{"schema_version": 1, "id": "sheboygan-wi-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 488, "label": "Sheboygan, WI MSA", "slug": "sheboygan-wi-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:33:27.383782+00:00", "headline": "Sheboygan IT pay splits: security surges, infrastructure roles retreat.", "headline_summary": "Sheboygan's unemployment rate dropped to 2.6% even as Systems Administrator advertised pay fell to $70,000 and Cybersecurity Analyst pay jumped to $98,772, signaling a sharp reallocation of IT compensation priorities.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Sheboygan metro unemployment", "value": "2.6%", "context": "Only WI city with YoY decline; vs 4.2% nationally"}, {"label": "Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay", "value": "$98,772", "context": "Up significantly; nearing $107,327 national median"}, {"label": "Systems Administrator advertised pay", "value": "$70,000", "context": "Down significantly vs $102,503 national median"}, {"label": "Metro workforce growth, YoY", "value": "+300 workers", "context": "To 63,500 total employed, Sept. 2026"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Sheboygan's tight labor market is not translating into broad wage gains.", "body": "Unemployment at 2.6% \u2014 the lowest trajectory in the state \u2014 would typically signal upward pay pressure, yet Systems Administrator and IT Project Manager advertised pay both dropped significantly this month. This pattern may suggest employers are substituting scope, automation, or outsourced vendors for headcount in these roles, holding pay flat or lower to fill them."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity is pulling away from the rest of the IT pay stack locally.", "body": "Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay rose significantly to $98,772, now tracking within 8% of the national median, while Systems Administrator and Help Desk pay both fell. Budget allocation appears to be consolidating around security risk over general infrastructure support."}, {"headline": "Manufacturing's labor appetite is quietly competing for IT talent.", "body": "Production jobs account for 21.4% of local employment versus 5.5% nationally, and over half of county employers plan to expand in 2026 despite acknowledged recruiting difficulty. IT leaders hiring for infrastructure or support roles are drawing from the same shallow labor pool as manufacturing floor and operations technology positions."}, {"headline": "Local Software Engineer pay is rising against a flat national trend.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay for Software Engineer climbed to $112,250 (up, moderate) while the national figure held stable at $154,403 \u2014 narrowing, though not closing, a persistent gap. Convergence at the margin may reflect scarcity of build-capable talent locally, independent of any shift in regional competitiveness."}], "local_conditions": "Sheboygan metro unemployment fell to 2.6% in September, the only Wisconsin city posting a year-over-year decline, while the workforce grew by just 300 workers to 63,500 \u2014 evidence of a labor pool with almost no slack left to absorb new demand. Manufacturing's outsized share of local employment (21.4% versus 5.5% nationally) continues to compete directly with IT functions for the same limited technical labor supply, even as over half of county employers report active expansion plans they cannot fully staff.", "implications": "Advertised pay for Systems Administrator ($70,000, down significantly) and IT Project Manager ($98,728, down significantly) locally is falling even as national rates rise or hold \u2014 a divergence consistent with employers softening demand for generalist infrastructure and PM roles while a 2.6% unemployment floor keeps specialized talent scarce and expensive. Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay rose significantly to $98,772, nearly closing the gap with the $107,327 national figure, suggesting security has become the one function local employers cannot afford to understaff or outsource casually. Organizations should evaluate whether declining local pay for admin and PM roles reflects a real supply improvement or simply reduced posting urgency, before assuming those functions can be backfilled at lower cost.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Watch whether Systems Administrator and IT Project Manager advertised pay continues falling over the next two postings cycles. A sustained decline would support a build-vs-buy case for shifting routine infrastructure and PM work to managed services over in-house headcount."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "National tech layoffs have already topped 133,000 for the year, with Wisconsin's own information sector hire rate falling to 1.6%. Monitor whether released talent from national layoffs begins appearing in the Sheboygan candidate pool, which could temporarily ease pressure on specialized roles."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Cybersecurity Analyst pay gains have been significant for two consecutive readings. If that trajectory continues, security headcount budgets may need rebasing ahead of the next annual planning cycle as a standing priority, not a mid-year adjustment."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "State manufacturing employment is forecast roughly 1.3% below year-ago levels with payroll growth dipping further. A continued pullback could loosen the broader technical labor pool that IT competes against, easing sourcing for infrastructure and support roles even as specialized IT skills stay tight."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 92149.0, "metro_p50": 124857.0, "metro_p75": 142413.25, "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": 68493.0, "metro_p50": 70000.0, "metro_p75": 70000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 102503.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 73857.25, "metro_p50": 74497.0, "metro_p75": 82249.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 100116.0, "metro_p50": 112250.0, "metro_p75": 141126.0, "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": 41539.25, "metro_p50": 51180.4, "metro_p75": 52981.5, "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": 76826.0, "metro_p50": 98772.4, "metro_p75": 110363.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 76939.0, "metro_p50": 98728.0, "metro_p75": 112585.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development / WHBL", "source_url": null, "statement": "Sheboygan unemployment fell to 2.6%, only WI city with YoY decline"}, {"source_name": "Sheboygan County Economic Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Sheboygan production jobs are 21.4% of employment vs 5.5% nationally"}, {"source_name": "Layoffs.fyi / industry tracking", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tech layoffs exceeded 133,000 employees in 2026 through October"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "US information-sector hire rate fell to 1.6% of employment by August 2026"}, {"source_name": "WHBL / Wisconsin DWD", "source_url": null, "statement": "Sheboygan metro workforce grew by 300 to 63,500 employed, Sept 2026"}, {"source_name": "Sheboygan County Economic Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Over 50% of Sheboygan County employers plan workforce expansion in 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": "sheboygan-wi-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "sheboygan-wi-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:30:29.448300+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/sheboygan-wi-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/sheboygan-wi-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}