Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: WI NONMETROPOLITAN AREA — October 2026
Nonmetro Wisconsin IT pay slips as national rates climb.
Systems Administrator advertised pay fell to $75,865 locally while the national median rose to $102,503, widening a gap that puts nonmetro retention at risk.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Systems Administrator pay gap: $75,865 vs $102,503 — Metro down, national up — 26% gap
- County unemployment range: 2.5% to 5.8% — Lafayette vs Menominee County, Aug 2026
- Manufacturing employment trend: -1.3% — Oct 2026 vs Oct 2025, WI forecast
- Remote job share: 2% — Share of WI tech postings offering remote work
Key takeaways
Systems Administrator pay is falling locally while rising nationally.
Metro median dropped to $75,865 even as the national figure climbed to $102,503 — a widening gap that increases flight risk for administrators who can work remotely or relocate toward metro pay scales.
IT Project Manager compensation is retreating against a stable national trend.
Local median fell to $104,000 while national pay held steady at $118,150, suggesting nonmetro employers are deprioritizing project leadership hires or facing softer demand for coordinated IT initiatives.
Cybersecurity premiums remain compressed relative to national scarcity pricing.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose to $83,606 but still sits nearly 22% below the national median of $107,327, a gap that may push organizations toward outsourced security monitoring to manage scarce in-house talent.
Manufacturing softness is a leading indicator for nonmetro IT support demand.
Forecast manufacturing payroll decline of 0.5% and employment running 1.3% below year-ago levels points to continued conservative hiring in plants that host much of the region's embedded IT and infrastructure staff.
Median advertised pay by role — WI NONMETROPOLITAN AREA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $93,697 | $121,698 | $136,155 | Moderate increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $68,467 | $75,865 | $85,000 | Moderate decline | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $77,021 | $102,267 | $108,141 | Moderate increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $91,354 | $121,121 | $129,870 | Stable | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $43,190 | $50,114 | $55,000 | Significant decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $76,241 | $83,606 | $106,943 | Moderate increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $80,440 | $104,000 | $113,330 | 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
Nonmetro Wisconsin's IT labor pool remains thin and uneven, with county unemployment ranging from 2.5% in Lafayette to 5.8% in Menominee, while statewide manufacturing employment — a major anchor for rural IT support and infrastructure roles — sits roughly 1.3% below year-ago levels, signaling cautious headcount planning in sectors that traditionally employ nonmetro IT staff. Advertised pay for Systems Administrator ($75,865, down) and IT Project Manager ($104,000, down) is softening locally even as national figures for the same roles climb, a divergence consistent with weaker nonmetro hiring demand.
What it means
Falling advertised pay for Systems Administrator and IT Project Manager roles against rising national medians suggests nonmetro employers are losing pricing power to compete for infrastructure and management talent, raising the risk that experienced staff get recruited away by better-funded metro or remote-capable employers. With 98% of Wisconsin tech postings requiring in-person work, nonmetro IT leaders face a structural disadvantage against hybrid-friendly competitors and may need to lean further into outsourcing or managed services for specialized functions like cybersecurity where the metro Cybersecurity Analyst median ($83,606) still trails the national figure by nearly $24,000. Consider reviewing whether current Systems Administrator and IT Project Manager compensation reflects a deliberate strategy or an unintended drift behind national trend lines that could erode retention over the next two quarters.
Looking ahead
Expected release: BLS publishes October state and metro data November 20, with nonmetro county detail from Wisconsin DWD typically following in late November or early December — watch for confirmation of whether Menominee's elevated 5.8% unemployment persists or eases.
Emerging pressure point: Continued softening in Systems Administrator and IT Project Manager advertised pay could accelerate departures toward metro or remote-enabled employers; track whether local postings begin offering remote flexibility to counter the trend.
Worth watching: Manufacturing payroll forecasts calling for further contraction may signal reduced demand for on-site IT support roles tied to plant operations, a leading indicator for nonmetro infrastructure headcount decisions.
Potential inflection point: National AI-related postings now exceed 7% of all job ads; watch whether nonmetro Wisconsin employers begin advertising AI-adjacent infrastructure or data roles, which would signal a shift in regional skill demand.
Sources
- USA Facts/BLS LAUS — County unemployment range from 2.5% to 5.8% in nonmetro WI
- Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development — Manufacturing employment forecast 1.3% below year-ago levels
- Wisconsin labor market research — 98% of Wisconsin tech job postings are in-person, 2% remote
- Advertised pay data — Cybersecurity Analyst national median of $107,327 vs metro $83,606
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — BLS October state/metro data releases November 20, 2026
- Advertised pay data — Systems Administrator advertised pay metro vs national comparison
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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