{"schema_version": 1, "id": "wichita-falls-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 434, "label": "Wichita Falls, TX MSA", "slug": "wichita-falls-tx-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "information_technology", "slug": "information-technology", "label": "Information Technology"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:18:48.120822+00:00", "headline": "Wichita Falls IT pay rises as the broader metro economy contracts.", "headline_summary": "Metro employment fell 1.2% year-over-year and unemployment reached 4.5%, yet Network Engineer advertised pay climbed significantly to $111,509 \u2014 above the $114,400 national median.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Metro unemployment rate", "value": "4.5%", "context": "Up from 3.9% a year ago; vs 4.0% statewide"}, {"label": "Metro nonfarm employment change", "value": "-1.2% YoY", "context": "One of only two contracting Texas metros"}, {"label": "Network Engineer advertised pay", "value": "$111,509", "context": "Up significantly; above $114,400 national median"}, {"label": "Texas manufacturing wage growth", "value": "4.8% YoY", "context": "Strongest pace since Dec. 2023 (Dallas Fed)"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "A shrinking metro economy is not shrinking IT pay uniformly.", "body": "Wichita Falls lost 700 jobs year-over-year even as Network Engineer advertised pay rose significantly to $111,509, actually outpacing the national median. Infrastructure talent scarcity appears to be decoupling from the metro's broader employment contraction."}, {"headline": "Help desk wages are stuck, and that is strategically useful.", "body": "Advertised pay for Help Desk/IT Support sits flat at $47,674, nearly $6,000 under the national figure, with no upward signal this month. Flat commodity-role pay in a softening labor market supports shifting these functions toward contract staffing without retention risk."}, {"headline": "Cybersecurity demand is rising locally, but off a smaller base.", "body": "Cybersecurity Analyst advertised pay moved up moderately to $103,212 locally, trailing the national $106,790, even as statewide data shows senior security leaders commanding $170K\u2013$230K in larger Texas metros. Wichita Falls employers competing for security talent face a widening gap against Dallas and Austin pay ceilings, raising retention risk for any locally based specialist."}, {"headline": "Manufacturing-linked IT roles look like the metro's real growth story.", "body": "Howmet Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney activity, alongside statewide manufacturing wage growth of 4.8% \u2014 the strongest since 2023 \u2014 suggests infrastructure and OT-adjacent IT roles tied to advanced manufacturing are the metro's actual demand driver, not conventional office IT headcount."}], "local_conditions": "Wichita Falls MSA employment contracted 1.2% year-over-year through August 2026, one of only two shrinking metros in Texas, while unemployment climbed to 4.5% against a statewide 4.0% rate, reflecting a local economy dependent on manufacturing and defense-adjacent employment rather than the data center and AI-driven expansion lifting Austin and Dallas. Network Engineer pay rose significantly (up to $111,509 metro median) even as broader metro hiring softened, consistent with aerospace and advanced manufacturing employers like Howmet Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney competing for scarce infrastructure talent in a metro too small to absorb specialized losses quietly.", "implications": "Metro-level contraction does not mean IT demand is contracting evenly \u2014 Network Engineer pay moving up significantly against a stable-to-moderate statewide and national pattern suggests a thin local bench for infrastructure and connectivity roles tied to manufacturing automation and base-adjacent contracts, while Help Desk pay sits flat at $47,674, nearly $6,000 below the national median, signaling commodity support roles face no comparable pressure. Build-vs-buy calculus should tilt toward retaining and paying up for scarce network and systems talent locally while sourcing help desk and tier-1 support through contract or remote arrangements where the metro's shrinking labor pool offers no cost advantage. Consider reviewing network engineering compensation against the metro's significant upward movement before the next hiring cycle, rather than assuming statewide moderate trends apply locally.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Metro unemployment has risen for three straight readings, from 3.9% a year ago to 4.5% in August. Watch whether that slack reaches IT-adjacent roles or stays concentrated in retail and logistics, which would leave technical hiring pressure unchanged."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Network Engineer pay's significant upward movement against a metro losing jobs overall suggests a narrow, possibly single-employer-driven talent squeeze. Confirm whether this reflects Sheppard Air Force Base, aerospace manufacturers, or a broader base effect before adjusting pay ranges metro-wide."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Statewide information-sector employment is down 5.3% year-over-year even as data center and AI investment accelerates elsewhere in Texas. Watch whether any of that investment reaches the Wichita Falls corridor, which would shift the metro's IT hiring calculus meaningfully."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "National WARN filings remain elevated among large employers like Amazon and Verizon, while Texas WARN-affected worker counts are down 45% year-over-year. A continued low-layoff environment statewide means little displaced tech talent will likely flow into the Wichita Falls candidate pool."}], "roles": [{"role": "Data Scientist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 118355.25, "metro_p50": 145580.0, "metro_p75": 163660.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 148250.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Systems Administrator", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 77383.0, "metro_p50": 96250.0, "metro_p75": 107120.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 101168.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Network Engineer", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 100000.0, "metro_p50": 111509.0, "metro_p75": 115270.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 114400.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Software Engineer", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 113156.0, "metro_p50": 152465.0, "metro_p75": 167278.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 153652.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Help Desk/IT Support Specialist", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43137.0, "metro_p50": 47673.8, "metro_p75": 62130.5, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 53644.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Cybersecurity Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 85765.0, "metro_p50": 103212.0, "metro_p75": 118888.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 106790.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "IT Project Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 88412.0, "metro_p50": 115230.0, "metro_p75": 127284.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 117530.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "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": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "wichita-falls-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "pdf": "wichita-falls-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T14:37:56.959395+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/wichita-falls-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/wichita-falls-tx-msa/information-technology/2026-09.pdf"}