Labor Market Pulse · Information Technology · October 2026
Information Technology Labor Market Report: WY NONMETROPOLITAN AREA — October 2026
Wyoming's IT market splits: infrastructure pay surges, support pay sinks.
Network Engineer advertised pay hit $138,894 in Wyoming's nonmetro areas versus $115,757 nationally, even as Help Desk pay fell to $44,720 against a 3.0% statewide unemployment rate that leaves almost no slack for hiring.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Wyoming nonmetro unemployment: 3.0% — vs. 4.2% national rate, unchanged since August
- Network Engineer advertised pay: $138,894 — vs. $115,757 national median, up significantly
- Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay: $44,720 — down significantly vs. $53,129 national median
- Projected 2027 workforce gap: 3,000 fewer workers — against 6,000 projected new jobs statewide
Key takeaways
Network Engineer pay is outrunning the national market by a wide margin.
Metro median advertised pay of $138,894 sits roughly 20% above the $115,757 national figure, a premium that tracks construction and data center buildout activity tied to wind farms and energy projects statewide. Expect continued upward pressure as this remains one of the few infrastructure roles employers can't easily outsource given local project requirements.
Help desk compensation is collapsing even as talent stays scarce.
Metro Help Desk/IT Support pay fell sharply to $44,720, well under the $53,129 national median, despite a labor market with almost no unemployed workers to draw from. Divergence between falling pay and tight supply is consistent with employers routing commodity support work to remote or outsourced providers rather than competing for local hires.
Systems Administrator pay lag signals a role ripe for managed services.
Advertised pay trails the national median by roughly $16,000 and shows no upward movement, an unusual pattern given statewide talent scarcity. Flat local pay against national gains may suggest employers are quietly shifting sysadmin workloads to cloud providers or managed service contracts rather than raising offers to compete for scarce local candidates.
Cybersecurity and project management roles are becoming retention flashpoints.
Both Cybersecurity Analyst and IT Project Manager advertised pay rose significantly this month, outpacing stable-to-moderate national trends. With fewer than 1,000 tech professionals in the state and a documented decade-long inflation-adjusted salary decline statewide, these gains look defensive — employers protecting against the Denver, Salt Lake, and remote-market talent drain documented in Wyoming's broader tech wage erosion.
Median advertised pay by role — WY NONMETROPOLITAN AREA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $110,253 | $150,925 | $154,676 | Moderate increase | $145,881 |
| Systems Administrator | $66,553 | $86,293 | $93,502 | Stable | $102,503 |
| Network Engineer | $78,378 | $138,894 | $155,935 | Significant increase | $115,757 |
| Software Engineer | $119,108 | $156,635 | $166,850 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Help Desk/IT Support Specialist | $25,324 | $44,720 | $51,701 | Significant decline | $53,129 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $73,782 | $106,890 | $106,890 | Significant increase | $107,327 |
| IT Project Manager | $104,478 | $126,970 | $139,524 | Significant increase | $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
Wyoming's nonmetropolitan labor market remains structurally tight at a 3.0% statewide unemployment rate, with rural counties like Teton (1.8%) and Albany (2.2%) posting some of the lowest readings in the nation, leaving little slack for local IT hiring. Projections showing 6,000 new jobs against 3,000 fewer available workers by 2027 compound a labor supply shortfall already evident in a tech workforce base of fewer than 1,000 professionals statewide.
What it means
Advertised pay for Network Engineer ($138,894) and IT Project Manager ($126,970) roles is climbing well above national medians, consistent with employers bidding up compensation to secure scarce infrastructure and planning talent in a market with almost no bench depth. Systems Administrator pay sits well below the national median ($86,293 vs. $102,503) and Help Desk pay is falling sharply, suggesting commodity support functions are losing local wage competitiveness even as specialized roles tighten further. Organizations should evaluate shifting routine infrastructure and support work to managed services or remote/offshore arrangements while reserving direct local hires for roles where on-the-ground presence or security clearance requirements leave no alternative.
Looking ahead
Expected data release: October unemployment figures for Wyoming and its nonmetro counties publish November 23 — watch for any softening in historically tight counties like Teton and Albany that might ease infrastructure hiring pressure.
Emerging pressure point: National tech layoffs already exceeding 133,000 for 2026 create a potential inbound talent pool, but Wyoming's remote-work appeal and compensation lag relative to coastal markets will determine whether displaced talent actually relocates here or simply works remotely for employers elsewhere.
Worth watching: Data center and uranium/energy project activity tied to construction gains statewide could extend Network Engineer and infrastructure pay premiums; track whether project pipelines (wind, nuclear-adjacent, data center) hold through year-end budget cycles.
Potential inflection point: Continued erosion in Help Desk and Systems Administrator advertised pay may mark a structural shift toward outsourced or managed-service delivery for commodity IT functions — worth testing against your own headcount plans before the next budget cycle locks in staffing assumptions.
Sources
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services — Wyoming nonmetro unemployment rates by county, September 2026
- Wyoming Department of Workforce Services — Wyoming projected to add 6,000 jobs but lose 3,000 workers by 2027
- Wyoming IT labor market research — Wyoming supports fewer than 1,000 tech professionals statewide
- Wyoming IT labor market research — Wyoming tech salaries fell 6.62% inflation-adjusted from 2014-2024
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — National unemployment rate 4.2% versus Wyoming's 3.0%
- Tech layoff tracking aggregator — Tech sector layoffs exceeded 133,000 workers through October 2026
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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