Labor Market Pulse

Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Edition

Focus: IT

Chattanooga IT pay falls as national rates climb.

3.4%

Metro unemployment rate

Unchanged since Dec 2025, below 4.1% national rate

$102,714 vs $153,652

Software Engineer pay gap

Metro median vs national median, metro down significantly

$83,194 vs $106,790

Cybersecurity Analyst pay gap

Metro falling while national rising moderately

3,200 jobs

Projected 2026 metro job growth

UTC forecast, most growth expected H2 2026

This Month's Takeaways

01

Local IT pay is falling while national pay climbs — a dangerous divergence.

Software Engineer metro median dropped significantly to $102,714 against a stable national $153,652, and IT Project Manager fell significantly to $78,110 versus a rising $117,530 nationally. Candidates with remote options are comparing against the national figure, not the local one, which raises flight risk for anyone hireable outside Chattanooga.

02

Systems Administrator pay decline may reflect deprioritization, not just supply.

Metro median for Systems Administrator fell to $70,686 even as national demand pushed the role to $101,168, consistent with national signals that traditional infrastructure roles face permanent demand compression. Organizations should evaluate whether sys admin headcount is being quietly reallocated toward cloud and security functions rather than backfilled at prior pay levels.

03

Cybersecurity pay softness locally contradicts a tightening national market.

Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay fell moderately to $83,194 while national pay rose to $106,790, and national senior cybersecurity compensation is reportedly reaching $400K in competitive markets. A nearly $24K metro-to-national gap in a role executives nationally report difficulty filling may signal Chattanooga employers are underpricing risk rather than finding genuine local supply relief.

04

Network Engineer pay stability stands out against metro-wide declines.

Metro Network Engineer pay held stable at $79,813 while five of seven tracked IT roles in the metro declined, suggesting employers are protecting pay for roles tied to physical infrastructure and connectivity even as they compress pay elsewhere. Current conditions suggest this role may be a useful bellwether for whether metro IT pay broadly stabilizes or continues softening into Q4.

Local Labor Conditions

Chattanooga's labor market stays structurally tight at 3.4% unemployment while total nonfarm employment growth remains uneven, with manufacturing weakness offsetting gains in healthcare and education, and UTC's regional economic research center projecting most of 2026's 3,200 new metro jobs to materialize in the back half of the year. Advertised IT pay across the metro is falling broadly even as demand for cloud, security, and AI-adjacent skills accelerates nationally, suggesting local employers are not yet repricing specialized roles to match national competition for scarce talent.

Leadership & Talent Implications

Metro-wide declines in advertised pay for Systems Administrator, Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Analyst, and IT Project Manager roles — even as national medians for the same roles rise — point to a widening gap that favors remote, fully-loaded national competitors over local in-office hiring, particularly for specialized cloud and security talent. Build-vs-buy calculus shifts further toward outsourcing commodity support and admin functions, while permanent headcount gets reserved for roles where Chattanooga's pay discount puts retention genuinely at risk. Consider reviewing whether current advertised pay for cybersecurity and software engineering roles reflects a real retention gap against national remote-work competition, not just a metro cost-of-living adjustment.

Advertised Pay Indicators

Role	P25	Median	P75	Local Trend	National	Nat. Trend
Data Scientist	$111,900	$124,271	$136,450	↑ Significant increase	$148,250	↑ Moderate increase
Systems Administrator	$65,000	$70,686	$87,070	↓ Moderate decline	$101,168	↑ Moderate increase
Network Engineer	$68,093	$79,813	$86,782	→ Stable	$114,400	↑ Moderate increase
Software Engineer	$78,584	$102,714	$127,494	↓ Significant decline	$153,652	→ Stable
Help Desk/IT Support Specialist	$40,220	$49,116	$57,971	↓ Significant decline	$53,644	→ Stable
Cybersecurity Analyst	$83,188	$83,194	$83,195	↓ Moderate decline	$106,790	↑ Moderate increase
IT Project Manager	$76,736	$78,110	$96,705	↓ Significant decline	$117,530	↑ Moderate increase

Looking Ahead · Next 30–60 Days

Worth watching

TikTok's Oct. 5 Nashville office closure affects 250 workers and is unlikely to directly reach Chattanooga, but it signals continued tech-sector contraction risk statewide. Watch whether displaced tech workers migrate toward Chattanooga's lower cost-of-living market and begin pressuring advertised pay further downward.

Emerging pressure point

Metro advertised pay declines across five of seven IT roles, against national increases in the same roles, create a widening local-national gap that remote work arrangements can fully exploit. Monitor whether attrition data over the next two cycles shows local talent accepting remote roles with out-of-market employers.

Expected

UTC's Center for Regional Economic Research projects most of the metro's 3,200 forecast 2026 jobs to land in the second half of the year, with healthcare and education likely leading. Expect any IT hiring tied to that broader growth to concentrate in healthcare-adjacent systems and support roles rather than standalone tech employers.

Potential inflection point

Tennessee's statewide IT skills gap, with 57% of executives reporting difficulty finding qualified candidates, has not yet translated into metro-level pay increases for Chattanooga's cybersecurity or software engineering roles. Watch for whether Q4 postings show employers beginning to close that gap, particularly if national wage pressure in AI and security roles continues accelerating.

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