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Labor Market Pulse
HI NONMETROPOLITAN AREA Edition
Focus: IT
Nonmetro Hawaii's wage floor is closing in on IT support pay.
2.5%
Hawaii statewide unemployment
Down from 2.7% in August 2026
$16.00/hr
State minimum wage
Rising to $18.00/hr in January 2028
$1,190
Hawaii County avg weekly wage
Lowest among HI counties vs $1,250 Maui
$122,900
Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay
Up significantly, vs $106,790 national median
This Month's Takeaways
Minimum wage ramp is quietly eating support-tier differentials.
Help Desk advertised pay sits at $71,015 locally, well above the $16/hour floor, but each step toward $18/hour in 2028 narrows the gap to Systems Administrator pay ($97,519, up moderately). Leaders planning multi-year support budgets should model compression now rather than reacting at each wage step.
Cybersecurity is the one role pulling away from the pack.
Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose significantly to $122,900, outpacing the national median of $106,790 — unusual for a nonmetro market that typically trails mainland rates. That reversal is consistent with scarcity-driven bidding for scarce security talent rather than a broad-based nonmetro pay rally.
Software Engineer and Project Manager pay are both pulling back sharply.
Software Engineer advertised pay fell significantly to $121,489 against a stable national median of $153,652, and IT Project Manager pay dropped significantly to $78,687 while the national figure rose. Divergence this wide may suggest local demand for these roles is softening or shifting toward contract/remote arrangements rather than direct local hire.
Hawaii County's job base looks flat to shrinking, not just slow.
County forecasts point to a net 2026 job decline driven by tourism-linked softness, even as statewide unemployment stays near historic lows. Tight labor supply alongside falling job counts is a replacement-market signature — automation and cloud-first strategies may do more to close gaps than new local headcount.
Local Labor Conditions
Hawaii's nonmetro labor market remains defined by scarcity rather than slack: the statewide rate eased to 2.5% in September from 2.7% in August, yet Hawaii County continues to post the lowest average weekly wage in the state at $1,190 and is tracking toward a net job decline for 2026 as tourism-linked softness persists. The state's steepest-in-the-nation minimum wage ramp, now $16/hour and set for $18 in 2028, is compressing entry-tier wage bands even as overall job counts stay stuck near 2016 levels amid chronic worker scarcity.
Leadership & Talent Implications
Compression at the wage floor is squeezing differentials between help desk, support, and administrator tiers, making it harder to justify traditional step pay structures without retuning the full ladder. Structural labor scarcity, combined with large on-island/remote pay gaps — Hawaiian Electric's $111K–$157K local tech bands versus $400K+ mainland remote packages — pushes build-vs-buy decisions toward distributed hiring and outsourced commodity support rather than local headcount expansion. Consider reviewing whether support and administrator pay bands still preserve meaningful separation from the $16 floor, and whether hybrid/remote sourcing could relieve pressure on roles facing the deepest local scarcity.
