{"schema_version": 1, "id": "lafayette-la-msa/information-technology/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 234, "label": "Lafayette, LA MSA", "slug": "lafayette-la-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:16:08.775063+00:00", "headline": "Lafayette IT pay splits: infrastructure up, project management down.", "headline_summary": "Network Engineer advertised pay jumped to $102,765 and Help Desk pay to $52,713, even as IT Project Manager pay fell to $95,672 against a rising $117,530 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Lafayette metro unemployment", "value": "3.8%", "context": "July 2026, vs 4.2% Louisiana, 4.1% national"}, {"label": "Louisiana avg IT salary", "value": "$93,813", "context": "Ranks 50th nationally; national average exceeds $109K"}, {"label": "Lafayette Parish weekly wage growth", "value": "+2.0% YoY (Q1 2026)", "context": "Vs 4.0% statewide; metro wage at $1,160/week, national $1,654"}, {"label": "Louisiana initial UI claims", "value": "1,204 (week of Sept 19)", "context": "Down from 1,485 same week in 2025"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Network Engineer pay is outrunning the national trend.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Network Engineer climbed to $102,765, a significant increase versus a moderate national rise to $114,400 \u2014 narrowing the gap faster than typical for this metro. This is consistent with LNG and petrochemical build-outs pulling on the same infrastructure and controls talent pool IT departments depend on."}, {"headline": "IT Project Manager pay is sliding against a rising national tide.", "body": "Metro median fell significantly to $95,672 even as the national median rose to $117,530, widening the gap to roughly $22,000. Falling local demand for project-management overhead may reflect budget tightening or a shift toward leaner, contractor-based project delivery."}, {"headline": "Help Desk pay gains look structural, not seasonal.", "body": "Metro Help Desk/IT Support pay rose sharply to $52,713 while the national figure stayed flat at $53,644, closing most of the historical gap. Tight overall labor supply (3.8% metro unemployment) is pushing even entry-tier technical roles to compete with industrial and trades wages."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay is stagnating locally while national demand accelerates.", "body": "Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay held flat at $82,816, a wide $24,000 gap below the rising national median of $106,790. CompTIA data showing cybersecurity job postings growing 346% above the national average suggests Lafayette employers risk losing specialized talent to remote or out-of-state offers unless pay catches up."}], "local_conditions": "Lafayette's metro unemployment rate sat at 3.8% in July 2026, well below the state's 4.2% and national 4.1%, reflecting tight local labor supply even as statewide nonfarm payroll growth and energy-sector capital investment pull workers toward petrochemical and LNG construction trades. Service-providing employment contracted 1.7% in 2025 while goods-producing roles grew, a divergence that is pulling general IT administrative and support talent toward higher-paying industrial and skilled-trade opportunities rather than competing tech employers.", "implications": "Metro IT pay data shows a split market: Network Engineer and Help Desk advertised pay are rising sharply while Software Engineer and IT Project Manager pay are falling, suggesting employers are consolidating budget toward infrastructure-facing roles and away from project-management layers \u2014 a pattern consistent with tighter scrutiny on discretionary technology spend. With Louisiana ranking last nationally on average IT pay ($93,813 vs. $109K+ national) and entry-level IT averaging just $40,319, retention risk concentrates in junior and mid-career staff who can access remote roles priced to national or peer-metro markets. Consider reviewing whether Lafayette-based compensation for Network Engineer and Help Desk roles \u2014 currently tracking above or close to national medians \u2014 reflects genuine local scarcity versus a temporary correction that should inform near-term headcount and outsourcing decisions.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "September metro unemployment data is not yet released; watch for whether the 3.8% July rate holds or drifts toward the 4.2%+ state average as energy-sector hiring normalizes."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Falling IT Project Manager and Software Engineer pay locally, against rising national medians, may signal employers shifting project ownership to contractors or regional managed service providers rather than maintaining in-house management layers."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Integer Technologies' LSU-linked defense-tech expansion (23 jobs averaging $130K, 103% above parish average) is a small but telling signal that specialized technical roles can command sharp premiums when paired with federal or defense-adjacent funding \u2014 watch for similar announcements pulling senior engineers out of general IT departments."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Louisiana's weekly initial unemployment claims running roughly 20% below year-ago levels suggests continued labor-market tightness; combined with flat cybersecurity pay locally, this raises the probability of accelerated wage catch-up in the next one to two quarters."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 121026.0, "metro_p50": 153089.0, "metro_p75": 164385.0, "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": 72516.5, "metro_p50": 77503.0, "metro_p75": 94121.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 101168.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 74938.0, "metro_p50": 102765.0, "metro_p75": 108756.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 114400.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 90912.5, "metro_p50": 124059.0, "metro_p75": 145594.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 41600.0, "metro_p50": 52713.0, "metro_p75": 55592.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 53644.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 76933.0, "metro_p50": 82816.0, "metro_p75": 91816.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 106790.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 73422.0, "metro_p50": 95672.0, "metro_p75": 118105.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "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": "lafayette-la-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "pdf": "lafayette-la-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:52:23.873920+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lafayette-la-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lafayette-la-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}