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

The Manhattan Premium: In NYC, we aren’t just competing with other tech firms; we’re competing with the hedge funds. To pull a Senior Engineer away from a quant shop, clients are having to offer “Silver Handcuffs”—heavy sign-on bonuses and high base salaries.

Infrastructure Renaissance: After years of cloud-migration focus, NYC firms are reinvesting in local “On-Prem” and “Hybrid” specialists to manage ultra-low-latency requirements for the financial sector.

Market Pulse: NYC is where the “AI Premium” isn’t a theory, it’s a line item. If a candidate can spell ‘Generative Adversarial Network’, the median salary jumps 20%. For our NYC desk, the strategy is simple: find the candidates who can manage both the tech and the high-pressure environment of the Financial District.

  • Category
    Job Title
    Yearly Low ($)
    Yearly Median ($/£)
    Yearly High ($)
    Yearly Salary Change %
    Contractor Day Rate ($)
    Daily Rate Change %
    LEADERSHIP
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CTO
    $220,500
    $294,000 / £232k
    $378,000
    1.50%
    $2,205
    2.30%
     
    CIO
    $199,500
    $273,000 / £216k
    $346,500
    1.50%
    $2,100
    2.30%
     
    IT Director
    $157,500
    $199,500 / £158k
    $252,000
    1.50%
    $1,575
    2.30%
     
    Head of Data / AI
    $189,000
    $262,500 / £208k
    $325,500
    1.50%
    $1,785
    2.20%
     
    Head of IT
    $136,500
    $168,000 / £133k
    $210,000
    1.50%
    $1,365
    2.30%
     
    ICT Manager
    $126,000
    $157,500 / £125k
    $189,000
    1.40%
    $1,260
    2.10%
     
    CISO
    $199,500
    $262,500 / £208k
    $336,000
    1.80%
    $2,310
    2.50%
     
    IT Ops Director
    $168,000
    $210,000 / £166k
    $273,000
    1.40%
    $1,680
    2.20%
    OPERATIONS
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    3rd Line (SysAdmin)
    $79,800
    $94,500 / £75k
    $115,500
    3.90%
    $788
    5.20%
     
    2nd Line Support
    $58,800
    $71,400 / £56k
    $88,200
    3.90%
    $525
    5.10%
     
    1st Line Support
    $46,200
    $54,600 / £43k
    $67,200
    3.80%
    $389
    5.00%
     
    IT Support Manager
    $88,200
    $109,200 / £86k
    $136,500
    3.90%
    $998
    5.20%
     
    Infrastructure Eng
    $94,500
    $115,500 / £91k
    $147,000
    4.10%
    $1,050
    5.40%
     
    Network Engineer
    $84,000
    $105,000 / £83k
    $136,500
    3.70%
    $945
    5.10%
     
    Service Desk Lead
    $73,500
    $88,200 / £70k
    $105,000
    3.80%
    $735
    5.00%
     
    M365 / Azure Admin
    $84,000
    $109,200 / £86k
    $136,500
    4.20%
    $945
    5.50%
    ARCHITECTURE
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Enterprise Architect
    $157,500
    $199,500 / £158k
    $252,000
    3.80%
    $1,785
    5.70%
     
    Solution Architect
    $147,000
    $178,500 / £141k
    $220,500
    3.80%
    $1,575
    5.70%
     
    Cloud Architect
    $157,500
    $210,000 / £166k
    $262,500
    3.80%
    $1,680
    5.70%
     
    Security Architect
    $168,000
    $220,500 / £174k
    $273,000
    3.80%
    $1,890
    5.70%
    ENGINEERING
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    AI / ML Engineer
    $147,000
    $199,500 / £158k
    $252,000
    3.00%
    $1,680
    4.40%
     
    DevOps / SRE
    $136,500
    $178,500 / £141k
    $220,500
    3.10%
    $1,470
    4.50%
     
    Cyber Security Eng
    $115,500
    $147,000 / £116k
    $189,000
    2.90%
    $1,313
    4.60%
     
    Software Dev (Snr)
    $126,000
    $168,000 / £133k
    $220,500
    3.10%
    $1,313
    4.50%
    DATA & PM
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Data Engineer
    $115,500
    $157,500 / £125k
    $199,500
    3.00%
    $1,313
    4.60%
     
    Data Scientist (Snr)
    $136,500
    $178,500 / £141k
    $231,000
    3.20%
    $1,523
    4.90%
     
    Data Analyst
    $73,500
    $88,200 / £70k
    $109,200
    3.10%
    $788
    4.90%
     
    IT Project Manager
    $115,500
    $147,000 / £116k
    $178,500
    3.20%
    $1,208
    4.80%
     
    Business Analyst
    $94,500
    $121,800 / £96k
    $147,000
    3.20%
    $998
    4.70%

 

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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