{"schema_version": 1, "id": "fl-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 173, "label": "FL NONMETROPOLITAN AREA", "slug": "fl-nonmetropolitan-area"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:14:55.854378+00:00", "headline": "Nonmetro Florida cybersecurity pay closes the gap with national rates.", "headline_summary": "Cybersecurity analyst advertised pay in nonmetro Florida ($107,355) is rising significantly and now nearly matches the national median ($106,790), even as systems administrator pay trails the national figure by over $6,500.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Cybersecurity analyst advertised pay", "value": "$107,355", "context": "vs national $106,790, rising significantly locally"}, {"label": "Systems administrator advertised pay", "value": "$94,684", "context": "vs national $101,168, a persistent gap"}, {"label": "Florida statewide unemployment", "value": "4.5%", "context": "Down from 4.6% in July; nonmetro areas run higher"}, {"label": "Florida information sector jobs", "value": "-3,900 YoY", "context": "Sector softness despite overall state job growth"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Cybersecurity pay in this metro is outrunning the national trend.", "body": "Advertised cybersecurity analyst pay rose significantly locally against moderate national growth, with the metro median ($107,355) now essentially matching the national figure ($106,790). A nonmetro area posting security compensation on par with national rates signals acute local scarcity, not a market catching up gradually."}, {"headline": "Systems administrator pay lags the national rate by a wide margin.", "body": "Local systems admin advertised pay sits roughly $6,500 below the national median, consistent with CompTIA data showing traditional infrastructure roles facing permanent demand compression. Organizations retaining on-prem admin headcount at legacy pay levels risk losing staff to cloud-adjacent roles paying at or above national rates."}, {"headline": "Statewide information-sector job losses mask local IT hiring resilience.", "body": "Florida's information sector shed 3,900 jobs year-over-year even as software engineer and data scientist advertised pay in this metro climbed moderately. Sector-level softness appears concentrated in traditional telecom/media IT rather than the cloud and security roles driving nonmetro demand."}, {"headline": "Hybrid flexibility is becoming a sourcing lever, not just a perk.", "body": "Florida employers insisting on fully on-site roles are reporting shrinking candidate pools, while hybrid postings draw stronger applicants statewide. Nonmetro IT leaders may find hybrid arrangements the most cost-effective way to access talent without matching Tampa or Miami pay scales outright."}], "local_conditions": "Nonmetro Florida labor supply remains tight by historical standards even as statewide unemployment eased to 4.5% in August, with nonmetro-adjacent counties running 0.8-1.2 points above the state rate and the information sector shedding 3,900 jobs year-over-year statewide. Rural and nonmetro IT hiring continues to draw from a thin local talent pool, pushing employers toward remote and hybrid sourcing strategies to fill specialized infrastructure, security, and cloud roles that local labor markets cannot support on their own.", "implications": "Thin nonmetro talent density means IT leaders competing for cybersecurity and cloud specialists locally are effectively competing against Tampa, Orlando, and remote-first national employers paying metro-tier rates. Build-vs-buy calculus shifts further toward outsourcing or managed services for commodity infrastructure and support functions, while permanent headcount gets reserved for roles where institutional knowledge and security clearance requirements make remote substitution impractical. Consider reviewing whether current nonmetro compensation structures reflect regional competition or national remote-labor competition, since advertised cybersecurity pay here is rising significantly faster than the national trend.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Florida's minimum wage rises to $15/hour on September 30, 2026, which could compress pay differentials for entry-level help desk and support roles already advertised near $54,000 locally. Watch whether support-tier compensation needs adjustment to maintain a meaningful gap above minimum wage."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "State economists project unemployment rising to 4.9% before falling to 4.7% in FY2027-28, suggesting nonmetro labor supply may loosen modestly over the next two quarters. A softening in competition for support and admin talent could ease some retention pressure in lower-tier IT roles."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National WARN activity shows continued cuts at Amazon, Meta, and Verizon, and Florida logged 84 WARN notices in 2026 affecting nearly 14,000 workers. Displaced tech talent from larger metros may begin surfacing in nonmetro remote-eligible candidate pools, a potential source of mid-level cloud and security hires."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Indeed's national Job Postings Index turned positive year-over-year for the first time in nearly four years, suggesting employer confidence is rebuilding nationally. If that confidence extends to nonmetro Florida employers, expect increased competition for the same thin pool of cybersecurity and cloud talent already in short supply."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 118593.0, "metro_p50": 149488.0, "metro_p75": 164187.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 148250.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 76891.0, "metro_p50": 94684.0, "metro_p75": 103500.0, "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": 76647.0, "metro_p50": 108023.8, "metro_p75": 122500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 114400.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 110600.0, "metro_p50": 152574.0, "metro_p75": 165630.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 153652.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 41438.0, "metro_p50": 54044.8, "metro_p75": 65606.0, "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": 87223.0, "metro_p50": 107355.0, "metro_p75": 122570.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 81791.5, "metro_p50": 114439.0, "metro_p75": 125508.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "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": "fl-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-09.html", "pdf": "fl-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:50:35.225889+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/fl-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/fl-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}