Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA MSA — October 2026
Thousand Oaks IT pay splits: engineers hold premium, ops roles retreat.
Metro Network Engineer pay fell significantly to $112,324 against a rising $115,757 national median, even as local Software Engineer pay held an $170,000 premium over the $154,403 national figure.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Ventura County unemployment: 4.9% — Down from 5.0% in August, third straight monthly decline
- Metro Network Engineer pay: $112,324 — Down significantly vs. $115,757 national (up)
- CA Computer Systems Design employment: -4.7% — Year-over-year through September 2026
- Metro nonfarm job growth: +200 jobs — September 2026, after prior months of losses
Key takeaways
Metro IT pay is diverging sharply from national trend lines.
Network Engineer and IT Project Manager advertised pay fell significantly locally while national medians for both roles rose or held stable — a reversal that suggests local demand for these functions is softening faster than the broader market. Organizations benchmarking against national data alone risk overpaying for roles the local market is actively repricing downward.
Engineering talent still carries a local premium worth protecting.
Software Engineer advertised pay locally sits at $170,000 against a $154,403 national median, and Data Scientist pay remains above national levels despite a moderate local pullback. That gap signals sustained competition for build-capable talent even as adjacent roles soften, reinforcing that retention budgets should concentrate where premiums persist.
Cybersecurity pay holding steady looks like a floor.
Cybersecurity Analyst pay is stable both locally and nationally while nearly every other IT role in the metro moved down, consistent with national data showing IT systems and security roles posting 4.7% wage growth even amid tech layoffs. Flat local pay alongside national firmness may suggest this role is being insulated from the broader metro softening.
Help Desk and support pay softening tracks a national pattern.
Metro Help Desk pay fell moderately, mirroring a moderate national decline to $53,129 — evidence that frontline IT support compensation is compressing broadly across both local and national markets. This aligns with reports that technologists are increasingly trading salary for remote flexibility, which may widen the pool of lower-cost remote support candidates available to metro employers.
Median advertised pay by role — Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $117,050 | $154,696 | $174,638 | Moderate decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $84,204 | $107,500 | $121,596 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $75,699 | $112,324 | $132,156 | Significant decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $116,113 | $170,000 | $188,861 | Moderate decline | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $47,651 | $58,983 | $66,822 | Moderate decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $90,693 | $106,706 | $124,393 | Stable | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $83,502 | $106,324 | $116,374 | 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
Ventura County unemployment fell to 4.9% in September, its third straight monthly improvement after touching 5.0% in August, as the metro added 200 net nonfarm jobs while the state shed 9,300. Local IT hiring demand remains constrained by the same forces compressing California's broader tech sector — Computer Systems Design employment is down 4.7% year-over-year statewide, and metro advertised pay for five of seven benchmarked IT roles moved down this month even as headcount stabilizes elsewhere.
What it means
Falling advertised pay for Network Engineer (down significantly) and IT Project Manager (down significantly) locally, against national figures moving up or holding stable, signals Thousand Oaks employers are gaining leverage in roles tied to legacy infrastructure and on-prem operations — a window for renegotiating contractor rates or shifting these functions to lower-cost delivery models. Software Engineer and Data Scientist pay remain well above national medians locally despite softening, meaning retention risk concentrates in build-heavy and specialized roles even as support and PM functions loosen. Consider evaluating which infrastructure and project-management roles can migrate toward outsourced or secondary-market delivery now, while reserving premium retention spend for engineering and data talent where the metro still commands a national premium.
Looking ahead
Potential inflection point: Ventura County's unemployment rate has improved for two straight months after a summer peak; watch whether October data confirms a durable recovery or reflects seasonal noise before loosening hiring plans for support and infrastructure roles.
Emerging pressure point: California's computer professional exemption threshold rises to $122,573.13 in January, forcing a compliance review of any metro IT roles currently classified near that line, particularly in Project Management and Systems Administration.
Worth watching: Statewide Computer Systems Design employment is down 4.7% year-over-year with California technology WARN notices exceeding 16,000 workers through July; monitor whether any Southern California filings release infrastructure or security talent into the Ventura County candidate pool.
Early indicator: National data center job postings grew 20% in three months while tech-hub metros pull back hiring; track whether that buildout trend extends toward Ventura County's industrial corridor, where 892,000 square feet is under construction and could eventually house infrastructure operations.
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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