Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: ND NONMETROPOLITAN AREA — October 2026
Security pay surges locally while network and support rates slide.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay climbed to $130,814, outpacing the $107,327 national median, even as Network Engineer pay fell to $80,870 against a rising $115,757 nationally.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- ND unemployment rate: 2.2% — Second-lowest among states, behind SD's 2.0%
- Statewide job openings: 12,000+ — Against ~4,000 new jobs created annually
- Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay: $130,814 — vs $107,327 national median, up significantly
- Metro Network Engineer pay: $80,870 — vs $115,757 national median, down significantly
Key takeaways
Cybersecurity pay is pulling away from the rest of the stack.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay rose to $130,814, now exceeding the $107,327 national median by a wide margin even as Network Engineer and Help Desk pay fell sharply. This divergence suggests local employers are bidding aggressively for security talent while treating support and network roles as more replaceable.
Network Engineer pay erosion looks disconnected from statewide scarcity.
Metro Network Engineer advertised pay dropped significantly to $80,870 against a rising $115,757 national median, a gap unlikely to hold given 12,000+ unfilled positions statewide. Organizations relying on this gap to control cost may find candidates simply exit to remote national postings.
Support-role pay cuts collide with a 2.2% unemployment floor.
Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay fell to $45,760 locally, well under the already-declining $53,129 national figure, in a labor market where unemployment sits near historic lows. Thin candidate supply plus falling advertised pay points toward growing reliance on outsourced or regional support contracts over local direct hire.
Data center buildout is reshaping where IT headcount competition lives.
Statewide, multi-hundred-megawatt AI-infrastructure projects are absorbing trades and technical labor beyond what rural counties can supply, a pressure that extends into networking and systems administration hiring. Systems Administrator pay rose moderately to $99,415, consistent with employers protecting this role as infrastructure investment accelerates.
Median advertised pay by role — ND NONMETROPOLITAN AREA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $89,127 | $123,158 | $140,795 | Significant decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $71,290 | $99,415 | $104,971 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $76,731 | $80,870 | $99,882 | Significant decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $95,764 | $118,627 | $131,077 | Moderate decline | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $40,871 | $45,760 | $48,880 | Significant decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $73,122 | $130,814 | $130,838 | Significant increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $94,354 | $113,656 | $123,230 | Stable | $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
Nonmetropolitan North Dakota's IT labor pool remains constrained by a statewide unemployment rate near 2.2% and more than 12,000 open positions against roughly 4,000 new jobs created annually, leaving infrastructure and support roles competing against construction, healthcare and data-center buildout for the same thin labor force. Cass County's 3,354 open positions and Burleigh and Grand Forks' continued listings concentrate IT hiring pressure in a handful of counties, while advertised pay for Network Engineer ($80,870, down significantly) and Help Desk/IT Support ($45,760, down significantly) suggests employers are pulling back on advertised rates even as headcount gaps persist.
What it means
Falling advertised pay for Network Engineer and Help Desk roles alongside a tight statewide labor market suggests employers are testing whether scarcity alone can hold wages down — a risky bet given Cybersecurity Analyst pay climbed to $130,814, outpacing the national median and signaling where competition is concentrated. IT leaders weighing build-vs-buy decisions should note that routine infrastructure and support functions show softening local pay while security and specialized roles tighten, a split that favors outsourcing commodity support work while protecting in-house investment in security talent. Consider reviewing whether Network Engineer and Help Desk compensation reductions reflect actual demand softening or a widening gap against candidate expectations that could accelerate attrition into higher-paying Cybersecurity or data-center infrastructure roles.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Network Engineer and Help Desk advertised pay continues falling even as statewide openings stay above 12,000 — a widening gap would signal employers shifting these functions to outsourced or remote providers over local hires.
Emerging pressure point: Cass, Burleigh and Grand Forks counties continue absorbing the bulk of open IT positions; monitor whether data-center and AI-infrastructure construction in nearby rural counties begins pulling technical talent away from these metro-adjacent hubs.
Worth watching: North Dakota's new Department of Workforce Development is expected to shape statewide labor response; any emerging IT-specific workforce or apprenticeship initiatives could ease support-role scarcity within the next two quarters.
Potential inflection point: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers in 2026, a pool largely concentrated in coastal tech hubs; track whether any of that displaced talent begins surfacing in North Dakota's remote-eligible postings, particularly for cybersecurity and cloud roles.
Sources
- Job Service North Dakota / BLS — ND unemployment rate and statewide open positions
- Job Service North Dakota Online Job Openings Report — Cass, Burleigh, Grand Forks county job openings concentration
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — ND ranked second-lowest unemployment rate among states
- Pre-researched state labor market notes — Data center/AI-infrastructure labor absorption in rural ND counties
- Layoffs.fyi / industry tracking — National tech layoffs exceeding 133,000 in 2026
- Office of Governor Kelly Armstrong — Creation of ND Department of Workforce Development
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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