{"schema_version": 1, "id": "springfield-mo-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 479, "label": "Springfield, MO MSA", "slug": "springfield-mo-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:35:29.478257+00:00", "headline": "Springfield IT pay splits: infrastructure up, security and support down.", "headline_summary": "Springfield's Cybersecurity Analyst pay fell to $81,262 even as the national figure rose to $107,327, while local Network Engineer pay climbed to $101,504, signaling a budget shift toward infrastructure roles.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Springfield unemployment rate", "value": "3.7%", "context": "Down ~0.5pt from August; below 4.1% U.S. rate"}, {"label": "Cybersecurity Analyst pay gap", "value": "$26,065", "context": "Metro $81,262 vs national $107,327 median"}, {"label": "Missouri IT pay vs. national", "value": "-6.2%", "context": "MO IT avg $44,227 vs. U.S. $47,150"}, {"label": "Metro avg weekly wage", "value": "$1,110", "context": "vs. $1,569 U.S. average, Q4 2025"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Cybersecurity pay is falling locally while rising nationally.", "body": "Metro Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay dropped significantly to $81,262 even as the national median climbed to $107,327, a $26,000 gap that did not exist a year ago. Remote-capable analysts have little financial reason to stay local, raising retention exposure for security teams built around in-market hiring."}, {"headline": "Infrastructure roles are capturing the metro's pay gains.", "body": "Network Engineer and Software Engineer advertised pay both rose locally this month, moving in the opposite direction from Help Desk and Cybersecurity. Budget appears to be concentrating on build-and-maintain infrastructure roles, consistent with national data showing data-center and infrastructure postings among the fastest-growing hiring categories."}, {"headline": "Help Desk compensation decline may widen the entry-level talent gap.", "body": "Metro Help Desk pay fell sharply to $45,335, tracking a national decline but exceeding it in magnitude. With Missouri's $15 minimum wage now in effect, the compensation cushion between entry-level IT support and minimum-wage retail or service work has compressed, which may pressure recruitment pipelines for junior technical talent."}, {"headline": "State-level wage gap keeps outsourcing and remote hiring attractive.", "body": "Missouri IT compensation runs 6.2% below the national average while 41% of technologists nationally say they would trade salary for remote flexibility. That combination favors Springfield employers recruiting remote talent into the metro's lower cost structure, but equally exposes local staff to being recruited out by employers offering national pay for remote work."}], "local_conditions": "Springfield's unemployment rate eased to 3.7% in September, roughly a half-point improvement from August and well inside the tight-labor-market range that has persisted statewide for over a decade, even as the metro's average weekly wage of $1,110 remains nearly $460 below the national average. Steady but modest job growth \u2014 roughly 333 positions added per month in 2026 \u2014 combined with sub-national IT compensation (Missouri IT roles average 6.2% below the U.S. figure) signals a market where employers hold hiring leverage on price but face real difficulty filling specialized technical roles locally.", "implications": "Cybersecurity Analyst and Help Desk advertised pay both fell sharply this month even as national cybersecurity pay rose, widening the gap between what Springfield employers offer and what national remote competitors pay for the same skill \u2014 a dynamic that raises attrition risk for security and support staff who can work remotely at national rates. Network Engineer and Software Engineer pay moved up locally, suggesting employers are concentrating scarce compensation budget on infrastructure and development talent, leaving other IT functions with smaller raises. Organizations should evaluate whether security and support roles need offsetting non-cash retention levers \u2014 flexibility, career pathing, or hybrid work \u2014 given that local pay is diverging from national trajectories in exactly the functions most exposed to remote competition.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Springfield's September unemployment improvement to 3.7% persists into October reporting or reflects seasonal noise; a sustained drop would tighten competition for infrastructure and security talent further."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Cybersecurity and Help Desk advertised pay are moving opposite national trends. Track whether local postings volume for these roles declines as a leading signal that employers are shifting toward outsourced or offshore coverage for local hires."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Recent WARN filings (Springfield Mechanical Services, Great Southern Bank) have not been IT-concentrated, but any release of technical talent from mid-sized local employers would ease near-term hiring pressure on infrastructure and support roles."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers for 2026 even as data-center hiring grows 20% in three months. A regional data-center or infrastructure project announcement in the Springfield MSA could rapidly shift local demand and pay for network and systems roles."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 101780.0, "metro_p50": 124848.2, "metro_p75": 136012.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 69382.0, "metro_p50": 85738.0, "metro_p75": 107781.0, "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": 73699.0, "metro_p50": 101504.0, "metro_p75": 115275.0, "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": 102264.0, "metro_p50": 130469.0, "metro_p75": 151575.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 154403.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 34261.0, "metro_p50": 45335.0, "metro_p75": 48016.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 73086.0, "metro_p50": 81261.6, "metro_p75": 96978.5, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 70308.75, "metro_p50": 106687.0, "metro_p75": 120334.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Springfield Business Journal", "source_url": null, "statement": "Springfield metro unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Springfield Business Journal / BLS QCEW", "source_url": null, "statement": "Springfield Q4 2025 average weekly wage of $1,110 vs. U.S. $1,569"}, {"source_name": "State labor market data (Sep 2026)", "source_url": null, "statement": "Missouri IT compensation 6.2% below national average"}, {"source_name": "National IT labor market research, Oct 2026", "source_url": null, "statement": "41% of technologists would trade salary for remote flexibility"}, {"source_name": "Layoffs.fyi tracker", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tech layoffs exceeded 133,417 workers in 2026 through Oct 21"}, {"source_name": "National IT labor market research, Oct 2026", "source_url": null, "statement": "Data center job postings grew 20% over three months nationally"}], "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-mo-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "springfield-mo-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:30:51.579033+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/springfield-mo-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/springfield-mo-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}