Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Jacksonville, FL MSA — September 2026
Jacksonville network engineer pay falls as national rate climbs.
Metro Network Engineer pay dropped to $93,715 against a rising $114,400 national figure, while IT Project Manager pay jumped to $114,701 even as Duval County unemployment held near 4.9%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Duval County unemployment: 4.9% — Up from 4.2% year-ago; vs 4.1% national
- Metro nonfarm job growth: 0.1% — 500 jobs added in 12 months vs Tampa +12,500
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $93,715 — Down significantly vs $114,400 national, rising
- Florida minimum wage: $15.00/hr — Effective Sept 30, 2026, up from $14
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is falling locally while the national rate climbs.
Metro advertised pay for Network Engineers dropped significantly to $93,715 even as national pay rose to $114,400, a nearly $21,000 gap. This divergence is consistent with Jacksonville's weak 0.1% job growth softening local demand for traditional network roles faster than the national market, making outsourcing or managed-services arrangements more economically rational for non-core infrastructure.
IT Project Manager demand looks like the metro's clearest bright spot.
Advertised pay rose significantly to $114,701, nearly closing the gap with the $117,530 national figure despite the metro's broader labor cooling. That resilience suggests employers are paying for coordination and delivery capability amid AI and cloud transitions, not just technical depth — a role worth benchmarking against demand rather than historical pay bands.
Financial Activities job losses may be quietly reshaping local IT demand.
The sector shed 4,000 jobs over the year even as Professional and Business Services grew 2.0%, pointing to uneven IT hiring depending on which industry vertical an organization serves. IT leaders supporting finance-adjacent functions should expect softer internal demand signals than peers in healthcare or professional services.
Help Desk pay gains locally despite a cooling overall market.
Advertised pay for Help Desk/IT Support rose moderately to $49,791, narrowing against the $53,644 national figure even as unemployment climbed. That combination is consistent with continued frontline support scarcity despite layoffs elsewhere, suggesting commodity-labeled roles aren't necessarily low-risk for retention.
Median advertised pay by role — Jacksonville, FL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $113,895 | $139,377 | $163,342 | Moderate increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $76,795 | $87,898 | $95,982 | Moderate increase | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $82,294 | $93,715 | $112,768 | Significant decline | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $112,497 | $135,487 | $153,000 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $39,108 | $49,791 | $58,647 | Moderate increase | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $87,025 | $99,676 | $108,869 | Moderate increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $102,605 | $114,701 | $125,064 | Significant increase | $117,530 |
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
Jacksonville's unemployment rate held near 4.9% in Duval County through August, with nonfarm payrolls up just 0.1% over the trailing twelve months — the weakest job growth signal in the metro's recent history and a marked divergence from Tampa and Orlando, which added 12,500 and 11,900 jobs respectively. Financial Activities shed 4,000 jobs locally even as Professional and Business Services grew 2.0%, suggesting the metro's labor softening is concentrated rather than broad-based, with IT demand increasingly tied to which sector is doing the hiring.
What it means
Network Engineer advertised pay fell significantly in Jacksonville even as the national figure rose, a divergence that may reflect local oversupply relative to demand, commoditization of traditional infrastructure roles, or employers testing lower offers in a metro with rising unemployment — any of which supports shifting routine network and support functions toward contract or outsourced delivery. Meanwhile IT Project Manager pay rose significantly locally, converging toward the national median, consistent with employers paying up for coordination talent that can manage AI tooling rollouts and vendor transitions rather than for commodity technical execution. Current conditions suggest reviewing which infrastructure roles are being priced as strategic versus transactional, and reallocating retention budget toward the latter category rather than spreading raises evenly across the IT org chart.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Duval County unemployment at 4.9% has now risen for several consecutive readings from 4.2% a year ago. Watch whether softening continues into October, which would further widen the gap between Jacksonville's labor conditions and faster-growing peer metros like Tampa and Orlando.
Emerging pressure point: Financial Activities job losses locally may begin releasing finance-adjacent IT and analytics talent into the broader candidate pool. Organizations hiring for data or reporting-focused roles should watch whether this improves sourcing without requiring pay concessions.
Potential inflection point: Florida's minimum wage rises to $15 on September 30, with tipped wages to $11.98, compressing the gap between entry-level support roles and skilled technical positions. Expect pressure on Help Desk and junior support compensation bands within the next one to two review cycles.
Early indicator: National information-sector job losses (3,900 YoY statewide) alongside continued cybersecurity and AI engineering wage acceleration suggest a widening split between commodity IT roles and specialized ones. Track whether Jacksonville's Cybersecurity Analyst pay, up moderately to $99,676, begins accelerating toward the $106,790 national figure as that divide plays out locally.
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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