Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Lima, OH MSA — October 2026
Lima's IT pay splits: security rises, infrastructure roles fall fast.
Cybersecurity Analyst pay climbed to $102,518 in the Lima metro, nearly matching the $107,327 national figure, while Network Engineer pay fell to $64,015 against a rising $115,757 nationally.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Allen County unemployment: 3.0% — vs 3.4% Ohio, tightest since early 2026
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $64,015 — vs $115,757 national, gap widening sharply
- Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay: $102,518 — vs $107,327 national, near parity
- National tech layoffs YTD: 133,417 — Already exceeds full-year 2025 total
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is collapsing locally while national pay climbs.
Metro median fell significantly to $64,015 even as the national figure rose moderately to $115,757 — a gap of over 44%. This divergence is consistent with local infrastructure work shifting toward commoditized, lower-cost delivery, moving away from premium retained talent.
Cybersecurity is the one function Lima pays to retain.
Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay rose to $102,518, nearly matching the national $107,327 median and the only infrastructure-adjacent role moving up locally. This pattern suggests compliance and breach-risk exposure are forcing employers to pay market rate regardless of metro cost norms.
Help desk wage erosion may signal a shift to centralized or offshore support.
Metro median fell significantly to $46,218 against an already-declining national figure of $53,129. Falling advertised pay alongside a tight 3.0% county unemployment rate is consistent with employers routing entry-level support work outside the local market, bypassing competition for scarce local labor.
Ohio's technician subsidy only pays off for employers building internally.
The JobsOhio Technician Path program offers up to $10,000 per worker but requires 1:1 employer matching, making it a financing tool for internal development, not a hiring discount. With five open technician roles per qualified candidate statewide, this program may favor employers already committed to build-over-buy infrastructure staffing.
Median advertised pay by role — Lima, OH MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $111,207 | $138,400 | $156,390 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $62,898 | $67,401 | $68,292 | Moderate decline | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $44,146 | $64,015 | $69,397 | Significant decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer * | $109,020 | $148,707 | $163,905 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $39,702 | $46,218 | $47,840 | Significant decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $82,532 | $102,518 | $118,918 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $88,076 | $111,411 | $124,800 | Stable | $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
Allen County unemployment sits near 3.0%, well below Ohio's 3.4% statewide rate, reflecting a Lima MSA labor pool that has tightened even as payroll growth stays nearly flat at 52,500 jobs. Wage pressure remains structurally capped by the metro's manufacturing- and service-heavy base — average hourly wages of $28.41 trail the national $33.54 average by nearly 15%, limiting what employers can offer without breaking local pay norms even as statewide data center and technician demand pulls skilled labor elsewhere.
What it means
Lima's IT advertised pay sits well below national levels across infrastructure roles — Network Engineer at $64,015 versus $115,757 nationally, Systems Administrator at $67,401 versus $102,503 — a gap wide enough that outsourcing or remote hybrid staffing for these functions may now outcompete local hiring on cost alone. Cybersecurity Analyst pay bucks the trend, rising to $102,518 locally against a national $107,327, suggesting this is the one function where Lima employers are paying to compete, independent of local wage suppression. Organizations should evaluate whether infrastructure and support roles are better sourced through Ohio's JobsOhio Technician Path subsidy or regional staffing partners, while treating security hiring budgets as closer to national scale.
Looking ahead
Emerging pressure point: Advertised pay for Network Engineer and Help Desk roles is falling sharply locally while national pay holds or rises, widening the cost gap that favors outsourcing. Watch whether this spread continues to widen into Q1 2026 budget cycles, when outsourcing contracts are typically renegotiated.
Policy to track: Ohio's TechCred credential reimbursement program has exhausted its fiscal-year budget halfway through the year, removing a low-cost upskilling lever for Lima employers. Expect pressure on internal training budgets until funding resets, likely affecting technician and support-tier skill development most.
Worth watching: Statewide data center buildout is pulling technician and infrastructure talent toward premium markets, with electricians in high-demand areas reporting $240,000–$280,000 total compensation. Monitor whether this draws Lima-based technical talent away via remote or commutable opportunities, tightening an already lean local pool.
Early indicator: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers through October, ahead of all of 2025, which could eventually loosen specialized labor supply even in smaller metros like Lima. Track whether displaced cybersecurity or cloud talent begins appearing in local candidate pools over the next two months.
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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