Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Spokane, WA MSA — October 2026
Spokane network and admin pay surge while security pay falls.
Spokane Network Engineer pay climbed to $133,914 — above the $115,757 national median — while Cybersecurity Analyst pay fell to $83,384 even as national security pay rose to $107,327.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Spokane County unemployment: 3.2% — vs 4.8% Washington, 4.2% national (Sept. 2026)
- Network Engineer advertised pay, metro: $133,914 — vs $115,757 national median
- Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay, metro: $83,384 — down significantly vs $107,327 national
- WA technology WARN filings, YTD: 12,336 workers — 43 notices statewide, concentrated in King County
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay in Spokane now beats the national rate.
Metro median advertised pay of $133,914 sits above the $115,757 national figure, a reversal from the typical pattern of secondary metros trailing larger markets. This may signal scarcity in local infrastructure and network specialists as data center and hybrid-environment buildout accelerates nationally.
Cybersecurity Analyst pay is falling locally while rising nationally.
Spokane's advertised median dropped significantly to $83,384 even as the national figure climbed to $107,327, a gap that is consistent with local employers scaling back dedicated security hiring in favor of managed services or regional outsourcing. Organizations building security capacity in-house risk benchmarking against a shrinking local pool.
Systems Administrator demand is outpacing the broader market.
Metro advertised pay rose significantly to $93,025, closing much of the historical gap with the $102,503 national median. Retiring skilled-trades-adjacent workers and slower labor force growth statewide appear to be tightening supply for hands-on infrastructure roles faster than for cloud-native positions.
Help Desk pay softness tracks a national pullback.
Spokane's $56,011 median and the national $53,129 figure both moved down moderately, suggesting entry-level IT support hiring is cooling everywhere and the shift is not a Spokane-specific retrenchment. This may widen the case for centralizing or outsourcing tier-one support where local wage pressure isn't the deciding factor.
Median advertised pay by role — Spokane, WA MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $84,309 | $105,513 | $106,542 | Significant decline | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $72,021 | $93,025 | $103,566 | Significant increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $101,806 | $133,914 | $150,727 | Significant increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $105,305 | $132,789 | $147,943 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $45,228 | $56,011 | $58,425 | Moderate decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $68,375 | $83,384 | $99,544 | Significant decline | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $85,000 | $112,649 | $115,687 | 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
Spokane County unemployment held at 3.2% in September, well below both the Washington state rate of 4.8% and the national rate of 4.2%, even as health care remains the dominant source of job growth and technology employment stays comparatively thin. Washington's statewide technology WARN filings — 43 notices covering 12,336 workers year-to-date — have not materially touched Spokane, but the state's tight labor force and the loss of 15,400 jobs in September point to a market where qualified IT talent is scarce and expensive to source even without local layoff pressure.
What it means
Spokane's advertised pay for infrastructure and networking roles is moving sharply higher — Network Engineer pay up to $133,914 and Systems Administrator pay up to $93,025 — while Cybersecurity Analyst and Data Scientist advertised pay have fallen significantly, a divergence that is consistent with employers consolidating specialized technical hiring into fewer, better-funded roles. That pattern favors in-house investment in infrastructure and network talent, where local pay now rivals or exceeds national medians, while security and analytics work may be better suited to contract, managed-service, or distributed hiring given the national premium those roles still command. Consider reviewing whether current infrastructure compensation bands reflect Spokane's local Network Engineer premium over the national median before the next hiring cycle locks in outdated ranges.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Statewide technology WARN filings have concentrated in King County, but Oracle's 359-worker notice and other Seattle-area technology separations create a pool of displaced talent that could migrate toward lower-cost metros like Spokane. Watch whether Spokane network and infrastructure postings see increased applicant volume from west-side candidates over the next two months.
Emerging pressure point: Washington's minimum wage rises to $17.73 on January 1, which compresses the gap between entry-level IT support pay and wage-floor roles in retail and hospitality. Help desk and tier-one support compensation may need review before year-end hiring to maintain a meaningful skills premium.
Worth watching: October county-level unemployment and job count data for Spokane won't be released until November 24, leaving current hiring decisions based on August/September figures. Treat near-term headcount planning as provisional until that release confirms whether the three-month decline in unemployment is holding.
Potential inflection point: National AI-related job postings now exceed 7% of all postings, well past the 2022 peak, while mid-level AI engineers see 9.2% wage growth. Spokane employers competing for even modest AI/ML capacity should expect wage pressure to arrive well ahead of any local posting-volume increase.
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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