Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Manchester-Nashua, NH MSA — September 2026
Nashua IT pay splits: sysadmins surge, network engineers soften.
Metro Systems Administrator pay hit $120,000, nearly $19,000 above the national median, while Network Engineer pay fell significantly even as Hillsborough County unemployment held at 2.7%.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Hillsborough County unemployment: 2.7% — vs 2.8% NH statewide, 4.1% national
- Hillsborough avg weekly wage growth: 6.1% — Highest among large NH counties
- NH real wage growth vs inflation: -1.6% — First seven months of 2026, NHFPI
- NH ongoing unemployment claims: +23% — vs same period two years prior
Key takeaways
Systems Administrator pay is running hot against the national grain.
Metro median pay of $120,000 sits nearly $19,000 above the national figure even as the national trend is only moderately up. This likely reflects genuine local scarcity rather than a broad market repricing — a signal to benchmark this role locally, not against national survey data.
Network Engineer compensation is quietly deflating in Nashua.
Local pay fell significantly this month while national pay rose moderately, a divergence consistent with national commentary on traditional infrastructure roles facing demand compression. Organizations should evaluate whether this role is being displaced by cloud migration or simply consolidated into broader DevOps functions before resetting pay bands downward.
Cybersecurity pay convergence may understate real local demand.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose significantly to $106,943, nearly matching the national median — in a metro where overall wage growth otherwise lags inflation. That convergence, against a backdrop of national senior cybersecurity pay reaching $400K, suggests Nashua employers are being forced to pay national rates to compete for a narrow local talent pool.
Help desk compression is a build-vs-buy decision in disguise.
Metro Help Desk pay fell moderately to $51,593, well below the state's reported $60,300 average IT Tech salary, even as AI adoption among NH service firms is beginning to reduce payroll in automatable roles. This gap may create an opportunity to shift commodity support functions to contract or managed-service arrangements while reinvesting savings into retention for harder-to-fill specialist roles.
Median advertised pay by role — Manchester-Nashua, NH MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $80,702 | $124,558 | $150,040 | Significant increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $94,940 | $120,000 | $136,124 | Stable | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $86,695 | $116,939 | $129,630 | Significant decline | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $111,772 | $153,544 | $161,500 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $44,836 | $51,593 | $61,592 | Moderate decline | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $83,151 | $106,943 | $106,943 | Significant increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $89,497 | $122,844 | $137,966 | Stable | $117,530 |
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
Hillsborough County's 2.7% unemployment rate and 6.1% average weekly wage growth signal a metro operating near full employment, with Professional and Business Services employment at 29.8 thousand in July 2026 reflecting continued demand for specialized labor. Statewide labor force growth — the only such gain in New England — is offset locally by rising ongoing unemployment claims, suggesting a bifurcated market where skilled IT talent stays scarce even as displaced workers from other sectors struggle to re-enter.
What it means
Metro Systems Administrator pay at $120,000 against a national median of $101,168 indicates Nashua-area employers are bidding up infrastructure roles even as national demand cools, a pattern consistent with a tight local labor pool rather than a national skills story. Network Engineer pay falling significantly locally while rising nationally suggests this function may be shifting toward commodity status in-market — a candidate for outsourcing or managed services rather than permanent backfill. Consider reviewing whether infrastructure headcount dollars are better redeployed toward cybersecurity and cloud architecture roles, where metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose significantly and now essentially matches the national median.
Looking ahead
Emerging pressure point: Ongoing unemployment claims in NH are running 23% above the same period two years ago even as headline unemployment falls, suggesting a growing pool of displaced workers outside tech. Watch whether this pool includes IT support or operations talent that could ease hiring pressure in commodity roles.
Worth watching: Hillsborough County's 6.1% average weekly wage growth is the highest among large NH counties, but real wage growth statewide lagged inflation by 1.6% through July. If this gap persists, expect retention pressure to intensify specifically among mid-career technical staff with portable skills.
Potential inflection point: National WARN data shows Amazon, Meta, Verizon and Oracle among the most active 2026 filers, while NH's own WARN activity remains modest at 8 notices and 694 workers statewide. A single large regional tech layoff could meaningfully shift candidate availability in a metro this tight.
Early indicator: CompTIA data shows 32% of NH service firms plan AI deployment within six months, with early signs split between payroll reduction and expansion. Track whether this shows up first in Help Desk and Network Engineer postings, the two metro roles already showing softening local pay.
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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