{"schema_version": 1, "id": "killeen-temple-fort-hood-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 210, "label": "Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX MSA", "slug": "killeen-temple-fort-hood-tx-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:17:04.615842+00:00", "headline": "Killeen IT pay splits sharply between engineering gains and infrastructure cuts.", "headline_summary": "Software Engineer pay in Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood has climbed to $155,298, edging past the national median, while Systems Administrator pay fell significantly to $78,126 against a rising $102,503 national figure.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "5.4%", "context": "vs 4.4% Texas, 4.1% national (July 2026)"}, {"label": "Software Engineer advertised pay", "value": "$155,298", "context": "Exceeds $154,403 national median"}, {"label": "Systems Administrator advertised pay", "value": "$78,126", "context": "Down significantly vs rising $102,503 national"}, {"label": "Texas tech job demand gap", "value": "32,238", "context": "CompTIA-projected net new TX tech jobs vs flat supply"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Local infrastructure pay is falling while national rates climb.", "body": "Systems Administrator and Network Engineer advertised pay dropped significantly in the Killeen metro this month even as national medians rose moderately \u2014 a divergence that suggests local employers are either reducing scope for these roles or routing the work elsewhere. Benchmarking against national figures alone risks overpaying for roles the local market is actively repricing downward."}, {"headline": "Software Engineer pay now exceeds the national median locally.", "body": "Metro advertised pay for Software Engineer ($155,298) has edged past the national figure ($154,403), an unusual position for a secondary metro and consistent with Austin's semiconductor buildout pulling engineering talent and pay expectations into surrounding labor sheds. Expect continued upward pressure on engineering compensation as regional competition for scarce technical talent intensifies."}, {"headline": "IT Project Manager pay looks structurally soft.", "body": "A significant local decline against a stable national median points to employers de-emphasizing dedicated PM headcount, possibly consolidating coordination duties into engineering or product roles. Consider testing whether current PM job descriptions still match what the market is willing to pay before assuming attrition will self-correct."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay gains reflect compliance exposure and scarcity.", "body": "Moderate upward movement in both metro and national Cybersecurity Analyst pay tracks the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act's January effective date, which requires audits of any AI tool used in screening, ranking, or monitoring employees. Security hiring budgets may need to account for compliance-driven workload beyond traditional threat response."}], "local_conditions": "Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood's metro unemployment rate stood at 5.4% in July, the latest official reading, running well above the 4.1% national and 4.4% Texas rates and signaling a labor market with more slack than most Texas metros. That slack reflects the MSA's military-dependent economy around Fort Cavazos combined with the broader Texas pattern of flat 2025-2026 tech employment growth even as CompTIA projects over 32,000 net new tech jobs statewide this year, widening the gap between labor supply and demand for specialized IT skills.", "implications": "Metro-level slack in the overall labor market has not translated into looser conditions for IT talent \u2014 advertised pay for Software Engineer ($155,298) and Data Scientist ($117,718) roles is rising even as Systems Administrator, Network Engineer, and IT Project Manager pay have all fallen significantly locally, suggesting employers are concentrating budget on scarce technical and AI-adjacent skills while routine infrastructure and PM roles face downward pressure or substitution. This bifurcation supports a build-vs-buy recalibration: retain and pay up for engineering and data talent that differentiate competitive advantage, while shifting commodity systems administration, networking, and project coordination work toward managed services or outsourced arrangements. Consider reviewing whether current infrastructure and PM headcount reflects actual skill scarcity or legacy staffing patterns that no longer match local advertised pay signals.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "BLS is due to release the metro's August and September unemployment figures in the coming weeks, which should clarify whether the 5.4% July rate reflects a durable gap versus Texas and the nation or a temporary spike tied to military personnel cycles."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Austin's semiconductor expansion continues drawing infrastructure and operations talent out of enterprise IT roles across Central Texas; watch whether Killeen-area employers report longer time-to-fill for Network Engineer and Systems Administrator requisitions as a result."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Texas Enterprise Fund reforms lowering job-creation thresholds to 40 jobs or $5M payroll could make smaller Killeen-area tech and AI employers eligible for incentives tied to retaining existing infrastructure staff during digital transformation projects."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers year-to-date through late October; monitor whether displaced talent from larger Texas tech hubs begins appearing in the Killeen-Temple candidate pool, which could ease pressure on Software Engineer and Data Scientist compensation."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 99036.0, "metro_p50": 117718.4, "metro_p75": 127636.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 70284.0, "metro_p50": 78126.0, "metro_p75": 85233.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 61333.0, "metro_p50": 96426.0, "metro_p75": 103883.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 121920.75, "metro_p50": 155297.8, "metro_p75": 170300.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 154403.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 44272.0, "metro_p50": 49920.0, "metro_p75": 51706.5, "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": 85573.0, "metro_p50": 102924.0, "metro_p75": 118044.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 84586.0, "metro_p50": 91906.6, "metro_p75": 95490.75, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics / FRED", "source_url": "https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/KILL648UR", "statement": "Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood MSA unemployment rate was 5.4% in July 2026"}, {"source_name": "Texas Workforce Commission", "source_url": null, "statement": "Texas unemployment rate was 4.4% in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "CompTIA", "source_url": null, "statement": "CompTIA projects 32,238 net new tech jobs in Texas this year"}, {"source_name": "Texas Legislature", "source_url": null, "statement": "Texas Responsible AI Governance Act took effect January 1, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Layoffs.fyi", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tech layoffs exceeded 133,417 workers through October 21, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Dallas Federal Reserve", "source_url": null, "statement": "Austin semiconductor build-out drawing regional infrastructure talent"}], "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": "killeen-temple-fort-hood-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "killeen-temple-fort-hood-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:24:13.853429+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/killeen-temple-fort-hood-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/killeen-temple-fort-hood-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}