{"schema_version": 1, "id": "casper-wy-msa/information-technology/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 176, "label": "Casper, WY MSA", "slug": "casper-wy-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:14:32.056319+00:00", "headline": "Casper IT pay splits sharply: security up, engineering down.", "headline_summary": "Casper's Network Engineer pay ($118,169) and Cybersecurity Analyst pay ($104,280) are climbing significantly even as Software Engineer pay ($77,953) runs roughly half the national median, against a labor market where Natrona County unemployment sits at just 2.6%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Natrona County unemployment", "value": "2.6%", "context": "June 2026, vs 4.1% national rate"}, {"label": "Casper avg. hourly wage", "value": "$28.93", "context": "vs $33.54 national average"}, {"label": "Natrona County payroll trend", "value": "-800 jobs", "context": "5 straight months of decline through Jan 2026"}, {"label": "Wyoming quits rate", "value": "2.1%", "context": "Decade low, signals trapped workforce"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Network Engineer pay is rising fastest \u2014 and that's telling.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay of $118,169 now exceeds the national figure of $114,400, a significant local gain that likely reflects scarcity rather than broad-based wage inflation. Treat this as a signal to benchmark infrastructure roles against local scarcity, not national norms."}, {"headline": "Software Engineer pay is collapsing relative to the rest of the country.", "body": "Metro median of $77,953 sits roughly half the national $153,652 figure and is trending down significantly locally. Generalist development work looks increasingly exportable \u2014 a build-vs-buy case for remote or outsourced engineering capacity rather than local hires."}, {"headline": "Help Desk pay jumped sharply even though it's the lowest-paid IT role.", "body": "Metro Help Desk median climbed to $51,601, a significant local increase, in a market where the quits rate sits at a decade-low 2.1%. Rising pay for entry-tier support in a low-turnover market may suggest employers are bidding up wages just to keep frontline coverage staffed, not expanding headcount."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity hiring looks structural, not discretionary.", "body": "Local Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose significantly to $104,280, tracking the national pattern where senior security talent commands up to $400K. Compression in Wyoming's overall IT wage base makes retaining even mid-level security staff a genuine competitive exposure, not a routine budget line."}], "local_conditions": "Natrona County's unemployment rate held at a tight 2.6% through June 2026, even as nonfarm payrolls logged five straight months of decline through early 2026, a combination that points to a shrinking labor pool rather than slack demand. Local pay levels remain structurally compressed \u2014 Casper's average hourly wage of $28.93 trails the national $33.54 figure by roughly 14% \u2014 meaning employers here are competing for the same specialized IT talent as national employers while offering a materially thinner paycheck.", "implications": "Significant local advertised pay gains in Network Engineer (+significant) and Cybersecurity Analyst (+significant) roles, against a backdrop of flat-to-declining Software Engineer pay, suggest Casper employers are prioritizing infrastructure resilience and security coverage over general development capacity \u2014 a allocation shift, not a uniform market rise. With Wyoming's broader IT wages sitting near $45,322 annually against national tech benchmarks well above six figures, in-house buildout of specialized cloud or senior security roles risks chronic vacancy and turnover exposure. Consider reviewing which infrastructure and security functions genuinely require permanent local headcount versus which could be served through managed security or remote contract arrangements that sidestep the regional wage ceiling.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Natrona County payrolls have fallen for five consecutive months even as unemployment stays low \u2014 watch whether November's BLS release confirms a stabilizing floor or continued erosion, which would affect confidence in local permanent hiring."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Wyoming's quits rate at a decade-low 2.1% suggests a trapped rather than loyal workforce. Watch whether Casper IT staff begin moving once remote opportunities at national pay levels become more visible, particularly in software engineering roles already priced well below national median."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "TerraPower's nuclear reactor development near Kemmerer could pull specialized engineering and technical talent from across Wyoming's limited labor pool, including IT infrastructure staff. Monitor whether Casper employers begin reporting recruiting friction tied to this project."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National information-sector job losses in August and a cooling Indeed postings pattern for mid-tier tech roles may filter into Wyoming's already-thin IT postings count. Track whether Casper's advertised pay gains in security and networking persist once national hiring softens further."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 107378.0, "metro_p50": 141166.0, "metro_p75": 153151.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 148250.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 73101.0, "metro_p50": 93502.0, "metro_p75": 100000.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 78378.0, "metro_p50": 118168.6, "metro_p75": 155935.0, "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": 59705.5, "metro_p50": 77953.4, "metro_p75": 111185.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 43221.0, "metro_p50": 51601.0, "metro_p75": 51601.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 53644.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 75000.0, "metro_p50": 104280.0, "metro_p75": 107172.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 106790.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 105272.0, "metro_p50": 126292.0, "metro_p75": 132703.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "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": "casper-wy-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "pdf": "casper-wy-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:30:45.136007+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/casper-wy-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/casper-wy-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}