{"schema_version": 1, "id": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 415, "label": "Port St. Lucie, FL MSA", "slug": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:31:01.168528+00:00", "headline": "Infrastructure pay climbs in Stuart as support-role pay falls.", "headline_summary": "Network Engineer advertised pay rose to $100,770 and Systems Administrator pay to $81,729, even as Help Desk pay fell to $41,597 and metro unemployment held at 5.2%, well above the national 4.1%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "5.2%", "context": "vs. 4.1% national rate, September 2026"}, {"label": "Network Engineer advertised pay", "value": "$100,770", "context": "Up significantly, metro vs. $115,757 national"}, {"label": "Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay", "value": "$41,597", "context": "Down significantly, trails $53,129 national"}, {"label": "Florida information-sector job losses", "value": "-3,600 jobs", "context": "Year-over-year, statewide"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Help desk pay is falling fast while infrastructure pay climbs.", "body": "Metro Help Desk/IT Support advertised pay dropped significantly to $41,597, trailing the national median by over $11,000, even as Systems Administrator pay rose significantly to $81,729. Demand is consolidating around infrastructure reliability roles, with entry-level support capacity shrinking."}, {"headline": "Network Engineer pay gains outpace the metro's broader wage trend.", "body": "Advertised pay for Network Engineers climbed to $100,770, a significant local increase against a backdrop of 5.2% metro unemployment. Rising pay despite labor slack suggests this skill set is scarce locally regardless of overall market softness."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity premiums point to a talent-transfer problem.", "body": "Florida's 13,770 information security analyst positions rank fourth nationally, yet ReliaQuest's Tampa CEO frames the gap as a training pipeline failure. Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose moderately to $101,485, still below the $107,327 national figure \u2014 a gap that may narrow as competition for trained talent intensifies."}, {"headline": "Metro unemployment above the national rate is not translating into IT hiring leverage.", "body": "St. Lucie County's 5.3% unemployment and 5.2% metro rate sit well above the 4.1% national figure, yet Software Engineer and Data Scientist pay remain stable. Technical talent appears insulated from the metro's broader labor slack."}], "local_conditions": "Port St. Lucie MSA unemployment held at 5.2% in September, well above the national 4.1%, even as construction and healthcare continue to absorb labor amid the metro's development boom and aging-population demand. Statewide, information-sector employment lost 3,600 jobs over the year and Florida's AI readiness ranks 35th nationally, signaling a metro where IT labor supply is loosening in support functions while specialized technical skill remains scarce.", "implications": "Soft local unemployment combined with a national AI talent premium means IT leaders here face a split market: commodity support and administrative roles are easier and cheaper to fill, while cybersecurity and cloud-native engineering talent command national-level premiums employers must match or outsource around. Falling Help Desk advertised pay (down significantly locally) alongside rising Systems Administrator and Network Engineer pay (both up significantly) suggests budget is shifting toward infrastructure roles that keep systems running without added headcount, away from entry-level support. Consider reviewing whether support-tier roles can be right-sized or restructured toward managed services while infrastructure and network compensation is benchmarked against national data.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Systems Administrator and Network Engineer advertised pay continues climbing through year-end; sustained significant gains may signal employers are bidding up infrastructure roles to offset thin local supply."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National tech layoffs already exceed 133,000 for 2026, concentrated in tech hubs. Monitor whether displaced talent begins surfacing in South Florida applicant pools, which could ease pressure on cybersecurity and infrastructure hiring."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Florida's information sector lost 3,600 jobs statewide over the year while construction and healthcare expand locally. Track whether this reallocation pulls IT support talent out of traditional corporate roles and into facilities, healthcare systems, or construction-tech functions."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "AI-related job postings, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), have grown 266% across South Florida since January 2024. Consider whether current infrastructure budgets anticipate the training or outsourcing costs required to support AI tooling adoption over the next two quarters."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 109224.25, "metro_p50": 135877.0, "metro_p75": 152227.5, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 61933.0, "metro_p50": 81729.0, "metro_p75": 91777.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 68825.0, "metro_p50": 100770.0, "metro_p75": 100770.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 156592.0, "metro_p50": 161616.0, "metro_p75": 168805.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 154403.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 41596.0, "metro_p50": 41597.0, "metro_p75": 41838.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 53129.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 83578.0, "metro_p50": 101485.0, "metro_p75": 115000.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 90470.5, "metro_p50": 118454.0, "metro_p75": 130000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "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": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "port-st-lucie-fl-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:28:25.925002+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/port-st-lucie-fl-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/port-st-lucie-fl-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}