{"schema_version": 1, "id": "decatur-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 166, "label": "Decatur, IL MSA", "slug": "decatur-il-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:04:09.966727+00:00", "headline": "Decatur payrolls shrink while network talent pay surges 53% above national rate.", "headline_summary": "Decatur MSA nonfarm payrolls fell 400 jobs over the year even as Network Engineer pay hit a $176,800 median \u2014 well above the $115,757 national figure \u2014 underscoring a widening gap between overall labor demand and specialized infrastructure talent scarcity.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Decatur nonfarm payrolls", "value": "47,700", "context": "Down 400 jobs vs. August 2025"}, {"label": "Decatur unemployment rate", "value": "5.1%", "context": "Down from 6.1% a year earlier"}, {"label": "Network Engineer advertised pay, metro", "value": "$176,800", "context": "vs. $115,757 national median"}, {"label": "Illinois job opportunity ranking", "value": "47th nationally", "context": "Despite 4.6% statewide unemployment rate"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Network Engineer pay in Decatur has outpaced national rates by over 50%.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay of $176,800 against a $115,757 national figure suggests a narrow local candidate pool is driving the gap, separate from any broad market repricing. Organizations competing for this talent locally may want to weigh remote or regional sourcing against the cost of matching above-market local rates."}, {"headline": "Support-role compensation is softening while infrastructure pay climbs.", "body": "Help Desk/IT Support median pay fell to $45,790 locally, a moderate decline, even as Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay rose significantly. This divergence is consistent with national trends favoring infrastructure and AI-adjacent skills over general support capacity, and may justify shifting routine support headcount toward shared-service or outsourced models."}, {"headline": "Metro job losses reflect a local skills shortage.", "body": "Decatur shed 400 nonfarm jobs over the year even as its unemployment rate improved \u2014 a pattern consistent with labor force exit alongside steady demand. IT leaders should read metro job losses as a sign of a tight labor pool rather than easing competition for technical talent; advertised pay movements suggest the opposite for infrastructure-adjacent roles."}, {"headline": "Statewide tightness compounds Decatur's local hiring friction.", "body": "Illinois ranks 47th nationally in job opportunities per capita, a paradox state officials attribute to skill mismatches. For a smaller metro like Decatur, this statewide tightness likely narrows the pipeline further for security and infrastructure roles, reinforcing the case for regional or remote sourcing strategies."}], "local_conditions": "Decatur MSA nonfarm payrolls fell to 47,700 in August 2026, down 400 jobs year-over-year, even as the unemployment rate improved to 5.1% from 6.1% a year earlier \u2014 a combination consistent with workers exiting the labor force amid soft hiring. Against this contraction, local Network Engineer pay rose to a $176,800 median, far above the $115,757 national figure, signaling employers are paying a steep premium to secure infrastructure talent in a metro with a shrinking overall employment base.", "implications": "Decatur's shrinking payroll base alongside rising infrastructure pay points to a thin local bench for network and systems talent, even as Help Desk/IT Support pay fell 45,790 locally \u2014 a sign that entry-level support roles face little wage pressure while specialized infrastructure skills remain scarce. This bifurcation supports a tiered workforce strategy: absorb routine support functions through lower-cost or centralized models while reserving premium compensation for infrastructure and security roles that are hard to backfill locally. Consider reviewing whether Network Engineer and Systems Administrator compensation \u2014 both up significantly in Decatur \u2014 reflects a sustainable local labor shortage or a temporary bidding war that outsourcing or remote hiring could relieve.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Decatur lost 200 jobs in September following the August decline \u2014 a second consecutive month of contraction. Watch whether this trend extends into IT-adjacent sectors like finance and healthcare administration, which could either tighten or loosen local technical talent supply."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Illinois WARN filings rose 24% in affected workers year-over-year, concentrated in manufacturing and distribution roles. Monitor whether any Decatur-area manufacturing cuts release adjacent IT support or systems staff into the local candidate pool."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National data center job postings grew 20% in three months, measured by job ads, which track demand and often cover several openings each \u2014 a signal of sustained infrastructure investment that could extend into secondary markets like Decatur given lower operating costs. Evaluate whether this creates an opening to build local infrastructure headcount ahead of demand, reducing future competition for scarce talent."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers through October, surpassing all of 2025. If released talent includes infrastructure or security specialists willing to relocate or work remotely, Decatur employers may find rare relief from locally elevated Network Engineer and Systems Administrator pay."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 112735.0, "metro_p50": 140071.0, "metro_p75": 160363.25, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 75725.5, "metro_p50": 83200.0, "metro_p75": 84240.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 100610.0, "metro_p50": 176800.0, "metro_p75": 176800.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 94749.0, "metro_p50": 94750.0, "metro_p75": 116084.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 154403.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 38157.0, "metro_p50": 45790.0, "metro_p75": 47840.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 53129.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 87544.0, "metro_p50": 102380.0, "metro_p75": 117382.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 107327.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 86552.25, "metro_p50": 120339.0, "metro_p75": 130019.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Illinois Department of Employment Security", "source_url": null, "statement": "Decatur MSA payrolls fell to 47,700, down 400 jobs year-over-year"}, {"source_name": "Illinois Department of Employment Security", "source_url": null, "statement": "Decatur unemployment rate improved to 5.1% from 6.1% year-over-year"}, {"source_name": "USA Facts", "source_url": null, "statement": "Decatur lost 200 jobs in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Illinois labor market research notes", "source_url": null, "statement": "Illinois ranks 47th nationally in job opportunities per capita"}, {"source_name": "Indeed Hiring Lab", "source_url": null, "statement": "Data center job postings grew 20% in three months nationally"}, {"source_name": "Tech layoff tracking (industry aggregator)", "source_url": null, "statement": "133,417 tech employees laid off at 325 companies through October 21, 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.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "decatur-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "decatur-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:20:56.314810+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/decatur-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/decatur-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}