{"schema_version": 1, "id": "waterloo-cedar-falls-ia-msa/information-technology/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 467, "label": "Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA MSA", "slug": "waterloo-cedar-falls-ia-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T03:39:58.381053+00:00", "headline": "Waterloo IT pay catches up to national rates as talent tightens.", "headline_summary": "Network Engineer advertised pay in Waterloo-Cedar Falls now tops the national median at $118,798, even as Iowa's labor force participation falls to 66.9% and local unemployment holds near 3.5%.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Waterloo-Cedar Falls unemployment", "value": "3.5-3.8%", "context": "vs. 4.1% national rate"}, {"label": "Iowa labor force participation", "value": "66.9%", "context": "down from 67.8% a year ago"}, {"label": "Network Engineer advertised pay, metro", "value": "$118,798", "context": "exceeds $115,757 national median"}, {"label": "Iowa tech employment growth, 2026", "value": "1.5%", "context": "vs. 1.9% national growth (CompTIA)"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Network Engineer pay has erased the local discount entirely.", "body": "Metro median advertised pay of $118,798 now exceeds the national median of $115,757, a reversal from the historical pattern of metro-to-national wage gaps. This suggests local infrastructure talent is being priced on national demand curves."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity hiring is pulling local pay toward coastal levels.", "body": "Advertised Cybersecurity Analyst pay rose significantly to $108,169, nearly matching the $107,327 national median even as data center and infrastructure buildout nationally concentrates hiring in security-adjacent roles. Organizations relying on legacy security staffing assumptions may find current postings understate what retention now requires."}, {"headline": "Systems Administrator pay stagnation looks like a retention risk.", "body": "Metro median held flat at $68,094 while the national median climbed to $102,503 \u2014 a widening gap of roughly 34%. Flat local demand may reflect fewer postings, but the disparity creates an incentive for remote-capable sysadmins to exit for national-market pay."}, {"headline": "Tight local unemployment is colliding with a shrinking labor force.", "body": "Black Hawk County's 3.5% unemployment combined with Iowa's labor force participation drop to 66.9% means fewer available workers chasing already-scarce technical openings. Headcount planning built on local hiring assumptions should account for a candidate pool that is both small and shrinking."}], "local_conditions": "Waterloo-Cedar Falls MSA unemployment sat near 3.5-3.8% through early 2026, materially tighter than the 4.1% national rate, while Black Hawk County's average hourly pay of $25.35 and average weekly wage of $1,167 reflect an economy running close to full employment. Statewide labor force participation fell to 66.9% in September from 67.8% a year earlier, a demographic drag that compounds an already thin local talent pool for technical roles.", "implications": "Tight local labor supply alongside a statewide skills gap \u2014 Technology Association of Iowa cites talent access as the sector's top constraint \u2014 means Waterloo-area IT leaders compete for the same shrinking pool of infrastructure, security and support talent that national employers are courting remotely. Advertised pay for Network Engineer ($118,798) and Cybersecurity Analyst ($108,169) roles locally now exceeds or nearly matches national medians, a signal that local employers are bidding aggressively to compete for talent on a national scale. Consider reviewing whether current infrastructure and security compensation bands reflect this local premium before losing talent to remote-first competitors offering national-scale pay.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Iowa's professional, scientific and technical services sector lost jobs in September even after adding 1,200 since April, a volatility pattern that complicates headcount planning for outsourced or contracted IT functions. Watch whether this reverses or signals employers shifting support work to staffing firms and offshore vendors."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National tech layoffs already exceed 133,000 for 2026 even as data center postings grew 20% in three months \u2014 a bifurcation that could send displaced infrastructure talent into secondary markets like Waterloo. Track whether regional candidate volume rises for network and systems roles over the next two months."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "CompTIA projects Iowa tech employment growth of just 1.5% in 2026, below the 1.9% national rate, even as AI-related postings nationally hit 7.3% of all job ads. A persistent AI skills gap locally may push more organizations toward build-vs-buy decisions favoring outside specialists over internal hires."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Iowa's statewide labor force participation decline, driven by retirements and workers returning to education, has not yet shown up as a visible IT talent shortage locally but is consistent with tightening ahead. Monitor whether Systems Administrator and Help Desk postings begin rising in response to retirements among incumbent staff."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 89276.0, "metro_p50": 106762.0, "metro_p75": 106762.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 145881.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 65000.0, "metro_p50": 68094.0, "metro_p75": 79282.5, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 82017.0, "metro_p50": 118797.6, "metro_p75": 149486.0, "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": 95000.0, "metro_p50": 121190.0, "metro_p75": 136602.0, "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": 45571.0, "metro_p50": 48880.0, "metro_p75": 50700.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 78777.5, "metro_p50": 108169.0, "metro_p75": 124593.0, "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": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 77900.25, "metro_p50": 116839.4, "metro_p75": 129108.5, "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": "Bureau of Labor Statistics / USA Facts", "source_url": null, "statement": "Waterloo-Cedar Falls MSA unemployment rate near 3.5-3.8% in early 2026"}, {"source_name": "Iowa Workforce Development", "source_url": null, "statement": "Iowa labor force participation fell to 66.9% in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "Technology Association of Iowa", "source_url": null, "statement": "Technology Association of Iowa cites talent access as top sector challenge"}, {"source_name": "Layoffs.fyi / industry tracking", "source_url": null, "statement": "Tech layoffs exceeded 133,417 workers at 325 companies through Oct 21, 2026"}, {"source_name": "CompTIA", "source_url": null, "statement": "CompTIA projects Iowa tech employment growth of 1.5% in 2026"}, {"source_name": "USA Facts / Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Black Hawk County unemployment rate at 3.5% in May 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": "waterloo-cedar-falls-ia-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "pdf": "waterloo-cedar-falls-ia-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:32:10.284848+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/waterloo-cedar-falls-ia-msa/information-technology/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/waterloo-cedar-falls-ia-msa/information-technology/2026-10.pdf"}