{"schema_version": 1, "id": "texarkana-tx-texarkana-ar-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 443, "label": "Texarkana, TX-Texarkana, AR MSA", "slug": "texarkana-tx-texarkana-ar-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:37:44.205677+00:00", "headline": "Texarkana infrastructure pay splits as network roles lose ground.", "headline_summary": "Systems Administrator pay climbed significantly to $98,853 in Texarkana while Network Engineer pay fell to $103,462, even as the national Network Engineer figure rose to $115,757.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "4.5%", "context": "Down from 4.8% in July 2026 (BLS, Aug. data)"}, {"label": "Metro Network Engineer pay", "value": "$103,462", "context": "Down moderately vs. national rise to $115,757"}, {"label": "Texas tech job demand gap", "value": "32,238 net new jobs", "context": "CompTIA 2026 projection vs. flat info-sector hiring"}, {"label": "National tech layoffs, 2026 YTD", "value": "133,417 workers", "context": "Already exceeds full-year 2025 total"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Systems Administrator pay is climbing while Network Engineer pay falls locally.", "body": "Metro Systems Administrator advertised pay rose significantly to $98,853 even as Network Engineer pay dropped moderately to $103,462, diverging from the national Network Engineer increase to $115,757. The split points to employers consolidating infrastructure operations into generalist roles and reducing investment in specialized network headcount."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity demand is outpacing routine infrastructure hiring.", "body": "Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose moderately to $102,924, tracking the national trend as Texas's new AI governance law pushes employers to audit screening and monitoring systems. Security headcount appears to be gaining budget priority over general infrastructure support in a labor market where Texas tech job growth is outpacing available supply."}, {"headline": "Local network talent may be migrating toward larger Texas markets.", "body": "Network Engineer pay falling locally while rising nationally and in Austin's semiconductor-driven buildout is consistent with secondary-metro talent drifting toward higher-paying hubs. Texarkana employers competing for this skill set may need to widen remote-hire radius or lean further into managed network services."}, {"headline": "Stable Software Engineer and Project Manager pay signals a holding pattern.", "body": "Both roles show stable advertised pay locally and nationally, suggesting employers are neither aggressively expanding nor cutting these functions amid broader uncertainty. Current flatness may reflect caution ahead of fourth-quarter budget cycles, with underlying demand holding steady."}], "local_conditions": "Texarkana MSA unemployment improved to 4.5% in August from 4.8% in July, with labor force growth concentrated outside Bowie County even as nonfarm employment held near 60,200 through the summer. Statewide tech job demand continues to outpace supply \u2014 CompTIA projects 32,238 net new Texas tech jobs this year against flat information-sector hiring \u2014 a mismatch that reaches secondary metros like Texarkana as employers compete regionally for scarce infrastructure and security talent.", "implications": "Metro Systems Administrator pay rose significantly while Network Engineer advertised pay fell moderately against a national increase \u2014 a divergence that suggests local employers are consolidating infrastructure roles around hybrid generalist skill sets and reducing investment in specialized network headcount. Texas's tight statewide tech labor supply, paired with semiconductor and data-center buildouts drawing talent toward Austin and larger metros, raises the cost and difficulty of local infrastructure hiring relative to outsourcing or managed-services alternatives. Consider evaluating whether network engineering and routine infrastructure support functions are better sourced through MSP or hybrid-cloud partnerships, weighed against the costs of continued local hiring.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether October BLS data, due early November, confirms August's unemployment improvement or reflects the national uptick in white-collar job losses. A reversal would tighten an already constrained Bowie County labor pool further."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Texas's Responsible AI Governance Act, effective since January, requires auditing any tool used to screen or monitor IT candidates \u2014 smaller Texarkana employers lacking dedicated compliance staff may face catch-up costs in coming months."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Network Engineer pay softening locally against a national rise suggests a thinning regional talent pool; track whether vacancy duration lengthens enough to justify a shift toward managed network services."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "National tech layoffs have already exceeded 133,000 workers for 2026, with Intel's October WARN notice among the largest; any ripple into Texas data-center or semiconductor supply chains could loosen infrastructure talent availability reaching Texarkana."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 116545.0, "metro_p50": 142189.0, "metro_p75": 161200.0, "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": 71562.0, "metro_p50": 98853.0, "metro_p75": 99171.0, "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": 103462.0, "metro_p50": 103462.0, "metro_p75": 104894.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 115757.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 113625.0, "metro_p50": 152500.0, "metro_p75": 167457.75, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 41882.5, "metro_p50": 51951.0, "metro_p75": 57397.25, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 85573.0, "metro_p50": 102924.0, "metro_p75": 118044.0, "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": 89852.25, "metro_p50": 115729.0, "metro_p75": 127084.75, "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": "Bureau of Labor Statistics / NETX Workforce", "source_url": null, "statement": "Texarkana MSA unemployment rate improved to 4.5% in August 2026"}, {"source_name": "CompTIA", "source_url": null, "statement": "Texas projected to add 32,238 net new tech jobs in 2026 outpacing supply"}, {"source_name": "Texas Legislature", "source_url": null, "statement": "Texas Responsible AI Governance Act applies to AI hiring tools"}, {"source_name": "Layoffs.fyi / tech layoff tracking", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tech layoffs exceed 133,000 workers through October 2026"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Texarkana unemployment rate trend July to August 2026"}, {"source_name": "Advertised pay data", "source_url": null, "statement": "Network Engineer advertised pay diverges between metro and national levels"}], "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": "texarkana-tx-texarkana-ar-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "texarkana-tx-texarkana-ar-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:31:18.768297+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/texarkana-tx-texarkana-ar-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/texarkana-tx-texarkana-ar-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}