April 2026 – New York – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rate

  • The $160k Professional Baseline – In NYC, the “average” tech worker across all disciplines now earns a base of $162,038. This means that Senior Software Developers and DevOps Engineers are firmly anchored at a $175k–$185k median. Any offer below $150k for these roles is essentially non-competitive in the five boroughs.
  • The “AI Integration” Premium – NYC has moved past the “AI hype” and into deep operational integration. Demand for AI/ML Engineers has seen a 15–20% year-over-year increase compared to standard engineers. Mid-market firms are paying a median of $223k for AI Engineers who can move models into production.
  • Contractor Hourly “Burn” – The NYC interim market operates on an hourly basis. High-level General Contractors in IT average $74/hour, but specialized Security Architects or Cloud Engineers are frequently commanding $125–$175/hour for Q2 transformation projects.
  • Category
    Job Title
    Yearly Low ($)
    Yearly Median ($)
    Yearly High ($)
    Yearly Salary Change %
    Contractor Day Rate ($)
    Daily Rate Change %
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Leadership
    CTO
    $240,000
    $295,000
    $390,000
    +1.50%
    $1,136
    +2.25%
     
    CIO
    $205,000
    $245,000
    $335,000
    +1.50%
    $944
    +2.26%
     
    IT Director
    $150,000
    $178,000
    $210,000
    +1.46%
    $680
    +2.25%
     
    Head of Data / AI
    $160,000
    $185,000
    $215,000
    +1.50%
    $712
    +2.20%
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Operations
    3rd Line (Tier 3)
    $82,000
    $97,000
    $112,000
    +3.92%
    $376
    +5.20%
     
    2nd Line (Tier 2)
    $65,000
    $81,000
    $91,000
    +3.85%
    $312
    +5.10%
     
    1st Line (Tier 1)
    $56,000
    $68,000
    $77,000
    +3.80%
    $264
    +5.00%
     
    Support Manager
    $114,000
    $141,000
    $158,000
    +3.90%
    $544
    +5.15%
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Architecture
    Enterprise Arch
    $165,000
    $195,000
    $235,000
    +3.83%
    $752
    +5.68%
     
    Solution Arch
    $150,000
    $180,000
    $205,000
    +3.78%
    $696
    +5.65%
     
    Cloud Architect
    $160,000
    $195,000
    $250,000
    +3.80%
    $752
    +5.67%
     
    Security Arch
    $165,000
    $205,000
    $250,000
    +3.82%
    $792
    +5.71%
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Engineering
    AI / ML Engineer
    $148,000
    $215,000
    $320,000
    +4.20%
    $824
    +4.44%
     
    DevOps / SRE
    $122,000
    $149,000
    $191,000
    +3.06%
    $576
    +4.53%
     
    Cyber Security Eng
    $120,000
    $170,000
    $210,000
    +4.10%
    $656
    +4.55%
     
    Software Dev (Snr)
    $125,000
    $158,000
    $205,000
    +3.06%
    $608
    +4.46%
     
    Data Engineer
    $122,000
    $155,000
    $178,000
    +2.95%
    $600
    +4.57%
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Data & PM
    Data Scientist (Snr)
    $150,000
    $180,000
    $220,000
    +3.18%
    $696
    +4.85%
     
    Data Analyst
    $85,000
    $105,000
    $130,000
    +3.12%
    $400
    +4.89%
     
    IT Project Manager
    $115,000
    $147,000
    $172,000
    +3.19%
    $568
    +4.77%
     
    Business Analyst
    $95,000
    $115,000
    $135,000
    +3.17%
    $440
    +4.73%

 

If your company is thinking of hiring, do it now. As demand rises, so too with the rates of pay and the difficulty levels of attracting and securing the right talent.

If, however, your company is slowing down – beware! If your IT staff start to feel insecure, talent competitors and recruiters will find it very easy to persuade your staff to interview elsewhere. Despite the stress and negativity that may exist, take the time to focus on reassuring your team and, where appropriate, reward their loyalty. It’s a false economy to avoid salary increases for your best people. Doing so risks leave yourself vulnerable to losing key staff and the larger costs in both time and money of replacing them.

Should you be considering recruitment or simply would like some advice on anything recruitment related, please do not hesitate to give us a call and see how we can really help you to Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.

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