Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX MSA — September 2026
Killeen unemployment climbs as infrastructure pay softens locally.
Metro unemployment rose to 5.4% in July against a 4.0% Texas rate, while Network Engineer and IT Project Manager advertised pay both fell sharply even as national demand for those roles continued rising.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 5.4% — Up from 4.9% in June; vs 4.0% Texas, 4.1% U.S.
- Metro avg weekly wage: $1,288 — vs $1,654 national average (Q1 2026)
- Texas private wage growth: 3.9% YoY — vs 3.3% national (Dallas Fed, July)
- Fort Hood monthly separations: ~800 — Service members entering civilian workforce monthly
Key takeaways
Local unemployment is rising while Texas and the U.S. hold steady.
Killeen's 5.4% July rate, up from 4.9% in June, moves against both the 4.0% Texas rate and the 4.1% national rate. A labor pool loosening locally while the state tightens may widen the gap between what employers can offer and what candidates expect from statewide benchmarks.
Network Engineer pay is falling locally while national demand climbs.
Metro median pay for Network Engineer dropped significantly even as the national median rose moderately to $114,400. This divergence is consistent with employers either suppressing postings against budget pressure or routing infrastructure work to remote/contract talent pools outside the metro.
Software Engineer compensation is pulling away from the rest of the stack.
Metro median Software Engineer pay rose significantly to $161,356, now running ahead of the national median of $153,652 — an unusual local premium. Organizations should evaluate whether this reflects genuine scarcity of senior engineering talent locally or a small sample of high-value postings skewing the figure.
IT Project Manager pay decline may signal reduced project-based hiring.
Metro median IT Project Manager pay fell significantly to $87,530 against a rising national median of $117,530, a gap approaching $30,000. Current conditions suggest fewer large-scale initiatives are being greenlit locally, consistent with Fort Hood-area employers favoring operational stability over transformation spend.
Median advertised pay by role — Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $99,000 | $118,964 | $130,437 | Significant increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $70,888 | $78,126 | $85,483 | Stable | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $61,333 | $97,314 | $110,612 | Significant decline | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $121,921 | $161,356 | $170,659 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $45,123 | $50,324 | $54,435 | Stable | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $85,765 | $103,212 | $118,888 | Moderate increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $84,343 | $87,530 | $92,118 | Significant decline | $117,530 |
* 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
Killeen metro unemployment rose to 5.4% in July 2026 from 4.9% in June, a deterioration that outpaces both the Texas state rate (4.0%) and national rate (4.1%), reflecting the metro's structural dependence on Fort Hood separations feeding up to 800 transitioning service members into the civilian labor pool monthly. Average weekly wages remain well below national levels ($1,288 vs. $1,654), a gap that persists even as Texas private-sector wage growth (3.9% YoY) outpaces the nation, suggesting local employers are not capturing the state's broader wage acceleration.
What it means
Network Engineer and IT Project Manager advertised pay both declined significantly locally this month even as national demand for those roles continues rising, a divergence that may suggest Killeen employers are either under-posting against true market value or quietly shifting that work to remote/contract arrangements rather than competing for scarce local talent. With metro unemployment climbing while Software Engineer and Data Scientist pay rise sharply, the local market looks bifurcated — commodity infrastructure roles softening while specialized technical talent tightens, a split consistent with statewide trends toward AI/cloud specialization. Consider reviewing whether Network Engineer and IT Project Manager roles are better sourced through contract or outsourced arrangements given weakening local advertised pay, while reserving permanent headcount investment for Software Engineer and Data Scientist functions where local pay is accelerating fastest.
Looking ahead
Expected: BLS publishes September 2026 metro-area employment data on October 28 — the first real read on whether July's unemployment uptick to 5.4% is a trend or a one-month anomaly worth revisiting before locking Q4 headcount plans.
Emerging pressure point: Fort Hood's ongoing monthly separation flow of up to 800 service members continues feeding the local labor pool; watch whether veteran technical talent (network, systems, cybersecurity backgrounds) shows up in increased candidate volume for infrastructure and security roles.
Worth watching: Texas Workforce Commission reports 10,843 statewide software developer openings in September — track whether Killeen-area postings capture any share of that demand or whether Austin's AI/semiconductor hiring surge continues to pull specialized talent away from Central Texas metros.
Potential inflection point: Information sector employment is down 5.3% statewide over the year even as construction and professional services expand; if that contraction reaches Killeen's smaller information-sector base, it could further soften demand for roles like IT Project Manager that already show local pay weakness.
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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