Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Springfield, OH MSA — October 2026
Manufacturing exodus meets a split IT pay market in Springfield
Springfield's Network Engineer pay fell to $95,206 against a national climb to $115,757, even as Software Engineer pay locally hit $156,617 and truck-plant layoffs reshape the local talent pool.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Clark County unemployment: 3.8% — vs Ohio's 3.4% statewide (Sept. 2026)
- Metro employment decline, H1 2026: -2.2% — Largest drop among Ohio's 11 metro areas
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $95,206 — vs $115,757 national; down significantly
- October truck-plant job losses: 1,300+ — International Motors facility sale to Roshel
Key takeaways
Manufacturing layoffs may be quietly expanding the local IT bench.
October's loss of over 1,300 truck-manufacturing jobs and the broader 2.2% metro employment decline could push industrial IT, controls, and network support staff into the general candidate pool. Organizations hiring infrastructure or support roles may find faster time-to-fill and more negotiating leverage over the next quarter.
Network Engineer pay is falling locally while rising nationally.
Springfield's Network Engineer advertised median dropped significantly to $95,206 against a national figure climbing to $115,757 — a $20,000 gap that did not exist a year ago. That divergence may reflect local demand softening as manufacturing-linked network infrastructure work contracts, making this a role to benchmark against local figures as the primary reference point.
Systems Administrator and Software Engineer pay climbing despite metro job losses.
Both roles show significant upward movement locally — Systems Administrator to $101,578 and Software Engineer to $156,617, the latter now exceeding the national median. Wage growth concentrated in these two roles amid broader metro job contraction suggests employers are competing hard for a narrow band of core technical skill even as total employment shrinks.
Help Desk pay surge locally runs opposite the national direction.
Springfield's Help Desk/IT Support median rose significantly to $53,040 while the national figure edged down to $53,129. Local employers may be bidding up entry-level IT support to backfill roles vacated by manufacturing-sector churn or TPS-related workforce uncertainty, a trend worth tracking against JobsOhio's technician subsidy program eligibility.
Median advertised pay by role — Springfield, OH MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist * | $111,207 | $138,400 | $156,390 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $74,721 | $101,578 | $112,988 | Significant increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $80,275 | $95,206 | $119,042 | Significant decline | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $123,750 | $156,617 | $167,889 | Significant increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $42,825 | $53,040 | $57,200 | Significant increase | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst * | $82,532 | $102,518 | $118,918 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager * | $88,076 | $111,411 | $124,800 | 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
Clark County's 3.8% unemployment rate sits well below Ohio's 3.4% state average gap closing, but masks a labor market in contraction — Springfield shed roughly 200 jobs in the first half of 2026, the steepest decline among Ohio's 11 metro areas, concentrated in manufacturing and amplified by October's loss of more than 1,300 truck-manufacturing jobs tied to International Motors' facility sale. Uncertainty around Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants, who make up a meaningful share of the local workforce, compounds labor supply pressure even as overall unemployment stays low.
What it means
Manufacturing contraction and truck-plant layoffs are releasing adjacent technical talent — network, systems, and support staff tied to industrial operations — into a local IT labor pool where Systems Administrator and Software Engineer pay are both climbing sharply while Network Engineer pay has fallen significantly, a divergence suggesting demand is consolidating toward infrastructure and development roles over networking specialists. Headcount planning should account for a metro where layoff-driven supply is growing just as core technical roles see uneven wage signals, creating a window to recruit experienced IT staff displaced from manufacturing at more favorable terms than national data would predict. Consider reviewing network engineering compensation against the metro's falling advertised rate before assuming parity with national trends, since overpaying relative to local market softness could misallocate a constrained budget.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Whether displaced manufacturing and truck-plant workers with technical backgrounds surface in local IT and infrastructure applicant pools over the next 60 days. A meaningful inflow could soften Systems Administrator and Network Engineer hiring timelines.
Policy inflection point: TPS status for Haitian workers remains unresolved and directly affects Springfield's labor supply. Any federal decision this quarter could tighten or loosen entry-level and support-tier labor availability with little warning.
Emerging pressure point: JobsOhio's Technician Path program offers up to $10,000 per worker for training but requires 1:1 employer matching — worth evaluating now given TechCred's state credential reimbursement funds are already exhausted for the fiscal year.
Early indicator: Watch whether the Network Engineer pay gap between Springfield and national rates narrows or widens next month. Continued divergence would support locking in current local rates as the fixed reference, with national benchmarks adjusted toward them if they converge.
Sources
- Springfield News-Sun — Springfield lost most jobs of any Ohio metro in H1 2026
- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services — Clark County unemployment rate at 3.8% in August 2026
- Eastern Herald — 1,300+ Springfield truck workers lost jobs tied to International Motors sale
- Springfield News-Sun — TPS uncertainty affecting Springfield's Haitian immigrant workforce
- JobsOhio — JobsOhio Technician Path program offers up to $10,000 per worker with 1:1 match
- Ohio Department of Development — TechCred credential reimbursement funds exhausted mid-fiscal year
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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