Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Johnson City, TN MSA — October 2026
Johnson City IT pay splits: support roles surge, infrastructure stalls.
Metro Help Desk pay jumped to $51,398 against a declining $53,129 national rate, while Systems Administrator pay held flat locally even as the national median climbed to $102,503.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Washington County unemployment: 3.5% — vs 4.1% national, 3.4% Tennessee statewide
- Help Desk/IT Support pay growth: Significant increase — Metro $51,398 vs national $53,129, which fell
- Systems Administrator pay movement: Stable — Metro $85,422 vs national $102,503, rising moderately
- National tech layoffs, year-to-date: 133,417 — Across 325 companies through Oct. 21, 2026
Key takeaways
Help Desk pay is closing the gap with higher-skill roles.
Metro Help Desk/IT Support pay climbed significantly to $51,398 even as the national median fell to $53,129 — a reversal that may suggest local employers are competing harder for entry-level talent than the national market requires. Compensation strategy built on national surveys risks underpricing this role locally.
Software Engineer pay is rising locally while national pay holds flat.
Metro Software Engineer pay moved up to $149,094, closing on the $154,403 national median, consistent with Tennessee's broader IT wage pressure and Oracle's Nashville buildout pulling comparable talent statewide. Johnson City employers competing for engineering talent against Nashville-adjacent pay gravity may need to revisit retention premiums.
Infrastructure roles show pay stagnation despite tight labor supply.
Systems Administrator and Network Engineer advertised pay sat flat locally against moderate national increases, an unusual divergence given 3.5% county unemployment. Flat local pay in a tight labor market may signal employers are substituting managed services or outsourcing for direct competition on cash compensation for these functions.
Cybersecurity pay gap with national rates is widening.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay held stable at $89,988 while the national median climbed to $107,327, a widening spread that tracks Tennessee's broader pattern of IT security demand concentrated in Nashville and Oak Ridge. Johnson City organizations building internal security capacity may face recruitment friction against better-funded Tennessee competitors.
Median advertised pay by role — Johnson City, TN MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $111,900 | $138,170 | $157,500 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator * | $71,551 | $85,422 | $93,966 | Stable | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $76,999 | $82,122 | $84,202 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer * | $110,570 | $149,094 | $164,580 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $39,323 | $51,398 | $65,000 | Significant increase | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $78,415 | $89,988 | $101,715 | Stable | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $78,110 | $108,595 | $122,848 | Moderate increase | $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
Washington County unemployment held at 3.5% through August, consistent with Tennessee's 3.4% statewide rate and well below the national 4.1% print, leaving IT employers in Johnson City competing for talent in one of the tightest labor pools in the state. Tight local labor supply collides with national tech sector volatility — 133,417 tech layoffs nationally through October 21 have not loosened this metro's IT bench, since most displaced talent concentrates in major tech hubs, leaving secondary markets like the Tri-Cities largely untouched.
What it means
Local IT compensation is bifurcating along the same lines as the national market: Help Desk/IT Support pay rose significantly this month to a $51,398 metro median while Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay sat flat, suggesting employers are bidding up entry-level support roles faster than mid-tier infrastructure positions. Tennessee's low-hire, low-fire dynamic and projected 2.69% growth in computer/mathematical occupations statewide mean organic hiring will not scale security or cloud functions quickly, reinforcing a case for managed services on volatile workloads. Consider evaluating which infrastructure functions can shift to hybrid or outsourced delivery models now, before competition for scarce local talent pushes Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay toward national medians of $102,503 and $115,757.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: November's BLS metro-level release will confirm whether Johnson City's 3.5% unemployment holds into fall hiring season. A further tightening would add pressure to the Help Desk and Software Engineer pay movements already visible this month.
Emerging pressure point: Oracle's $1.2 billion Nashville initiative and its 8,500-job target continue to pull IT compensation upward statewide. Watch whether Johnson City infrastructure and engineering pay begins tracking that gravity, given Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay has sat flat while Nashville demand builds.
Potential inflection point: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 for the year, concentrated in major hubs. Monitor whether any of that displaced talent begins surfacing in Tri-Cities applicant pools, which could ease Software Engineer or Cybersecurity Analyst sourcing pressure locally.
Early indicator: Tennessee's low-hire, low-fire pattern limits bench flexibility for scaling security or cloud functions through direct hiring. Track whether more Johnson City employers begin posting managed-services or staffing-partner arrangements in lieu of direct infrastructure hires.
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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