{"schema_version": 1, "id": "springfield-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 403, "label": "Springfield, IL MSA", "slug": "springfield-il-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:34:25.569131+00:00", "headline": "Springfield IT pay climbs as the labor pool shrinks", "headline_summary": "Network Engineer pay jumped to $136,067 locally \u2014 nearly $20,000 above the national median \u2014 even as Springfield MSA payrolls fell 1.6% over the year.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Springfield MSA payroll change", "value": "-1.6% YoY", "context": "-1,800 jobs through August 2026"}, {"label": "Sangamon County unemployment", "value": "3.8%", "context": "Down from 4.8% a year earlier"}, {"label": "Illinois job opportunity rank", "value": "47th nationally", "context": "Also 47th in unemployment rate"}, {"label": "Illinois WARN-affected workers", "value": "17,843 in 2026", "context": "Up 24% vs. 2025"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Network Engineer pay is pulling away from the national rate.", "body": "Metro median of $136,067 sits nearly $20,400 above the national figure of $115,757, with significant upward movement locally against only moderate national growth. Gap of this size, paired with a shrinking metro labor force, suggests Springfield employers are bidding up scarce local network talent as a local dynamic distinct from national trends."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity Analyst demand looks tighter here than nationally.", "body": "Local advertised pay rose significantly while the national figure moved only moderately, even though the metro median ($108,242) sits close to the national median ($107,327). Convergence with a steeper local trajectory points to build-vs-buy decisions tilting toward managed security services for routine monitoring, reserving in-house hires for roles requiring institutional knowledge."}, {"headline": "Help Desk pay stability masks a widening skills ladder.", "body": "Springfield's Help Desk median ($57,134) has held flat while Systems Administrator pay moved up moderately to $107,117 \u2014 a near-$50,000 gap that mirrors the Chicago IT support-to-generalist differential. Entry-tier roles may be easier to fill through outsourcing or shared-services arrangements, freeing budget to compete for the mid-tier talent actually in short supply."}, {"headline": "Falling payrolls alongside falling unemployment signals a shrinking applicant pool.", "body": "Springfield MSA shed 1,800 jobs over the year even as unemployment dropped to 3.8% in Sangamon County, a combination consistent with workers leaving the labor force faster than they are finding new jobs. IT leaders sourcing locally should expect slower time-to-fill for infrastructure and support roles regardless of posted pay levels."}], "local_conditions": "Springfield MSA nonfarm payrolls remain down 1.6% year-over-year (-1,800 jobs) through August 2026, yet Sangamon County's unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, suggesting a shrinking labor pool is tightening around a smaller employer base; this points to structural tightening in a smaller employer base more than broad economic weakness. Statewide, Illinois' paradoxical ranking \u2014 47th in job opportunities per capita but also 47th in unemployment \u2014 appears to reflect skill mismatches that likely compound locally, where IT employers already compete for a thin bench of infrastructure and security talent.", "implications": "Network Engineer and Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay are both up significantly in Springfield, outpacing national wage movement in the same roles and pointing to localized scarcity as the driver \u2014 a signal that in-house buildout for these functions carries a real cost premium right now. With statewide information-sector hiring slowing and Sangamon County's labor force contracting, competing purely on headcount growth looks costlier than retaining incumbents in security and network roles. Consider reviewing retention budgets for network and security staff ahead of annual planning, since replacement costs at current advertised rates may exceed retention investment.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Illinois WARN filings for 2026 already show a 24% increase in affected workers over 2025, concentrated in manufacturing and retail, with white-collar roles largely unaffected. Watch whether displaced workers with adjacent technical skills (logistics systems, retail IT) surface in the Springfield IT candidate pool over the next two months."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Data center job postings, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), are up 20% nationally in three months and 147% above June 2024 levels, a trend that could pull infrastructure talent out of secondary markets like Springfield toward build sites offering premium pay. Monitor whether local Systems Administrator and Network Engineer postings need pay adjustments to hold candidates against this draw."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers through October, year-to-date \u2014 a pool that skews toward coastal tech hubs but increasingly includes remote-eligible roles. Springfield employers open to remote hires may find an unusually deep applicant pool for cloud and software roles through year-end."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Sangamon County's unemployment rate has improved three straight months even as statewide labor force participation falls toward 63.6%. If local participation follows the state trend, expect further tightening in support and infrastructure hiring heading into Q1 2027 headcount planning."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 95639.0, "metro_p50": 143685.0, "metro_p75": 162717.25, "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": 80964.0, "metro_p50": 107117.2, "metro_p75": 122346.0, "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": 87206.5, "metro_p50": 136067.4, "metro_p75": 165796.75, "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": 134833.0, "metro_p50": 166794.2, "metro_p75": 179841.0, "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": 42481.75, "metro_p50": 57134.0, "metro_p75": 63500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 53129.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 71788.5, "metro_p50": 108242.2, "metro_p75": 128687.5, "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": 95000.0, "metro_p50": 126135.4, "metro_p75": 129840.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "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": "springfield-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "springfield-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:30:47.164213+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/springfield-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/springfield-il-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}