February 2026 – New York – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates

New York remains the primary driver of global tech compensation. The NYC market is no longer just about high base salaries; it’s about total compensation. Many of these roles include a 20-40% bonus/stock premium on top of the base. For the day rates, we have converted the standard NYC hourly rates ($125–$250/hr) into 8-hour daily benchmarks.

  • The “Brain Drain” Threat: A Senior Software Developer in London (£103k) earns roughly $131k USD. The same role in NYC pays a median of $178k. For your UK clients, this is the “Global Remote” competitor they are up against for the top 5% of talent.
  • Security is King: In NYC, the Security Architect role is commanding a massive premium, with day rates often hitting $2,100. This is driven by the massive compliance requirements of Wall Street and the growing AI-threat landscape.
  • AI Saturation: Interestingly, while the “Yearly High” for AI Engineers in NYC can hit $265k, the market is starting to see saturation at the junior levels. However, for “Agentic AI” specialists, these numbers are floor-level, not ceilings.
  • Contractor Costs: NYC contractors are expensive because of the lack of benefits (health insurance/401k) included in the rate. This is why a NYC day rate of $1,300 for a Project Manager feels astronomical to a UK firm, but is standard for the “Big Apple.”
    Category
    Job Title
    Yearly Low ($)
    Yearly Median ($)
    Yearly High ($)
    Contractor Day Rate ($)
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Leadership
    Chief Transformation Officer (CTRO)
    $265,000
    $347,550
    $425,000+
    $2,600
     
    Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
    $250,000
    $337,050
    $420,000
    $2,500
     
    Chief Information Officer (CIO)
    $225,000
    $315,500
    $395,000
    $2,400
     
    Chief Info Security Officer (CISO)
    $205,000
    $284,000
    $340,000
    $2,300
     
    IT Director
    $175,000
    $201,600
    $245,000
    $1,600
     
    Head of Data / AI
    $190,000
    $252,000
    $315,000
    $2,100
     
    Head of IT
    $150,000
    $171,150
    $210,000
    $1,500
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Operations
    3rd Line Support (SysAdmin)
    $88,000
    $109,200
    $135,000
    $750
     
    2nd Line Support
    $68,000
    $79,800
    $96,000
    $550
     
    1st Line Support
    $50,000
    $59,850
    $72,000
    $400
     
    IT Support Manager
    $100,000
    $122,850
    $155,000
    $1,000
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Architecture
    Enterprise Architect
    $175,000
    $200,000
    $240,000
    $1,900
     
    Solution Architect
    $165,000
    $189,000
    $225,000
    $1,750
     
    Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure)
    $180,000
    $215,250
    $285,000
    $1,850
     
    Security Architect
    $195,000
    $231,000
    $305,000
    $2,100
     
    Data Architect
    $165,000
    $188,475
    $215,000
    $1,850
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Engineering
    AI / Machine Learning Engineer
    $158,000
    $199,500
    $265,000
    $1,800
     
    DevOps / SRE Engineer
    $136,000
    $178,500
    $240,000
    $1,500
     
    Cyber Security Engineer
    $115,000
    $157,500
    $220,000
    $1,450
     
    Software Developer (Senior)
    $136,000
    $178,500
    $240,000
    $1,300
     
    Data Engineer
    $126,000
    $163,800
    $210,000
    $1,400
     
    Network Engineer
    $95,000
    $121,800
    $160,000
    $1,000
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Data & PM
    Data Scientist (Senior)
    $147,000
    $184,800
    $255,000
    $1,650
     
    Data Analyst
    $80,000
    $100,800
    $130,000
    $900
     
    IT Project Manager
    $115,000
    $151,200
    $200,000
    $1,300
     
    Business Analyst (Technical)
    $100,000
    $126,000
    $165,000
    $1,100

 

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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