{"schema_version": 1, "id": "ann-arbor-mi-msa/information-technology/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 14, "label": "Ann Arbor, MI MSA", "slug": "ann-arbor-mi-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:13:39.978701+00:00", "headline": "Ann Arbor IT pay splits: infrastructure up, security and PM down.", "headline_summary": "Network Engineer pay climbed to $127,426 against a national $114,400, while Cybersecurity Analyst pay fell to $122,050 even as national cybersecurity pay rose.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Washtenaw unemployment rate", "value": "4.2%", "context": "Flat since July 2026"}, {"label": "Ann Arbor MSA monthly employment change", "value": "-2.3%", "context": "Steepest decline among MI metros, June 2026"}, {"label": "Network Engineer advertised pay (metro)", "value": "$127,426", "context": "vs $114,400 national, up significantly YoY"}, {"label": "Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay (metro)", "value": "$122,050", "context": "Down significantly vs national pay rising"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Network Engineer pay is pulling away from the national rate.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay of $127,426 now runs meaningfully above the $114,400 national figure, a significant year-over-year move. Infrastructure modernization tied to local employer investment may be concentrating demand for a thin regional candidate pool \u2014 retention counteroffers in this role are likely to be tested."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity and project management pay softened even as national pay rose.", "body": "Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay fell significantly to $122,050 and IT Project Manager pay dropped to $122,783, both moving opposite the national trend. This may suggest fewer, lower-leveled postings locally rather than cooling demand \u2014 worth cross-checking posting volume before concluding compensation strategy needs to shift."}, {"headline": "Help desk wage floor pressure is now structural, not cyclical.", "body": "Michigan's minimum wage rise to $13.73 and scheduled move to $15.00 in January 2027 is compressing the gap between entry-level support pay and mid-tier technical roles. Metro Help Desk pay is already up moderately to $53,226, and outsourcing commodity support functions may look increasingly rational as the floor keeps rising."}, {"headline": "Software Engineer pay strength signals where retention risk concentrates.", "body": "Metro median of $149,207, up significantly and now nearly matching the $153,652 national figure, indicates Ann Arbor employers are competing directly with national tech pay for this role despite a metro-wide employment contraction in June. Build-vs-buy decisions for engineering capacity should account for this convergence rather than assuming a persistent local discount."}], "local_conditions": "Washtenaw County's unemployment rate held at 4.2% in August, flat since July, even as the Ann Arbor MSA posted the steepest monthly employment decline of any Michigan metro at -2.3% in June \u2014 a divergence that suggests job losses are concentrated rather than broad-based. University of Michigan and public-sector hiring continue to anchor the local economy against statewide manufacturing contraction, while average weekly wages remain above the Michigan average, pointing to a labor market that is tight for specialized talent even as overall payroll growth decelerates toward 0.2% for 2026.", "implications": "Network Engineer and Systems Administrator advertised pay both moved up locally this month while Cybersecurity Analyst and IT Project Manager pay fell sharply \u2014 a pattern consistent with employers consolidating specialized infrastructure hiring into fewer, better-compensated roles rather than broadly expanding security and PM headcount. That divergence supports a build-vs-buy conversation: infrastructure and network roles appear to justify in-house investment locally, while softening demand signals for cybersecurity and project management pay may reflect budget caution or a shift toward outsourced/contract delivery for those functions. Consider reviewing whether recent cybersecurity and PM pay declines reflect genuine demand softening versus a smaller, noisier sample of local postings before resetting budgets.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Ann Arbor's -2.3% monthly employment drop in June was the sharpest among Michigan metros; watch whether July-September data shows this stabilizing or deepening, particularly in roles tied to manufacturing-adjacent IT support."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Michigan WARN filings include Fifth Third Bank (475 workers, Farmington Hills) and GM Lansing (350 workers) \u2014 watch whether displaced financial-services or automotive IT and data staff begin surfacing in the Washtenaw candidate pool over the next quarter."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Cybersecurity and IT Project Manager advertised pay declines locally run counter to national direction; a second consecutive month of decline would strengthen the case that local demand, not sample noise, is driving the shift."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Michigan's minimum wage path to $15.00 in January 2027 will compress margins on in-house entry-level IT support roles; organizations weighing managed-services contracts for help desk functions should model costs against that scheduled increase now, not after it lands."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 92814.0, "metro_p50": 114927.0, "metro_p75": 133461.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 148250.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 78295.75, "metro_p50": 95000.0, "metro_p75": 108509.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 101168.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 97653.0, "metro_p50": 127426.0, "metro_p75": 127908.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 114400.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 110678.0, "metro_p50": 149207.0, "metro_p75": 160250.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 153652.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 45444.0, "metro_p50": 53226.0, "metro_p75": 58949.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 53644.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95050.0, "metro_p50": 122050.0, "metro_p75": 122050.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 106790.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 105702.25, "metro_p50": 122783.0, "metro_p75": 127876.75, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 117530.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "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.", "edition_label": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "ann-arbor-mi-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "pdf": "ann-arbor-mi-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:48:03.484679+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/ann-arbor-mi-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/ann-arbor-mi-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}