Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Jacksonville, FL MSA — October 2026
Jacksonville IT pay splits: PMs surge, sysadmins fall behind.
IT Project Manager pay jumped to $114,701 in Jacksonville even as Systems Administrator pay trails the national median by nearly $14,600, while metro unemployment eased to 4.5% against a statewide 4.2%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Jacksonville unemployment rate: 4.5% — vs 4.2% Florida, 4.1% U.S. (Sept 2026)
- Metro nonfarm job change: -1,600 — Month-over-month, Aug to Sept 2026
- Jacksonville WARN-affected workers: 1,223 — Across 14 notices, 2025-2026
- Systems Administrator pay gap: -14.3% — Metro $87,898 vs national $102,503
Key takeaways
Systems Administrator pay gap with the national market is widening.
Metro median sits nearly 17% below the national figure ($87,898 vs. $102,503), and both are trending up — meaning Jacksonville risks falling further behind if local adjustment lags the national pace. Infrastructure teams built around this role face rising flight risk to remote-friendly national employers.
IT Project Manager pay is moving faster than peer roles.
Local advertised pay rose at a significant rate to $114,701, nearly matching the $118,150 national median even as that figure held stable. Convergence with national pay suggests Jacksonville employers are competing harder for delivery and program leadership talent than for other technical disciplines.
Help Desk pay is rising locally while the national rate falls.
Metro median climbed to $49,925 even as the national figure declined, an unusual divergence that may reflect tighter frontline support supply locally or employers absorbing minimum wage pressure following Florida's September increase to $15.00. Worth tracking whether this narrows the build-vs-outsource calculus for Tier 1 support.
Local information-sector contraction may be seeding the candidate pool.
Statewide information-sector employment fell 3,600 over the year alongside Jacksonville's 1,600-job monthly decline, a pattern consistent with displaced technologists entering the regional market. Combined with 14 WARN notices affecting 1,223 Jacksonville workers since 2025, this could ease sourcing pressure for mid-level infrastructure and support roles even as specialized cloud and AI talent stays scarce.
Median advertised pay by role — Jacksonville, FL MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $116,478 | $140,400 | $156,572 | Moderate increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $75,955 | $87,898 | $97,000 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $82,404 | $109,030 | $118,293 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $113,618 | $139,240 | $154,757 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $39,108 | $49,925 | $58,324 | Moderate increase | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $88,722 | $101,767 | $112,605 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $93,359 | $114,701 | $124,263 | Significant increase | $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
Jacksonville MSA unemployment fell to 4.5% in September but remains 0.3 points above Florida's 4.2% statewide rate, and the metro shed 1,600 nonfarm jobs month-over-month even as the information sector contracted by 3,600 positions statewide over the year. Overlapping WARN activity — Builders FirstSource's 82-worker Jacksonville layoff effective December, plus Pitney Bowes' 337-worker cut in August — signals that headline unemployment improvement masks continued churn in roles adjacent to IT infrastructure and operations.
What it means
Metro-level softness alongside national data center hiring growth of 20% in three months creates a bifurcated picture: Jacksonville IT leaders compete for cloud and AI-adjacent talent in a national market still running hot, while local information-sector contraction suggests more displaced mid-level technologists may be entering the regional candidate pool. Systems Administrator pay sitting $14,600 below the national median ($87,898 vs. $102,503) while IT Project Manager pay rose at a significant clip locally ($114,701) points to uneven pressure across the stack, with pockets of localized strain rather than a single market-wide shortage. Consider reviewing infrastructure and support role compensation against the national trendline now, before a wider gap forces a reactive correction during the next hiring cycle.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Jacksonville's 4.5% unemployment rate improved for a second straight month but still trails the state average inversion seen earlier in 2026. Watch whether the Builders FirstSource and prior WARN-notice workers show measurable movement into IT-adjacent openings over November and December.
Emerging pressure point: National data center and infrastructure hiring is accelerating while Seattle- and San Francisco-style tech hub pullbacks continue; Jacksonville's lower-cost profile could position it as a secondary-market beneficiary. Track regional data center or colocation announcements as an early signal of infrastructure headcount demand shifting south.
Potential inflection point: Florida's AI readiness ranks 35th nationally with only 11.3% of businesses using AI tools, yet national AI-related postings now exceed 7% of all job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings). A persistent skills gap locally may push more Jacksonville IT leaders toward outsourced or fractional AI and cloud expertise over the next two quarters.
Early indicator: Duval County wages reached $75,340 in September against a backdrop of slow metro job growth, an unusual combination worth monitoring for whether it reflects durable wage pressure or compositional shift as lower-wage positions disappear faster than higher-paid ones.
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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