{"schema_version": 1, "id": "lawton-ok-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 302, "label": "Lawton, OK MSA", "slug": "lawton-ok-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:19:22.727028+00:00", "headline": "Lawton IT pay splits: security surges, networking slides.", "headline_summary": "Cybersecurity Analyst pay in Lawton hit $126,017 \u2014 above the $107,327 national figure \u2014 while Network Engineer pay fell significantly to $86,937 against a rising $115,757 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Lawton MSA unemployment", "value": "4.60%", "context": "July 2026, up from ~4.0% a year earlier"}, {"label": "Cybersecurity Analyst pay, metro vs national", "value": "$126,017 vs $107,327", "context": "Local premium despite shallow talent pool"}, {"label": "Network Engineer pay, metro vs national", "value": "$86,937 vs $115,757", "context": "Metro falling significantly, national rising moderately"}, {"label": "Oklahoma tech employment growth, 2020-2025", "value": "2.3%", "context": "vs 10.1% nationally; ranks 47th"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Network Engineer pay is falling while security and dev pay climb.", "body": "Metro Network Engineer advertised pay dropped significantly to $86,937 even as national pay for the role rose moderately to $115,757, a reversal that may signal local employers deprioritizing in-house network builds in favor of outsourced or cloud-managed infrastructure."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay in Lawton now outpaces the national figure.", "body": "Metro Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay reached $126,017 against a national median of $107,327, an unusual local premium that likely reflects a thin regional candidate pool and the state's broader data showing 1,560 employers competing for AI- and security-skilled workers."}, {"headline": "Help Desk pay gains locally while national rates soften.", "body": "Metro Help Desk/IT Support pay rose moderately to $56,175 even as the national median slipped, consistent with Oklahoma's reported wage pressure across support functions \u2014 a signal that frontline IT support costs are rising locally even where comparable roles elsewhere are cooling."}, {"headline": "Statewide brain drain is a structural retention risk.", "body": "Only 47.2% of Oklahoma STEM graduates stay in-state, with 17% moving to Texas, while Lawton's tech employment growth badly trails the national pace \u2014 current conditions suggest retention strategy deserves renewed budget priority alongside recruiting spend."}], "local_conditions": "Lawton MSA unemployment has drifted to 4.60% in July 2026, up from roughly 4.0% a year earlier, as government payrolls and a shallow private tech base limit absorption of displaced workers amid Oklahoma's statewide jobless rise to 4.2%. Comanche County's average weekly wage of $1,014 trails state and national benchmarks, and with Oklahoma tech employment growing just 2.3% since 2020 against 10.1% nationally, the metro continues to export technical talent.", "implications": "Metro pay movements this month diverge sharply by function \u2014 Cybersecurity Analyst and Software Engineer advertised pay are both up significantly while Network Engineer pay has fallen significantly, suggesting local employers are concentrating scarce compensation dollars on security and development roles and deprioritizing traditional network infrastructure hiring. That bifurcation, combined with statewide data showing 47.2% STEM graduate retention and heavy outmigration to Texas, points toward build-vs-buy decisions tilting toward managed services or remote/offshore coverage for infrastructure and network functions while reserving direct hires for roles tied to security and application development. Consider reviewing whether network engineering coverage can shift toward managed service providers or regional remote talent, since competing for a shrinking local pool at falling advertised rates carries its own cost.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Lawton unemployment has been volatile, swinging from 4.40% in April to 5.20% in May before settling near 4.60% in July. A continued climb toward the state's 4.2% figure would further tighten an already shallow local technical talent pool."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Falling Network Engineer pay against rising national rates may widen the gap between what local employers offer and what remote-eligible candidates can command elsewhere, accelerating attrition risk for infrastructure teams."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National tech layoffs have topped 133,000 through October, already exceeding all of 2025. Watch whether any of that displaced talent, particularly in security or cloud roles, surfaces in the Lawton candidate pool via relocation or remote applications."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "BLS releases Oklahoma's November unemployment figures in late November; a confirmed rise above July's 4.60% metro reading would strengthen the case for shifting infrastructure hiring toward managed services ahead of direct local recruitment."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 99260.0, "metro_p50": 99260.0, "metro_p75": 99261.0, "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": 65882.0, "metro_p50": 79999.2, "metro_p75": 85125.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 72752.75, "metro_p50": 86937.0, "metro_p75": 91645.5, "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": 94704.25, "metro_p50": 124619.0, "metro_p75": 130535.0, "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": 43779.0, "metro_p50": 56175.0, "metro_p75": 56899.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 53129.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 80903.0, "metro_p50": 126017.0, "metro_p75": 128500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 107327.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 85654.0, "metro_p50": 111143.4, "metro_p75": 123389.0, "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": "Trading Economics (Federal Reserve data)", "source_url": null, "statement": "Lawton MSA unemployment rate 4.60% in July 2026"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW", "source_url": null, "statement": "Comanche County average weekly wage $1,014"}, {"source_name": "Oklahoma IT labor market research", "source_url": null, "statement": "Oklahoma STEM graduate retention rate 47.2%, 17% move to Texas"}, {"source_name": "State labor market analysis", "source_url": null, "statement": "Oklahoma tech employment grew 2.3% 2020-2025 vs 10.1% nationally"}, {"source_name": "Tech layoff tracking data", "source_url": null, "statement": "133,417 tech employees laid off at 325 companies through Oct 21, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Oklahoma statewide unemployment rate 4.2% in September 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": "lawton-ok-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "lawton-ok-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:24:56.645054+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lawton-ok-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/lawton-ok-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}