Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC MSA — September 2026
Myrtle Beach IT pay splits: infrastructure up, data science down.
Metro Network Engineer pay rose to $105,565 even as Data Scientist pay fell to $72,150 against a $148,250 national median, signaling a metro where infrastructure talent is genuinely scarce but advanced analytics demand has not materialized locally.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.2% — Sept 2026, vs 4.1% national
- Metro Network Engineer pay growth: $105,565 — Up significantly, vs $114,400 national
- Metro Data Scientist pay decline: $72,150 — Down significantly, vs $148,250 national
- SC statewide information sector jobs: -2,300 YoY — Even as professional/tech services grew 2.4%
Key takeaways
Data science pay is collapsing locally while the national market heats up.
Metro Data Scientist advertised pay fell significantly to $72,150 against a national median of $148,250, a gap wide enough to suggest local employers aren't competing for this skill set at all. Organizations with analytics needs may find distributed hiring or contracted data science talent more economically rational than local recruitment.
Network Engineer pay signals a real, not cyclical, local scarcity.
Metro Network Engineer pay rose significantly to $105,565, outpacing even the national median of $114,400 in year-over-year momentum. Tourism-driven infrastructure demand and coastal connectivity build-out appear to be pulling this role into genuine competitive territory — a candidate for premium retention budgeting.
Help desk compression continues unabated in this metro.
Help Desk/IT Support pay fell to $47,840, a significant decline that tracks the national pattern of AI-driven compression in entry-level IT functions. This reinforces the case for shifting commodity support work to contracted or managed-service arrangements rather than permanent local headcount.
Cybersecurity pay has gone flat locally just as national demand accelerates.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay is stable at $94,411 while national pay climbs toward $106,790, with CompTIA data showing cybersecurity job growth running 346% above the national average. Flat local pay in a nationally hot specialty may understate real retention risk — this is a role to benchmark more frequently than its stability suggests.
Median advertised pay by role — Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $72,149 | $72,150 | $72,685 | Significant decline | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator * | $75,331 | $91,531 | $102,704 | Moderate increase | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer * | $78,670 | $105,565 | $112,432 | Significant increase | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $128,192 | $141,536 | $141,934 | Moderate decline | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $34,455 | $47,840 | $55,750 | Significant decline | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $83,100 | $94,411 | $109,644 | Stable | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager * | $85,624 | $113,936 | $126,574 | Stable | $117,530 |
* 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
Myrtle Beach metro unemployment held at 4.2% in September as nonfarm payrolls grew by 29,000, with hiring concentrated in leisure/hospitality and trade/transportation rather than tech-adjacent sectors, leaving IT roles to compete for talent against a tightening statewide labor pool at 3.2%-4.1% unemployment. Seasonal tourism-driven hiring is cooling post-summer peak, but metro-level wage data shows a sharp divergence from national IT trends — Data Scientist advertised pay fell to a $72,150 median locally against $148,250 nationally, suggesting local demand for advanced analytics talent remains thin even as national employers bid aggressively for the same skill set.
What it means
Local advertised pay for Data Scientist and Software Engineer roles is declining or flat while national medians climb, which is consistent with Myrtle Beach functioning as a cost-arbitrage labor pool rather than a competitive hub for advanced technical talent — a dynamic that favors remote-first hiring strategies and outsourcing of specialized AI/data work rather than local buildout. Network Engineer and Systems Administrator pay, by contrast, posted significant local gains, pointing to genuine infrastructure talent scarcity tied to coastal/tourism-economy connectivity and hospitality tech demands. Consider reviewing whether specialized cloud, AI, and data science functions are better sourced through distributed or contract talent while reserving premium local compensation budgets for infrastructure and network roles where metro scarcity is real and pay signals confirm it.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Horry County unemployment has been trending down seasonally (4.4% in July) but typically rises as tourism hiring unwinds through fall. Watch whether released hospitality tech and support staff shift into the IT support candidate pool, which could temporarily ease Help Desk hiring pressure.
Emerging pressure point: Statewide information-sector employment lost 2,300 jobs year-over-year even as Professional, Scientific & Technical Services grew 2.4%. If this divergence persists locally, IT leaders may see a split market — cloud/security roles tightening while traditional IT operations continues to soften.
Early indicator: Charleston's tech hub growth (Mount Pleasant, downtown Charleston) is pulling statewide IT talent north and expanding the competitive radius for remote-capable roles. Myrtle Beach employers should monitor whether remote offers from Charleston-based firms begin eroding local retention for software engineering and data roles.
Potential inflection point: National WARN filings remain elevated among major tech employers (Amazon, Meta, Verizon, Oracle), while South Carolina's 2026 WARN activity (33 notices, 4,155 workers) stays concentrated in manufacturing and hospitality, not tech. A shift toward IT-sector WARN activity nationally could eventually loosen specialized talent supply even in secondary metros like Myrtle Beach.
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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