Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Topeka, KS MSA — September 2026
Topeka unemployment rises while specialized IT pay sprints ahead.
Topeka MSA unemployment climbed to 5.0% in July even as Network Engineer pay jumped to a metro median of $133,407, outpacing the national figure — a split market rewarding scarce technical skills while broader hiring cools.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Topeka MSA unemployment rate: 5.0% — Up from 4.6% in April 2026 (preliminary)
- Shawnee County wage growth: +5.4% — Largest increase among KS's largest counties, Q3 2025
- KC metro tech postings growth: 7.4% YoY — vs 1.6% nationally — regional poaching risk
- Kansas statewide unemployment: 3.8% — Flat May–August 2026; Topeka metro runs hotter
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is outrunning the national market.
Metro median of $133,407 now exceeds the national figure of $114,400, even as both trend upward — a reversal from the historical pattern of metro roles trailing national pay. This may reflect genuine local scarcity tied to cloud migration projects like the Kansas Department of Labor's infrastructure modernization, and warrants benchmarking against current openings, not legacy pay bands.
Systems Administrator roles look structurally underpriced locally.
Metro median sits nearly $16,500 below the national figure and has stayed stable while every other tracked role moved. Flat advertised pay alongside rising metro unemployment suggests employers face less pressure to compete for this skill set locally — a candidate for outsourcing or managed-service delivery rather than continued in-house investment.
Cybersecurity pay gap signals a local talent export problem.
Metro median of $79,810 trails the national figure of $106,790 by roughly 25%, even as national cybersecurity demand accelerates (CompTIA ranks it 346% above average growth). Topeka employers risk losing security talent to remote national postings or the Kansas City market unless advertised rates close this gap.
Rising IT Project Manager pay may track KC's leadership squeeze.
Metro median climbed to $102,467, a significant year-over-year move that mirrors Kansas City's shift toward management-heavy postings (22% of KC tech postings versus 13% in 2019). Competition for scarce technical leadership appears to be spilling into Topeka's smaller labor pool.
Median advertised pay by role — Topeka, KS MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $122,220 | $151,738 | $168,181 | Significant increase | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $67,069 | $84,671 | $95,537 | Stable | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $83,093 | $133,407 | $155,957 | Significant increase | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $128,722 | $163,828 | $175,614 | Significant increase | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $37,355 | $44,960 | $50,000 | Significant increase | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $71,821 | $79,810 | $87,030 | Moderate increase | $106,790 |
| IT Project Manager | $74,872 | $102,467 | $124,710 | Significant increase | $117,530 |
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
Topeka MSA unemployment climbed to a preliminary 5.0% in July 2026, up from 4.6% in April, even as core Shawnee County posted the strongest wage growth (+5.4%) among Kansas's largest counties in Q3 2025, suggesting a labor market bifurcating between broad softening and tight, high-demand technical segments. Kansas City tech job postings growing nearly five times the national rate is likely pulling Topeka-area talent toward a larger regional market, compounding local hiring difficulty despite a 8,063-opening candidate pool in Topeka alone.
What it means
Divergence between rising metro unemployment and sharply higher advertised pay for Network Engineer (+significant) and Software Engineer (+significant) roles indicates skills-based scarcity rather than a loosening market — generalist headcount may be easier to fill while specialized infrastructure and development talent remains genuinely contested. Proximity to Kansas City's faster-growing tech postings raises retention risk for mid-career technical staff who can command better offers without relocating, while flat Systems Administrator pay ($84,671 metro vs. $101,168 national) signals that commodity infrastructure roles are increasingly rational candidates for outsourcing or managed services. Consider reviewing which infrastructure functions are being priced below national market and evaluate whether those gaps reflect genuine local labor supply or a signal to shift toward contract or managed-service delivery.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Topeka MSA unemployment has risen for three straight readings (4.6% to 5.0%) while Shawnee County wages climb — watch whether August/September BLS releases confirm continued divergence or show the metro converging toward state-level stability at 3.8%.
Emerging pressure point: Kansas City tech postings growing five times faster than the national rate may intensify cross-metro poaching of Topeka's network engineering and software development talent over the next two quarters, particularly as remote and hybrid arrangements widen the effective labor radius.
Early indicator: Kansas WARN filings remain near zero (no notices in 90 days as of late September), limiting any near-term influx of displaced technical talent into the local candidate pool — expect continued tightness in specialized roles rather than relief from layoff-driven supply.
Potential inflection point: Cybersecurity's persistent 25% local-to-national pay gap, paired with AI-driven demand growth nationally, may force a compensation correction or accelerate adoption of managed security services among Topeka employers unwilling to close the gap organically.
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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