{"schema_version": 1, "id": "elizabethtown-ky-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 198, "label": "Elizabethtown, KY MSA", "slug": "elizabethtown-ky-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:08:12.341571+00:00", "headline": "Hardin County jobs tighten while IT pay gaps with the nation widen.", "headline_summary": "Hardin County unemployment fell to 4.7% in August from 5.8% in July even as metro Systems Administrator pay ($80,428) trails the national median ($102,503) by over $22,000.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Hardin County unemployment", "value": "4.7%", "context": "Down from 5.8% in July 2026"}, {"label": "Systems Administrator pay gap", "value": "$22,075", "context": "Metro $80,428 vs national $102,503"}, {"label": "Cybersecurity Analyst pay", "value": "$104,820", "context": "Up locally, tracking national +moderate trend"}, {"label": "Kentucky WARN notices, 2026", "value": "2,654 workers", "context": "Down 60% from 2025 affected-worker count"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Cybersecurity pay is pulling away from infrastructure support roles.", "body": "Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay rose to $104,820 locally while Systems Administrator pay sits at $80,428 and trending down \u2014 a gap that mirrors the national pattern of employers paying premiums for specialized risk and compliance skills. Compensation structures that treat these roles as adjacent may need to separate further to retain analysts."}, {"headline": "Local system administrator pay is falling further behind the national market.", "body": "Metro Systems Administrator median ($80,428) trails the national figure ($102,503) by over $22,000, and the local trend direction is down while the national trend is up. That widening gap raises retention risk for any admin with remote-work options or regional mobility."}, {"headline": "Manufacturing-driven labor tightening could pull from the same support-staff pool IT depends on.", "body": "Hardin County's unemployment drop from 5.8% to 4.7% in a single month reflects broader county-level tightening, and it points to general labor-market conditions rather than tech-specific demand, reducing the pool of administrative and entry-level talent IT support functions often draw from. Support and help desk hiring plans should account for competition from non-tech employers absorbing the same labor pool."}, {"headline": "Entry-level pipeline risk is building ahead of any local hiring surge.", "body": "Kentucky's 8% unemployment rate for workers age 20-24 versus 3% for prime-age workers, combined with students shifting away from computer science nationally, points to a thinner junior talent pipeline for support and infrastructure roles. Build-vs-buy decisions for entry-level functions may need revisiting before the next hiring cycle begins."}], "local_conditions": "Hardin County's unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in August from 5.8% in July, tracking a statewide decline to 4.3%, even as Kentucky's broader labor market shows no net job growth and wages trailing inflation. Elizabethtown's manufacturing-heavy occupational base \u2014 production roles alone account for 11.8% of area employment \u2014 leaves local IT demand tethered to plant-level automation and systems investment, reflecting its ties to manufacturing more than a standalone tech sector.", "implications": "Metro advertised pay for Systems Administrator ($80,428) and Help Desk/IT Support ($51,091) sits well below national medians, while Cybersecurity Analyst pay is rising both locally and nationally \u2014 a split that signals employers are willing to pay up for risk-mitigation skills while treating infrastructure support as a cost center. National data center postings growth (20% in three months) and Kentucky's regional data center buildout suggest infrastructure headcount could tighten quickly if a project lands near the MSA, even though local wages haven't yet moved. Organizations should evaluate whether current Systems Administrator and Help Desk pay levels can hold against a sudden regional demand shock and act proactively, before local postings data confirm it.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Kentucky data center job postings have surged to an index of 247 against a mid-2024 baseline of 100. A project landing near the Elizabethtown MSA could shift local Systems Administrator and Network Engineer demand quickly, well ahead of any visible change in advertised pay."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Cybersecurity Analyst pay is already moving up both locally and nationally. Expect further separation from infrastructure and support pay bands over the next two quarters as compliance and risk functions continue absorbing specialized budget."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Kentucky WARN filings dropped 60% year over year, suggesting limited displaced-worker inflow to the local candidate pool. Absent a surprise plant-level layoff, infrastructure and support hiring will likely continue competing for a shrinking entry-level base."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National information-sector hire rates fell to 1.6% of employment by August, reinforcing a retention-over-recruiting posture. Watch whether Elizabethtown employers extend that caution to IT headcount requests or treat local market tightening as justification for new openings."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 107252.0, "metro_p50": 140490.8, "metro_p75": 162742.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 74142.0, "metro_p50": 80428.0, "metro_p75": 85799.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 86875.0, "metro_p50": 101450.0, "metro_p75": 124625.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 117185.75, "metro_p50": 153047.0, "metro_p75": 168101.5, "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": 48762.0, "metro_p50": 51091.0, "metro_p75": 51247.5, "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": 83898.5, "metro_p50": 104820.0, "metro_p75": 121341.0, "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": 85840.0, "metro_p50": 110225.2, "metro_p75": 123500.0, "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": "Kentucky Center for Statistics / WQXE News", "source_url": null, "statement": "Hardin County unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in August 2026"}, {"source_name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Production occupations account for 11.8% of Elizabethtown MSA employment"}, {"source_name": "Indeed Hiring Lab / Kentucky labor market research", "source_url": null, "statement": "Kentucky data center job postings index reached 247 against mid-2024 baseline"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Gen Z unemployment at 8% for ages 20-24 vs 3% for prime-age workers"}, {"source_name": "Kentucky WARN Act filings tracker", "source_url": null, "statement": "Kentucky WARN notices down 60% in affected workers year over year"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "National information-sector hire rate fell to 1.6% of employment by August 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": "elizabethtown-ky-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "elizabethtown-ky-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:21:25.713778+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/elizabethtown-ky-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/elizabethtown-ky-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}