{"schema_version": 1, "id": "rome-ga-msa/information-technology/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 439, "label": "Rome, GA MSA", "slug": "rome-ga-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:17:42.285054+00:00", "headline": "Rome IT pay splits: support wages climb, engineering pay retreats.", "headline_summary": "Rome MSA Help Desk pay rose significantly to $56,257 even as Software Engineer pay fell significantly to $129,500, against a statewide IT posting decline of 28.1% year-over-year.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Rome MSA unemployment rate", "value": "3.3%", "context": "Down from 3.9% a year ago"}, {"label": "Georgia IT job postings", "value": "-28.1% YoY", "context": "Through July 2026, statewide"}, {"label": "Georgia unemployment rate", "value": "3.2%", "context": "Lowest since February 2024"}, {"label": "Georgia information sector jobs", "value": "-1,000", "context": "August 2026, statewide monthly loss"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Software engineering pay is falling locally while national rates hold firm.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Software Engineer dropped significantly to $129,500 against a stable national median of $153,652. Widening gap may signal Rome employers are capturing softer statewide IT demand to reset compensation expectations rather than compete nationally."}, {"headline": "Help desk pay is rising fast, inverting the usual hierarchy.", "body": "Metro Help Desk/IT Support median climbed significantly to $56,257, outpacing the stable national figure of $53,644. Current conditions suggest entry-level support roles are becoming harder to backfill locally even as higher-tier technical hiring cools \u2014 a signal worth weighing against automation or outsourcing of commodity support functions."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay is softening even as the skill stays scarce nationally.", "body": "Metro Cybersecurity Analyst median fell moderately to $91,650 while the national figure rose to $106,790, a gap of roughly $15,000. Disconnect may reflect Rome's smaller employer base lacking the budget to compete with Atlanta-area data center expansion drawing senior security talent regionally."}, {"headline": "Statewide vacancy pullback does not equal retention safety.", "body": "Georgia IT postings down 28.1% year-over-year alongside a 3.2% statewide unemployment rate creates a paradox: fewer open roles, but little slack in available talent. Organizations should evaluate whether reduced hiring urgency is masking a quieter flight risk among incumbent staff eyeing Atlanta's infrastructure and security buildout."}], "local_conditions": "Rome MSA unemployment ticked up to 3.3% in August, still a full point below last year's 3.9%, pointing to a metro labor market that remains structurally tight even as monthly volatility appears. Statewide, IT and programming job postings fell 28.1% year-over-year through July, suggesting Rome-area employers are pulling back on new technology hiring at the same time local talent supply stays constrained.", "implications": "Falling IT vacancy activity alongside persistently low unemployment signals a market where Rome-based organizations face less competition for new hires but greater difficulty replacing or retaining staff already on payroll. Georgia's information sector lost 1,000 jobs in August, consistent with statewide hiring caution, yet local software engineering pay dropped significantly while help desk pay climbed sharply \u2014 a divergence that suggests budget discipline at senior technical tiers alongside rising cost pressure for entry-level support talent. Consider reviewing retention budgets for cybersecurity and infrastructure staff now, while treating new software engineering requisitions as a buyer's market for compensation.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Rome's unemployment rate has moved from 3.9% to 3.3% year-over-year with month-to-month volatility; a further uptick could ease hiring pressure on support and admin roles while leaving specialized technical talent scarce."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Atlanta's rise to the second-largest U.S. data center market is pulling senior cloud, security and networking talent regionally. Rome-based IT leaders may see accelerated attrition among mid-career infrastructure staff commuting distance to Atlanta-area opportunities."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Nearshore Latin American staffing is gaining traction nationally at 30-50% cost savings for senior engineering roles. Watch whether Rome-area employers facing local software engineering pay compression begin testing nearshore or contract models for build-vs-buy decisions."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Georgia's information sector lost 1,000 jobs in August against a backdrop of record statewide employment overall. A continued divergence between information-sector contraction and broader labor market strength would support treating local IT postings data as a leading signal, not noise."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 116032.0, "metro_p50": 143494.6, "metro_p75": 161800.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 76153.0, "metro_p50": 91356.8, "metro_p75": 101617.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 73090.0, "metro_p50": 112039.0, "metro_p75": 128419.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 114400.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 90250.0, "metro_p50": 129500.0, "metro_p75": 146800.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 153652.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43131.75, "metro_p50": 56257.2, "metro_p75": 76388.25, "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": 80450.0, "metro_p50": 91650.0, "metro_p75": 101450.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 106790.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 81309.0, "metro_p50": 114290.0, "metro_p75": 128461.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "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": "rome-ga-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "pdf": "rome-ga-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:35:37.052918+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/rome-ga-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/rome-ga-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}