Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Sherman-Denison, TX MSA — October 2026
Sherman-Denison IT pay climbs as labor supply tightens further.
Metro unemployment fell to 4.2% in September even as Cybersecurity Analyst ($102,924) and Systems Administrator ($96,874) advertised pay both moved higher against a labor force of just 74,200.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro unemployment rate: 4.2% — Down from 4.4% in August 2026
- Metro labor force size: 74,200 — 71,000 employed, 3,100 unemployed (Sept.)
- Metro annual job growth: 0.9% — vs 1.1% Texas, 0.3% national pace
- Texas tech job supply gap: 32,238 — Projected net new TX tech jobs vs flat 2025 headcount
Key takeaways
Cybersecurity and sysadmin pay are rising against a shrinking labor pool.
Cybersecurity Analyst ($102,924) and Systems Administrator ($96,874) advertised pay both moved up this month even as metro employment growth stayed near flat at 0.9% annually. Rising pay against stagnant headcount growth is consistent with real scarcity that compounds ordinary inflation pass-through.
Sherman's pay discount is a supply story, not a bargain.
Network Engineer and Systems Administrator roles advertise $3,600-$5,600 below national medians, but a 74,200-person labor force leaves little room to backfill specialized infrastructure roles locally. Treat the discount as an indicator of constrained bench depth for headcount planning.
Manufacturing wage floors are quietly competing with IT entry-level pay.
Denison Industries production roles at $19-$20/hour annualize near $40,000, closing in on entry-level Help Desk pay ($51,951 locally). Frontline IT support hiring may face more wage competition from manufacturing than from other tech employers this cycle.
State-level supply gaps reinforce the case for outsourcing commodity IT work.
CompTIA projects 32,238 net new Texas tech jobs this year against flat statewide employment growth, a gap that compounds in smaller MSAs like Sherman-Denison with far less bench depth. Current conditions suggest commodity infrastructure and support functions are strong candidates for MSP or offshore delivery.
Median advertised pay by role — Sherman-Denison, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $116,545 | $142,189 | $161,200 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator * | $77,370 | $96,874 | $107,640 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer * | $78,768 | $113,205 | $129,771 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer * | $113,625 | $152,500 | $167,458 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist * | $41,883 | $51,951 | $57,397 | Stable | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $85,573 | $102,924 | $118,044 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $89,852 | $115,729 | $127,085 | Stable | $118,150 |
* 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
Sherman-Denison's unemployment rate improved to 4.2% in September, tightening from 4.4% in August even as the metro's broader economy added just 600 jobs year-over-year — a labor supply squeeze layered on anemic headline growth. Manufacturing expansion (Denison Industries recruiting at $19-$20/hour production wages) and growing healthcare demand are absorbing local labor supply, leaving a shallow bench of infrastructure, support, and security talent for enterprise IT employers to draw from.
What it means
Metro IT advertised pay sits meaningfully below national medians across most roles — Systems Administrator ($96,874 vs. $102,503 national) and Network Engineer ($113,205 vs. $115,757) — a gap that works in employers' favor on cost but signals thinner local specialist supply. With Cybersecurity Analyst and Systems Administrator pay both trending up locally against a metro labor force under 75,000, enterprise IT teams compete directly with manufacturing and healthcare for the same limited pool of technical and operations-minded workers. Consider evaluating whether routine infrastructure and support functions are better served through regional MSP or hybrid-cloud arrangements given how thin this market is.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Sherman-Denison's September unemployment improvement (4.4% to 4.2%) holds into Q4 or reverses alongside the statewide uptick to 4.4%. A reversal would tighten local IT hiring further heading into year-end budget cycles.
Emerging pressure point: Texas's Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act, effective since January, requires auditing any AI tool used in screening or ranking candidates. Metro employers using automated applicant tracking for IT hiring should confirm compliance before Q1 2027 hiring plans launch.
Worth watching: Denison Industries and other manufacturers continue raising entry-level wages, which may pull from the same labor pool IT support and junior infrastructure roles draw on locally. Track whether Help Desk advertised pay ($51,951, currently stable) comes under upward pressure in response.
Potential inflection point: Statewide Texas Enterprise Fund reforms would lower job-creation thresholds for tech/AI firms to 40 jobs or $5M in payroll, potentially pulling smaller employers and their IT functions into incentive programs. Monitor whether any Sherman-Denison area employers qualify, which could add new local demand for infrastructure and security hires.
Sources
- Texas Workforce Commission — Sherman-Denison unemployment rate at 4.2% in September 2026
- Workforce Solutions Texoma / TWC — Metro added 600 jobs year-over-year with 0.9% annual growth
- Indeed.com — Denison Industries hiring production roles at $19-$20/hour
- CompTIA — CompTIA projects 32,238 net new Texas tech jobs this year
- Texas Legislature — Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act took effect Jan. 1, 2026
- Texas Enterprise Fund — Texas Enterprise Fund reform proposal lowering job thresholds to 40 jobs/$5M payroll
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.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.