Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · September 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Tyler, TX MSA — September 2026
Tyler's IT pay splits sharply: networking up, security and support down.
Network Engineer advertised pay rose to $118,136 against a metro unemployment rate climbing to 4.2%, while Cybersecurity Analyst pay fell to $75,418 — nearly $31K below the national median.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Tyler MSA unemployment rate: 4.2% — Smith County rose from 3.8% to 4.5%
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $118,136 — Up significantly, above $114,400 national median
- Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay: $75,418 — Down significantly vs $106,790 national median
- Tyler MSA annual job growth: 1.4% — Monthly payrolls fell 200 positions in September
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is bucking every other local IT trend.
Metro median advertised pay of $118,136 moved up significantly and now exceeds the national figure of $114,400, in a month when five of seven tracked IT roles declined locally. This likely reflects targeted demand tied to recent data-center, distribution, and business-park investment rather than broad market tightness.
Cybersecurity pay fell sharply even as national demand accelerates.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay dropped to $75,418, a significant decline, while national median sits at $106,790 and growing 8.9%+ for senior platform roles elsewhere. A nearly $31K local-national gap suggests Tyler employers may be understaffing security relative to where advertised pay is heading nationally, raising retention risk as remote-eligible postings pull local talent toward out-of-market pay.
Help Desk and Sysadmin pay declines point to commodity-role compression.
Help Desk advertised pay fell significantly to $44,537 and Systems Administrator pay dropped to $75,000, both moving opposite their stable-to-rising national counterparts. Current conditions suggest these functions are increasingly viable candidates for outsourcing or managed-service arrangements rather than continued local permanent hiring.
Rising metro unemployment hasn't translated into cheaper specialized talent.
Smith County unemployment jumped 70 basis points to 4.5%, yet Network Engineer and IT Project Manager pay held firm or rose. Labor slack appears concentrated in generalist and support occupations, not in infrastructure specialties that remain scarce.
Median advertised pay by role — Tyler, TX MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $111,342 | $128,261 | $129,102 | Moderate decline | $148,250 |
| Systems Administrator | $65,121 | $75,000 | $87,193 | Moderate decline | $101,168 |
| Network Engineer | $78,275 | $118,136 | $128,769 | Significant increase | $114,400 |
| Software Engineer | $92,073 | $129,858 | $131,796 | Moderate decline | $153,652 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $33,409 | $44,537 | $63,000 | Significant decline | $53,644 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $69,083 | $75,418 | $80,531 | Significant decline | $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
Tyler MSA unemployment climbed to 4.2% in September with Smith County rising sharply from 3.8% to 4.5%, even as monthly nonfarm payrolls slipped by 200 positions against a backdrop of annual job growth near 1.4%. Recent business-park expansion and the arrival of Amazon and YellaWood signal longer-run demand for infrastructure and distribution-adjacent IT support, but near-term hiring remains constrained by the metro's modest, healthcare- and manufacturing-led job base rather than tech-sector expansion.
What it means
Local softness in headline employment coincides with a striking divergence in IT role-specific advertised pay: Network Engineer pay rose significantly to a metro median of $118,136 — above the national figure — while Cybersecurity Analyst and Help Desk pay fell sharply, suggesting employers are concentrating scarce compensation dollars on infrastructure build-out rather than broad-based IT staffing. This pattern is consistent with a metro absorbing new data-center and logistics investment without yet building a deep local bench in security or support, which widens the case for outsourcing commodity functions while competing hard for networking and infrastructure talent. Consider reviewing whether current cybersecurity and help desk pay levels reflect a genuine local supply glut or a mispriced role that risks losing talent to Dallas, where security leadership compensation runs $65K higher.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Tyler Economic Development Council's 280+ acre business park buildout may generate infrastructure and facilities-adjacent IT demand over the next two quarters. Watch whether new tenant announcements name specific technology or logistics operations requiring network and systems staffing.
Emerging pressure point: Smith County's unemployment rise from 3.8% to 4.5% warrants tracking for whether it reflects layoffs feeding the candidate pool or labor force growth outpacing job creation. Either scenario affects how aggressively IT leaders need to compete on Network Engineer and Project Manager pay.
Potential inflection point: Austin's concentrated AI/semiconductor hiring and Dallas's higher security compensation create an outflow risk for Tyler's scarce cybersecurity talent. Monitor whether local postings begin closing the roughly $31K gap to national cybersecurity pay before losses accelerate.
Early indicator: Amazon and YellaWood's recent entry into Smith County may begin generating distribution-tech and network infrastructure postings in Q4. Track whether this translates into measurable advertised pay movement for Network Engineer roles beyond this month's gain.
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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