Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: Utica-Rome, NY MSA — October 2026
Utica IT pay splits: security climbs, coordination and support roles retreat.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose to $101,450 and Systems Administrator pay climbed to $97,831, while IT Project Manager fell to $112,004 and Help Desk pay dropped to $53,300.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Oneida County unemployment: 4.3% — August 2026, up from 4% metro rate in May
- Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay: $101,450 — Up moderately; trails national $107,327
- Metro Help Desk/IT Support pay: $53,300 — Down, tracking national decline to $53,129
- NY statewide job losses: 31,000 jobs — Through July 2026, triggered wage freeze
Key takeaways
Cybersecurity Analyst pay is rising locally while IT Project Manager pay falls.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay moved up to $101,450 even as IT Project Manager fell to $112,004, a divergence that tracks the national shift toward security and infrastructure hiring over coordination and delivery roles. Headcount planning may benefit from shifting marginal budget toward security specialization ahead of adding project management layers.
Help Desk pay decline signals commodity support work is getting cheaper to staff.
Metro Help Desk/IT Support median sits at $53,300, down alongside the national figure of $53,129, consistent with AI-assisted ticketing and remote/offshore support models absorbing routine tier-1 work. Organizations retaining in-house support desks should weigh whether the role's value now sits in escalation and systems knowledge over volume handling.
Systems Administrator wages are climbing against a national backdrop of hybrid infrastructure demand.
Metro Systems Administrator pay rose to $97,831, moving toward (though still trailing) the national $102,503 median, consistent with the national data center and infrastructure hiring boom bypassing coastal tech hubs in favor of secondary markets. Utica's cost position may make it a credible site for infrastructure buildout in its own right, beyond serving as a pass-through labor pool for larger metro employers.
Flat Software Engineer and Data Scientist pay masks a scarcity premium building underneath.
Metro medians for both roles sit essentially even with national figures, but New York State data shows AI-exposed roles gaining 46% in pay since 2021 against 25% for non-AI roles — a split not yet visible in Utica's broader averages. Expect any local AI/ML hiring to command premiums well above what metro medians currently suggest.
Median advertised pay by role — Utica-Rome, NY MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $125,000 | $159,122 | $174,965 | Stable | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $77,067 | $97,831 | $106,732 | Moderate increase | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $76,094 | $112,406 | $129,506 | Stable | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $117,124 | $155,998 | $175,879 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $44,470 | $53,300 | $61,334 | Moderate decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $82,100 | $101,450 | $118,331 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $78,441 | $112,004 | $124,486 | Moderate decline | $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
Oneida County's unemployment rate held at 4.3% in August, tracking statewide softening even as Utica-area job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), remain active across healthcare, manufacturing, and administrative roles, signaling a metro where labor supply has loosened slightly without translating into broad wage relief. Statewide, New York's minimum wage freeze and a 31,000-job statewide loss through July point to fiscal caution spreading from Albany downward, while Utica's IT-relevant postings continue to reflect national bifurcation — infrastructure, security, and automation roles advertising strength even as entry-level and generalist tech hiring stays muted.
What it means
Metro IT compensation looks stable on the surface — Software Engineer and Data Scientist medians essentially flat against national figures — but that stability masks a widening gap between specialized infrastructure/security talent, where national demand is accelerating 150%+ month-over-month in adjacent NY markets, and commodity roles like Help Desk/IT Support, where local pay is declining alongside national trends. IT leaders planning headcount for hybrid or on-prem environments may find Utica's lower cost base an advantage for building infrastructure and support teams locally, easing the need to compete for scarce cloud-native or AI talent concentrated in NYC and larger metros. Consider reviewing whether current infrastructure and security req levels reflect this market's relative affordability, since continuing to benchmark against Albany or NYC rates no longer applies to routine operational roles.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Oneida County's unemployment rate has ticked up roughly 0.7 points year-over-year even as job ads stay active; watch whether this reflects discouraged-worker dynamics or an actual supply increase that could ease IT hiring competition for infrastructure and support roles.
Potential inflection point: New York's minimum wage freeze, triggered by statewide job losses, may constrain wage growth at the low end of IT support and help desk roles locally even as specialized security and infrastructure pay continues climbing nationally.
Emerging pressure point: National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers through late October, concentrated in larger tech hubs; monitor whether displaced talent begins surfacing in Utica-area candidate pools, particularly for remote-capable infrastructure and security roles.
Worth watching: NYC's $10M AI training hub investment targets lower-income workers statewide; any pipeline effects reaching Utica's workforce over the next 60 days could shift the local calculus on build-versus-buy for AI-adjacent skills.
Sources
- New York State Department of Labor — Oneida County unemployment rate was 4.3% in August 2026
- Washington Post — New York lost roughly 31,000 jobs through July 2026, triggering minimum wage freeze
- New York IT labor market research notes — Security Architects and Infrastructure roles posted 150%+ month-over-month growth in September
- New York IT labor market research notes — AI-exposed roles saw 46% pay growth since 2021 vs. 25% for non-AI roles
- Layoffs tracking aggregator — 133,417 tech employees laid off at 325 companies through October 21, 2026
- State economic development announcement — NY State/City invested $10M in AI training hub targeting 40,000 lower-income New Yorkers
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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