Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Lawrence, KS MSA — October 2026
Lawrence IT pay splits: infrastructure roles surge, admins lag behind.
Network Engineer pay climbed to a $90,500 metro median with significant local movement, while Systems Administrator pay held at $79,416 — nearly $23,000 below the rising national median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Douglas County unemployment: 4.2% — Up from 3.6% metro rate in May 2026
- KS data center job postings index: 247 — vs. 2024 baseline of 100
- County market pay pool: 3.4% — Held flat to address retention, July 2026
- KC-area tech turnover rate: 18% — vs. 15% national average
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is moving faster locally than nationally.
Metro median rose to $90,500 with significant upward movement while the national figure shows only moderate gains, consistent with data center-driven competition for infrastructure talent pulling wages up faster in secondary markets like Lawrence than in the national aggregate.
Systems Administrator pay gap signals a local supply problem.
Metro median sits at $79,416 against a national median of $102,503 that is itself rising moderately — a $23,000 gap that is consistent with Kansas's data center buildout drawing systems talent toward adjacent markets and leaving Lawrence employers thinner on bench strength.
Help Desk pay surge may reflect frontline retention pressure.
Local Help Desk/IT Support pay, measured by job ads which signal hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), rose significantly to $47,714 even as the national median fell moderately, diverging from the broader national pattern and suggesting Lawrence employers are defending entry-level support staffing against turnover.
County pay pool decisions are a leading indicator for private IT budgets.
Douglas County's move to preserve a 3.4% market pay pool for its own workforce reflects local employer recognition that candidates are less likely to move in a 'low hire, low fire' environment — a dynamic that raises the cost of losing current IT staff relative to replacing them.
Median advertised pay by role — Lawrence, KS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $108,193 | $138,952 | $161,526 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator * | $66,498 | $79,416 | $86,799 | Stable | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $77,029 | $90,500 | $112,177 | Significant increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $79,429 | $136,450 | $140,750 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $34,346 | $47,714 | $51,054 | Significant increase | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $72,134 | $88,027 | $106,943 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $90,000 | $112,016 | $124,471 | Significant 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
Lawrence's metro labor market remains constrained by the University of Kansas and healthcare employers anchoring demand while the regional data center buildout — Kansas data center postings climbed to 247 against a 2024 baseline of 100 — pulls infrastructure talent toward Kansas City and surrounding metros. Douglas County unemployment ticked to 4.2% in July 2026 from 3.6% in May, while the county's 3.4% market pay pool decision signals employers are actively defending retention ahead of attrition.
What it means
Rising advertised pay for Network Engineer (up significant) and IT Project Manager (up significant) locally, against stable national medians for the same roles, suggests Lawrence employers are bidding up scarce infrastructure and delivery talent specifically to compete with Kansas City's data center absorption, a local dynamic distinct from broader national trends. Build-vs-buy calculus shifts in Lawrence's favor for routine support functions given Help Desk pay up significantly here while falling nationally, but Systems Administrator pay sitting nearly $23,000 below the national median points to a local supply gap that outsourcing or KC-based staffing partnerships may address faster than local recruiting. Consider reviewing whether infrastructure and network roles tied to data center-adjacent skills warrant off-cycle pay review ahead of the next budget cycle, given the magnitude of local movement relative to historically stable national benchmarks.
Looking ahead
Expected: BLS will publish October 2026 metro-level unemployment and wage data for Lawrence on December 2 — current figures reflect July conditions, so budget conversations this month are working with a two-month-plus lag.
Emerging pressure point: Continued data center postings growth in Kansas (now indexed at 247 versus 2024 baseline), a signal of hiring demand where one ad often covers several openings, may keep drawing infrastructure and network talent out of Lawrence toward Kansas City-area facilities, tightening local bench depth for on-prem support roles.
Worth watching: Kansas City tech turnover averaging 18% against a 15% national rate, combined with Lawrence's modest unemployment uptick, suggests regional competition for IT talent may intensify before it eases — watch whether Lawrence employers begin matching KC-area total rewards packages.
Potential inflection point: Kansas City Fed's Labor Market Conditions Indicator softened to 0.22 in September, consistent with a stalling hiring environment; a continued slide could ease some wage pressure on infrastructure and support roles into Q1 2027.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Douglas County unemployment rose to 4.2% in July 2026 from 3.6% in May
- Indeed Hiring Lab / Kansas labor market research — Kansas data center job postings index climbed to 247 vs 2024 baseline of 100
- Douglas County Commission — Douglas County preserved a 3.4% market pay pool for county employees
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Metro-level BLS unemployment data for October 2026 publishes December 2
- Kansas IT labor market research notes — KC tech turnover averages 18% vs 15% national rate
- Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City — Kansas City Fed Labor Market Conditions Indicator decreased to 0.22 in September
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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