network and infrastructure capacity. Consider reviewing whether declining advertised rates for support and PM roles reflect falling demand or a pivot toward outsourcing those functions while reinvesting in infrastructure-critical talent.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Network Engineer pay continues climbing locally as data center and infrastructure buildout activity across Indiana (including the Meta LEAP District project) competes for the same technical labor pool.
Emerging pressure point: Significant declines in Help Desk/IT Support and IT Project Manager advertised pay warrant tracking into November — if the trend persists, it may support a case for outsourcing routine support and PM functions instead of rebuilding internal headcount.
Worth watching: Indiana's first unemployment uptick since August 2024, even if not statistically significant per BLS, bears monitoring for whether it signals loosening in adjacent technical labor pools heading into 2027.
Potential inflection point: National tech layoffs already exceeding 133,000 through October may begin feeding candidate flow into secondary markets like Warsaw; track whether displaced cloud or AI talent appears in local applicant pools over the next two months.
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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.