{"schema_version": 1, "id": "montgomery-al-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 265, "label": "Montgomery, AL MSA", "slug": "montgomery-al-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:24:36.990972+00:00", "headline": "Montgomery's IT pay premium is quietly catching up to national rates.", "headline_summary": "Montgomery IT project manager pay now exceeds the national median ($124,576 vs. $118,150), even as cybersecurity analyst pay stays flat at $88,357 against a statewide shortage of over 11,000 job ads, a signal of hiring demand where one ad often covers several openings.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Alabama unemployment rate", "value": "3.5%", "context": "Up from 2.8% a year ago; highest since 2021"}, {"label": "Montgomery avg. hourly wage", "value": "$31.96", "context": "Up $1.80 year-over-year as of March 2026"}, {"label": "Alabama cybersecurity openings", "value": "11,000+", "context": "Statewide shortage vs. flat local advertised pay"}, {"label": "National tech layoffs, YTD", "value": "133,417", "context": "Across 325 companies, already exceeding full-year 2025"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Montgomery's cost advantage is narrowing for infrastructure roles.", "body": "Network engineer advertised pay rose to a $104,869 metro median, moving up faster than the stable-to-moderate national trend, while systems administrator pay held flat locally against moderate national growth. Secondary-market hiring strategies built on a wide cost gap may need recalibrating before the next budget cycle."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay looks stuck despite a documented statewide shortage.", "body": "Cybersecurity analyst advertised pay in Montgomery sits at $88,357, essentially flat, even as Alabama reports more than 11,000 cybersecurity job ads statewide, a signal of hiring demand where one ad often covers several openings. Flat local pay against a national median of $107,327 may signal employers are losing competitiveness for this talent as the shortage persists."}, {"headline": "IT project manager pay has pulled ahead of the national figure.", "body": "Montgomery's $124,576 metro median now exceeds the $118,150 national median, a reversal worth noting for a metro that typically prices below national benchmarks. This may reflect concentrated local demand tied to manufacturing and infrastructure project work, including Hyundai-adjacent capital investment."}, {"headline": "State-level unemployment uptick has not loosened the technical talent pool.", "body": "Alabama's unemployment rate climbing to 3.5% reflects labor force growth more than job loss, and the roles IT leaders compete for \u2014 network engineering, project management, data science \u2014 show continued upward advertised pay pressure. Softer headline unemployment numbers should not be read as easing competition for skilled technical hires."}], "local_conditions": "Montgomery metro unemployment edged up to 3.4% through midsummer 2026 before Alabama's statewide rate climbed to 3.5% in September \u2014 its highest reading in nearly a decade \u2014 as manufacturing anchors like Hyundai hold steady against a modest statewide softening in overall employment. Average hourly wages in the metro reached $31.96 in March 2026, up $1.80 year-over-year, suggesting local wage pressure persists even as labor supply loosens slightly at the margin.", "implications": "Rising statewide unemployment alongside continued local wage growth points to a market where talent remains hard to find despite softer headline numbers \u2014 Alabama's cybersecurity job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), exceed 11,000 postings statewide, and persistent data center wage pressure mean infrastructure and security headcount plans face real friction even as broader hiring cools. IT leaders balancing build-versus-buy decisions should weigh that Montgomery's advertised pay for network engineers and IT project managers is rising faster than several national benchmarks, narrowing the cost advantage that has historically favored secondary markets. Consider reviewing infrastructure and security compensation bands against current advertised rates before assuming Montgomery's lower-cost-market status still holds at the same discount it did a year ago.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Alabama's cybersecurity talent gap exceeds 11,000 job ads statewide, a signal of hiring demand where one ad often covers several openings, while Montgomery's advertised pay for the role stays flat \u2014 watch whether employers begin raising offers or lean further into outsourced security operations centers."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Data center workforce employment has reportedly doubled in secondary states like Alabama, and nearly half of firms doing data center work report wage pressure from competing for skilled workers. Montgomery's infrastructure hiring plans should account for this regional competition even without a local facility announcement yet."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Statewide WARN activity remains modest (Acme Brick's 53-worker filing was the most recent, non-IT), but national tech layoffs have already topped 133,000 for 2026. Watch whether any of that displaced talent, including remote-capable technologists, begins surfacing in the Montgomery candidate pool."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Montgomery's IT project manager pay now exceeds the national median, a reversal from typical secondary-market pricing. Track whether this holds through Q4 hiring cycles or reflects a temporary spike tied to specific capital projects."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 96903.0, "metro_p50": 132276.0, "metro_p75": 151816.0, "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": 77253.0, "metro_p50": 93266.0, "metro_p75": 98472.5, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 84596.5, "metro_p50": 104869.0, "metro_p75": 128893.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 104541.75, "metro_p50": 141238.8, "metro_p75": 156947.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 154403.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 39561.75, "metro_p50": 50620.0, "metro_p75": 60818.0, "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": 78254.0, "metro_p50": 88357.0, "metro_p75": 96963.5, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 107327.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 102264.75, "metro_p50": 124576.2, "metro_p75": 129677.75, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "BLS / Alabama Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Alabama unemployment rate reached 3.5% in September 2026, highest in nearly a decade"}, {"source_name": "Montgomery Up", "source_url": null, "statement": "Montgomery metro average hourly wage reached $31.96 in March 2026"}, {"source_name": "Alabama IT labor market research notes", "source_url": null, "statement": "Alabama has over 11,000 cybersecurity job openings statewide"}, {"source_name": "Layoffs tracking data", "source_url": null, "statement": "133,417 tech employees laid off across 325 companies through October 21, 2026"}, {"source_name": "Alabama IT labor market research notes", "source_url": null, "statement": "Data center workforce employment doubled in secondary states including Alabama"}], "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": "montgomery-al-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "montgomery-al-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:26:28.626261+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/montgomery-al-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/montgomery-al-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}