{"schema_version": 1, "id": "ut-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 386, "label": "UT NONMETROPOLITAN AREA", "slug": "ut-nonmetropolitan-area"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:37:23.997302+00:00", "headline": "Rural Utah IT talent squeezed by farm and construction wage competition.", "headline_summary": "Nonmetro Utah unemployment ranges from 2.7% in Daggett County to 5.9% in Piute County, while statewide information-sector employment has fallen for 12 straight months even as Cybersecurity Analyst pay climbs to $112,841.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "County unemployment spread", "value": "2.7%\u20135.9%", "context": "Daggett County low vs Piute County high, Sept 2026"}, {"label": "Statewide unemployment", "value": "3.5%", "context": "vs 4.2% national rate"}, {"label": "Utah information-sector job losses", "value": "-2,300 jobs", "context": "12 months through Aug 2026, every month negative"}, {"label": "Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay", "value": "$112,841", "context": "Up significantly vs $107,327 national median"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Rural talent competition now extends beyond tech employers.", "body": "Nonmetro Utah IT roles compete against construction and agriculture for the same limited labor pool. Compensation strategy built on national tech benchmarks alone may miss the local dynamics driving turnover."}, {"headline": "Statewide IT job losses mask urban infrastructure demand.", "body": "Utah's information sector shed 2,300 jobs over 12 months even as data center buildout projects 700% growth in the Salt Lake region through 2030. Nonmetro IT leaders may find sourcing cloud and infrastructure talent harder as urban employers absorb the shrinking statewide pipeline."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity pay signals a widening specialization gap.", "body": "Metro Cybersecurity Analyst pay at $112,841 is up significantly, outpacing most other IT roles tracked this month. Build-vs-buy decisions for security coverage in thinly staffed rural operations deserve fresh scrutiny given this premium."}, {"headline": "Systems Administrator pay trails national levels by a wide margin.", "body": "Metro Systems Administrator advertised pay sits at $97,500 compared with a $102,503 national median, even as national demand for infrastructure-adjacent roles stays elevated. Retention risk rises if nearby urban employers or remote-first competitors close that gap."}], "local_conditions": "Rural Utah's labor market reflects a persistent split between agriculture and tourism-dependent counties facing workforce shortages \u2014 Piute County's unemployment rate sits at 5.9% compared with Daggett County's 2.7% \u2014 while statewide unemployment holds at 3.5%, well below the national 4.2%. Migrant labor shortages and competition from higher-paying construction work are tightening rural labor supply broadly, a dynamic that compounds an already thin IT talent pipeline in nonmetropolitan counties lacking dedicated tech employers.", "implications": "IT leaders operating support or infrastructure functions in nonmetropolitan Utah counties face a talent pool constrained less by tech-sector layoffs and more by cross-industry competition for scarce rural labor, meaning sign-on incentives calibrated against metro benchmarks may undershoot what's needed to compete with construction and logistics employers locally. Statewide information-sector job losses \u2014 2,300 positions over the past 12 months, with year-over-year declines in every 2026 monthly report \u2014 suggest the regional candidate pool is shrinking even as Salt Lake's data center buildout pulls skilled infrastructure talent toward the urban corridor. Consider evaluating remote and hybrid arrangements that let nonmetro-based IT staff compete for Salt Lake-anchored compensation without relocation, reducing exposure to a thinning local talent base.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Watch whether Salt Lake's data center expansion begins pulling nonmetro infrastructure and network talent toward urban employers over the next two months, thinning an already constrained rural candidate pool."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "County-level October unemployment data won't publish until early December, leaving IT leaders in nonmetro counties working from lagging indicators \u2014 plan hiring timelines with that reporting gap in mind."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Immigration enforcement concerns are reducing migrant labor availability for agriculture, pushing more workers toward construction and service roles. Watch whether this cross-industry wage competition spills into local IT support and help desk hiring."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National AI-related postings now exceed 7% of all job ads, a share with no clear local equivalent yet. Nonmetro IT leaders should monitor whether this specialization premium reaches rural job postings or remains concentrated in urban Utah markets."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 121848.0, "metro_p50": 153087.0, "metro_p75": 164368.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 77054.0, "metro_p50": 97500.0, "metro_p75": 107481.0, "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": 73189.0, "metro_p50": 111953.6, "metro_p75": 129908.5, "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": 119800.0, "metro_p50": 154025.0, "metro_p75": 171602.0, "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": "metro", "metro_p25": 43477.0, "metro_p50": 53040.0, "metro_p75": 61206.0, "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": 90326.5, "metro_p50": 112841.0, "metro_p75": 129000.0, "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": 79518.5, "metro_p50": 115230.0, "metro_p75": 125976.25, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 118149.8, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Utah Department of Workforce Services", "source_url": null, "statement": "Piute County 5.9% unemployment vs Daggett County 2.7%"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Utah statewide unemployment at 3.5% vs national 4.2%"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Utah information sector lost 2,300 jobs over 12 months through Aug 2026"}, {"source_name": "Industry research cited in Utah IT labor market notes", "source_url": null, "statement": "Salt Lake region projects 700% data-center growth by 2030"}, {"source_name": "KUER", "source_url": null, "statement": "Rural migrant labor shortages tied to immigration enforcement concerns"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "County-level October 2026 unemployment data not yet released by BLS"}], "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": "ut-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "ut-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:31:40.296833+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/ut-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/ut-nonmetropolitan-area/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}