January 2026

 

New York

IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates

  • NYC Labor Market (2026): Salaries have risen by approximately 3.8% to 5.5% since late 2024, driven by the AI boom and pay transparency laws.

  • Contractor Dynamics: High-end technical roles (Architecture, AI, Cyber) continue to command a premium, while general support roles have seen more moderate growth.

    Category
    Job Title
    Perm Median ($)
    Perm High ($)
    Contractor Day Rate (Med $)
     
     
     
     
     
    Leadership
    Chief Transformation Officer (CTRO)
    $245,500
    $318,000
    $1,600
     
    Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
    $235,100
    $303,000
    $1,500
     
    Chief Information Officer (CIO)
    $218,400
    $286,000
    $1,390
     
    Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
    $215,200
    $273,000
    $1,360
     
    IT Director
    $182,000
    $234,000
    $1,150
     
    Digital Transformation Director
    $218,800
    $281,300
    $1,390
     
    Head of Data / AI
    $195,500
    $248,000
    $1,280
     
    Head of IT
    $140,500
    $172,000
    $940
     
    Head of Infrastructure
    $177,100
    $229,000
    $1,150
     
    Head of Cyber Security
    $197,900
    $250,000
    $1,300
     
    Head of Architecture
    $213,500
    $276,000
    $1,360
     
     
     
     
     
    Operations
    3rd Line Support (SysAdmin)
    $114,400
    $145,600
    $615
     
    2nd Line Support
    $94,000
    $120,000
    $510
     
    1st Line Support
    $78,600
    $99,500
    $420
     
    IT Support Manager
    $135,200
    $171,600
    $745
     
    Service Delivery Manager
    $150,800
    $192,400
    $830
     
    Service Desk Team Lead
    $109,200
    $135,200
    $590
     
    IT Field Engineer
    $93,600
    $114,400
    $520
     
     
     
     
     
    Architecture
    Enterprise Architect
    $202,800
    $260,000
    $1,230
     
    Solution Architect
    $192,400
    $249,600
    $1,180
     
    Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure)
    $210,000
    $267,700
    $1,310
     
    Infrastructure Architect
    $171,600
    $218,400
    $1,075
     
    Data Architect
    $209,000
    $271,700
    $1,310
     
    Security Architect
    $220,500
    $278,200
    $1,360
     
    Technical Architect
    $192,400
    $244,400
    $1,180
     
    Service Architect
    $176,800
    $223,600
    $1,125
     
    CRM Architect (SFDC/MS Dyn)
    $171,600
    $213,200
    $1,055
     
     
     
     
     
    Engineering
    AI / Machine Learning Engineer
    $174,000
    $226,800
    $1,100
     
    MLOps Engineer
    $184,000
    $236,200
    $1,155
     
    NLP / LLM Engineer
    $173,200
    $225,700
    $1,100
     
    Prompt Engineer
    $145,600
    $187,200
    $925
     
    Cloud Engineer
    $162,000
    $209,000
    $990
     
    DevOps / SRE Engineer
    $172,400
    $224,600
    $1,050
     
    Infrastructure Engineer
    $145,600
    $187,200
    $895
     
    Cyber Security Engineer
    $157,200
    $204,300
    $1,025
     
    Data Engineer
    $156,700
    $203,700
    $1,020
     
    Data Warehouse Developer
    $145,300
    $192,000
    $925
     
    Database Administrator (DBA)
    $135,200
    $176,800
    $865
     
    Software Developer (Senior)
    $150,800
    $197,600
    $925
     
    Back-End Developer
    $156,300
    $203,200
    $910
     
    Front-End Developer
    $145,600
    $192,400
    $880
     
    Full-Stack Developer
    $166,700
    $218,800
    $1,040
     
    Network Engineer
    $150,800
    $192,400
    $915
     
    Systems Engineer
    $130,000
    $166,400
    $795
     
    Automation Engineer
    $145,600
    $187,200
    $895
     
    Firmware / Hardware Engineer
    $145,600
    $187,200
    $910
     
     
     
     
     
    Data & PM
    Data Scientist (Senior)
    $156,700
    $209,000
    $1,020
     
    Data Analyst
    $129,700
    $166,400
    $810
     
    AI Product Manager
    $178,500
    $231,000
    $1,100
     
    Product Owner
    $161,500
    $208,000
    $1,030
     
    Scrum Master
    $156,000
    $197,600
    $980
     
    IT Programme Manager
    $182,000
    $234,000
    $1,150
     
    IT Project Manager
    $150,500
    $192,400
    $920
     
    Business Analyst (Technical)
    $140,100
    $176,800
    $870
     
    QA Automation Lead
    $140,400
    $176,800
    $880
     
    Technical Author
    $114,400
    $140,400
    $675
     
    Risk & Compliance Analyst
    $140,400
    $176,800
    $880
     
    Governance Manager
    $171,600
    $218,400
    $1,040

 

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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