Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: San Angelo, TX MSA — September 2026
San Angelo's tight labor market is pricing up infrastructure roles.
San Angelo's 3.6% unemployment rate — second-lowest among Texas metros — is coinciding with a significant jump in Network Engineer pay to $117,100, outpacing the $114,400 national figure.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 3.6% — vs 4.1% national, 4.0% Texas statewide
- Civilian labor force: 62,200 — ~60,000 employed, 2,300 unemployed
- Texas WARN-affected workers: 14,592 — Down 45% vs 2025, 91 notices filed
- Tom Green County median wage: $22.91/hr — Avg $24.64/hr; below statewide avg weekly $1,646
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is moving faster than the role's national peer.
Metro median advertised pay for Network Engineer rose significantly to $117,100, above the $114,400 national figure and moving at a faster clip. That local acceleration in a tight-labor metro may suggest employers bidding up scarce infrastructure talent rather than reacting to a one-off posting spike.
Help Desk pay jumped locally while the national rate held still.
Local Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay rose significantly even as the national figure stayed flat, narrowing the gap between San Angelo ($45,760) and the national median ($53,644). Consider whether this reflects genuine wage compression for entry-level IT roles or simply local employers competing harder for a thin pool of available workers.
Cybersecurity demand is structural, not a passing blip.
Texas security analyst roles project 29% growth through 2034, and metro cybersecurity advertised pay is up moderately to $103,212 — still below the $106,790 national figure, leaving room to run. Organizations retaining security talent locally should expect continued upward pressure rather than a plateau.
Software Engineer pay is stable, but that may not last.
Metro Software Engineer pay at $152,465 sits above the $153,652 national median with moderate local movement, even as Texas's information sector contracted 5.3% over the year statewide. Stability here looks more like a function of thin local supply than reduced demand for the skillset.
Median advertised pay by role — San Angelo, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $118,355 | $145,580 | $163,661 | Moderate increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $86,740 | $99,696 | $109,670 | Stable | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $108,507 | $117,100 | $117,100 | Significant increase | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer * | $113,156 | $152,465 | $167,279 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $39,071 | $45,760 | $45,760 | Significant increase | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $85,765 | $103,212 | $118,888 | Moderate increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager * | $88,412 | $115,230 | $127,284 | 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
San Angelo's unemployment rate sits at 3.6%, second-lowest among Texas metros and well below the 4.1% national rate, reflecting a labor force stretched thin across 62,200 workers rather than surging hiring demand. Tight local supply, not weak employer appetite, appears to be the binding constraint — a dynamic distinct from the statewide pattern where Austin's AI and semiconductor expansion is pulling talent from secondary metros like San Angelo.
What it means
Thin local labor supply changes the build-vs-buy calculus for San Angelo IT leaders: specialized roles in network engineering and cybersecurity are harder to fill locally than the advertised pay data alone suggests, since a 3.6% unemployment rate leaves little bench of passive candidates. Outsourcing or remote/hybrid sourcing for infrastructure and security functions may now be more economically rational than competing for scarce local talent against Austin's premium pay scales. Consider evaluating which cloud and security positions can be sourced regionally or remotely before committing to local headcount expansion.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: San Angelo's unemployment rate has moved from 3.8% in July to 3.6% in August — watch whether this tightening trend continues into Q4, which would further compress the local candidate pool for infrastructure and security roles.
Emerging pressure point: Austin's concentration of AI and semiconductor hiring (Tesla, Apple, Samsung, Nvidia) may continue pulling senior infrastructure and cloud talent out of secondary Texas metros. Monitor whether San Angelo employers report increased attrition to Austin-based remote roles.
Potential inflection point: Statewide WARN filings are down 45% in affected workers year-over-year, suggesting little displaced talent is entering the candidate pool from layoffs. If this holds, expect continued reliance on contract or remote sourcing rather than local hiring to fill specialized IT roles.
Early indicator: National AI engineer and senior platform engineer pay gains (9.2% and 8.9% YoY respectively) have not yet shown up distinctly in San Angelo's advertised pay data, but Dallas Fed's upward revision of Texas 2026 growth to 2.0% suggests statewide wage pressure could reach smaller metros with a lag.
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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