Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Mankato-North Mankato, MN MSA — October 2026
Mankato IT pay splits: security climbs, engineering falls behind.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose to $116,948 even as Software Engineer pay fell to $112,089, a gap of more than $42,000 against the $154,403 national median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Mankato unemployment rate: 3.9% — vs 4.0% U.S., 4.4% Minnesota (Sept, NSA)
- Mankato YoY employment change: -318 jobs (-0.5%) — Reversal from +3.7% growth in August
- MN real wage growth: 0% nominal — vs 3.7% inflation; 2.9% wage growth nationally
- Software Engineer pay gap: $42,314 — Metro $112,089 vs national $154,403 median
Key takeaways
Cybersecurity pay is pulling away from the rest of the stack locally.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose to $116,948, moderate and ahead of the $107,327 national median, while Network Engineer and Software Engineer pay both declined locally. Budget allocation toward security headcount looks structurally justified as a sustained trend.
Local Software Engineer pay is falling further behind the national market.
Metro median sits at $112,089 against a stable national figure of $154,403 — a gap exceeding $42,000 that remote work makes directly visible to local engineers. Organizations relying on in-office engineering talent may face rising attrition risk as that gap compounds.
Service-sector job losses may be loosening the broader local labor pool.
Mankato's 819 service-sector job losses over the year, reversing August's growth, could ease hiring friction for IT support and help desk roles even as advertised Help Desk pay fell to $54,323. Expect more applicant volume per posting while screening carefully for technical fit.
Minnesota's real wage compression weakens the case for flat renewals.
Statewide wages were unchanged year-over-year against 3.7% inflation, a condition DEED data shows is sharper than the 2.9% national wage growth comparison. Standing pat on IT compensation this cycle risks ceding ground to employers willing to adjust for purchasing power loss.
Median advertised pay by role — Mankato-North Mankato, MN MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $110,000 | $140,000 | $157,335 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator * | $77,198 | $97,603 | $106,908 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $76,671 | $93,382 | $93,382 | Moderate decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $99,782 | $112,089 | $116,147 | Moderate decline | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist * | $44,043 | $54,323 | $60,887 | Moderate decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $91,523 | $116,948 | $130,686 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $95,647 | $115,629 | $129,388 | 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
Mankato's non-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate held at 3.9% in September, still outperforming both the national 4% and Minnesota's 4.4%, but the metro posted a year-over-year employment loss of 318 jobs (-0.5%) as service providers shed 819 positions, reversing August's 3.7% growth streak. That reversal, paired with Minnesota's statewide real wage compression — flat earnings against 3.7% inflation — signals a metro economy cooling faster than headline unemployment suggests, with service-sector softness likely to touch IT support and administrative functions tied to those employers.
What it means
Metro advertised pay for Network Engineers ($93,382, down moderate) and Software Engineers ($112,089, down moderate) diverging from rising national medians ($115,757 and $154,403, respectively) suggests local employers are losing pricing power to compete for infrastructure and development talent against remote-capable national employers, even as Cybersecurity Analyst pay climbs locally ($116,948, up moderate) ahead of the national figure. That split — security and systems roles strengthening while core engineering roles soften — is consistent with the national pattern of data center and infrastructure buildout outpacing contraction in traditional software hiring, and argues for weighting headcount investment toward security and systems administration in the near term. Consider reviewing whether current Network Engineer and Software Engineer offers reflect a widening gap against national rates, which may be accelerating remote-work attrition risk among your most mobile technical staff.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Mankato's reversal from 3.7% job growth in August to a 0.5% year-over-year loss happened in one month. Watch the November DEED release to see whether this is a one-month anomaly or the start of a trend affecting IT budgets tied to service-sector employers.
Emerging pressure point: Minnesota's statewide WARN filings fell 69% year-over-year, but 3M's October 19 notice and ongoing manufacturing/retail filings could still release adjacent technical and support talent into the Mankato-area pool. Track whether displaced workers show up in local IT support or systems applicant flow.
Potential inflection point: National data center and infrastructure hiring is expanding while tech-hub software hiring contracts — a pattern that favors secondary markets like Mankato for infrastructure and systems administration roles. Consider whether this creates an opening to recruit infrastructure talent being displaced from costlier metros.
Early indicator: AI-related job postings now account for 7.3% of all U.S. postings, more than double the prior 2022 peak. Monitor whether Mankato-area employers begin advertising AI-adjacent skill premiums locally, which would signal the national bifurcation in AI/ML pay reaching this metro.
Sources
- Mankato Free Press / DEED — Mankato unemployment held at 3.9% in September, below US and MN rates
- Mankato Free Press — Mankato lost 318 jobs year-over-year, service sector shed 819 jobs
- Minnesota DEED / BLS — Minnesota wages flat year-over-year against 3.7% inflation
- Minnesota DEED WARN tracker — Minnesota WARN notices down 69% year-over-year in 2026
- Indeed Hiring Lab — AI-related postings reached 7.3% of all U.S. job postings
- Indeed / industry hiring data — Data center job postings grew 20% in three months nationally
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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