Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Memphis, TN-AR-MS MSA — October 2026
Memphis IT pay falls behind national rates as layoffs mount.
Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay dropped to $82,966 in Memphis against a national median of $107,327, while Shelby County layoffs surged 341% in the first half of 2026.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Memphis metro unemployment: 4.6% — Up 0.1 pt YoY; vs. 4.1% national rate
- Shelby County layoff surge: +341% — H1 2026 vs. H1 2025
- Cybersecurity Analyst pay gap: $82,966 vs $107,327 — Metro vs. national median, metro down significantly
- Downtown Memphis office vacancy: 17.6% — Q3 2026, up from prior quarter
Key takeaways
Cybersecurity pay is diverging sharply from national demand.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay fell significantly to $82,966 while the national median climbed to $107,327 — a gap wide enough to invite remote poaching of Memphis-based analysts by out-of-market employers. Retention plans built on local comparables may understate the real flight risk.
IT Project Manager compensation is losing ground locally.
Advertised PM pay dropped significantly to $102,738 against a stable national median of $118,150, even as Shelby County layoffs surged 341% year over year. Softer local demand for this role may reflect project freezes tied to broader metro caution, separate from any actual oversupply of qualified candidates.
Help desk and support pay erosion signals a shift toward outsourcing.
Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay fell significantly to $51,284 locally, tracking a national decline to $53,129 — consistent with national reporting that 87% of tech leaders now pay premiums only for specialized skills while routine support work migrates to lower-cost delivery models. Memphis IT leaders weighing build-versus-buy for tier-1 support have market cover to shift toward managed services.
Elevated Shelby County layoffs may expand the local IT candidate pool.
A 341% surge in first-half layoffs, paired with countywide unemployment near 5% in July, suggests more experienced professionals — including displaced project and ops talent — may be entering circulation. Infrastructure and security hiring plans built around scarcity assumptions deserve a second look.
Median advertised pay by role — Memphis, TN-AR-MS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $107,986 | $123,191 | $145,700 | Moderate decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $66,376 | $92,126 | $92,248 | Stable | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $72,045 | $93,872 | $116,938 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $69,822 | $135,304 | $155,582 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $43,680 | $51,284 | $54,024 | Significant decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $75,338 | $82,966 | $97,268 | Significant decline | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $82,057 | $102,738 | $122,811 | Significant decline | $118,150 |
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
Memphis metro unemployment climbed to 4.6% in August, with Shelby County layoffs surging 341% in the first half of 2026 compared to a year earlier, pointing to softening beyond headline tech-sector noise alone. Downtown office vacancy rose to 17.6% in the third quarter, while the Fed's Beige Book shows a Memphis financial services firm expanding staff even as a logistics and distribution firm pulls back amid weaker consumer demand — a split labor market with uneven signal for IT headcount planning.
What it means
Advertised pay for Cybersecurity Analyst ($82,966 metro median) and IT Project Manager ($102,738) fell significantly against rising national medians of $107,327 and $118,150, suggesting Memphis employers are losing pricing power for roles that national employers are actively bidding up. That gap, combined with elevated local layoff activity creating a larger available candidate pool, may suggest this is a window to recruit experienced security and project management talent locally at below-national cost while avoiding competition on national compensation curves. Consider reviewing whether current advertised rates for security and PM roles reflect a temporary metro discount or a structural risk of losing talent to remote national employers.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Downtown office vacancy at 17.6% and rising may pressure employers to formalize hybrid or remote policies for IT staff, shifting the calculus on competing for talent against fully remote national employers offering higher advertised pay.
Emerging pressure point: Shelby County layoff volume, up 341% year over year, has not yet shown whether displaced talent includes IT or adjacent technical skills. Track whether cybersecurity, support, or PM candidates begin appearing in local applicant pools over the next 60 days.
Potential inflection point: National data center and infrastructure hiring is accelerating 20% over three months while tech-hub cities contract — a dynamic that could extend to secondary markets like Memphis if site-selection activity picks up. Watch for announcements tied to logistics-adjacent data infrastructure given the metro's existing distribution base.
Early indicator: Tennessee's computer and mathematical occupations are projected to grow just 2.69% statewide, below the state average across all occupations, reinforcing that organic hiring will not scale security or cloud functions quickly. Monitor whether Memphis employers shift budget toward managed services contracts in response.
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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