September 2026 – New York – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates
The Reality Behind the Data
The New York Salary Guide Confirms It’s Not a UK Story
Our New York salary guide for September shows the identical pattern to every UK region in this series: Prompt Engineer / AI App Dev up 17.5% year-on-year, AI/ML Engineer up 13.8%. At $149,100 median for Prompt Engineer alone, this confirms the AI skills re-pricing is a genuinely global phenomenon, not a UK anomaly driven by local supply constraints.
Coordination Roles Are Softening on Both Sides of the Atlantic
IT Project Manager (-1.2%) and Scrum Master/Agile Coach (-2.8%) are both down here too, at rates nearly identical to the UK. Meanwhile CISO pay has reached $276,150 median (+7.4%), and Cloud Architect $201,600 (+7.8%) — if you’re hiring or benchmarking across US and UK teams, treat these as confirmation that the “build or defend” premium applies everywhere, not just at home.
| Category | Job Title | Yearly Low | Yearly Median (Base) | Yearly High | Annual % Change | Contractor Day Rate (High) | Day Rate Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI, Automation & Data | |||||||
| Head of AI & Automation | $199,500 | $231,000 | $273,000 | +11.5% | $1,680 | +8.5% | |
| AI / Machine Learning Engineer | $151,200 | $178,500 | $214,200 | +13.8% | $1,300 | +9.1% | |
| AI Solutions Architect | $172,200 | $201,600 | $241,500 | +11.2% | $1,470 | +7.5% | |
| MLOps Engineer | $142,800 | $168,000 | $199,500 | +12.5% | $1,130 | +8.2% | |
| Automation / RPA Architect | $147,000 | $168,000 | $201,600 | +6.2% | $1,200 | +4.0% | |
| RPA Developer | $100,800 | $117,600 | $138,600 | +3.5% | $810 | +2.2% | |
| Data Science Lead | $163,800 | $193,200 | $226,800 | +8.1% | $1,340 | +5.2% | |
| Data Scientist | $117,600 | $138,600 | $163,800 | +6.8% | $970 | +4.5% | |
| Data Engineer | $109,200 | $128,100 | $151,200 | +8.8% | $920 | +5.8% | |
| Data Architect | $155,400 | $182,700 | $214,200 | +5.5% | $1,240 | +3.6% | |
| Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst | $86,100 | $101,850 | $120,750 | +2.0% | $690 | +1.4% | |
| BI Developer | $99,750 | $117,600 | $138,600 | +3.2% | $810 | +2.0% | |
| Power Platform / Low-Code Dev | $109,200 | $128,100 | $151,200 | +8.5% | $920 | +5.5% | |
| Prompt Engineer / AI App Dev | $126,000 | $149,100 | $176,400 | +17.5% | $1,070 | +11.5% | |
| IT Ops & Leadership | |||||||
| IT Director / CIO | $210,000 | $252,000 | $298,200 | +2.5% | $1,390 | +1.6% | |
| Head of IT / IT Manager | $136,500 | $159,600 | $189,000 | +1.4% | $1,070 | +0.9% | |
| IT Business Partner | $117,600 | $138,600 | $163,800 | +3.0% | $970 | +1.8% | |
| Service Delivery Manager | $117,600 | $138,600 | $163,800 | +0.7% | $920 | +0.5% | |
| IT Operations Manager | $121,800 | $144,900 | $170,100 | +1.1% | $970 | +0.7% | |
| IT Project Manager | $109,200 | $128,100 | $151,200 | -1.2% | $920 | -0.7% | |
| Program Manager | $155,400 | $182,700 | $214,200 | +2.2% | $1,190 | +1.4% | |
| Scrum Master / Agile Coach | $117,600 | $138,600 | $163,800 | -2.8% | $970 | -1.8% | |
| Business Analyst | $99,750 | $117,600 | $138,600 | +1.6% | $810 | +1.1% | |
| 1st Line Support Technician | $47,250 | $55,650 | $65,100 | +0.5% | $340 | +0.0% | |
| 2nd Line Support Engineer | $63,000 | $74,550 | $88,200 | +1.2% | $470 | +0.9% | |
| 3rd Line / Senior Tech Support | $80,850 | $95,550 | $113,400 | +2.0% | $650 | +1.4% | |
| Helpdesk Manager / Service Desk Lead | $90,300 | $106,050 | $124,950 | +0.9% | $690 | +0.4% | |
| Infrastructure & Networking | |||||||
| Infrastructure Manager | $126,000 | $149,100 | $176,400 | +1.4% | $970 | +0.9% | |
| Senior Systems Engineer | $99,750 | $117,600 | $138,600 | +1.8% | $760 | +1.1% | |
| Systems Administrator | $75,600 | $89,250 | $105,000 | -0.7% | $580 | -0.4% | |
| Network Architect | $155,400 | $182,700 | $214,200 | +4.0% | $1,190 | +2.6% | |
| Network Engineer | $86,100 | $101,850 | $120,750 | +1.6% | $650 | +0.9% | |
| Network Security Engineer | $105,000 | $123,900 | $145,950 | +5.8% | $810 | +3.8% | |
| Unified Communications Specialist | $86,100 | $101,850 | $120,750 | +0.4% | $650 | +0.2% | |
| Storage & Virtualisation Engineer | $94,500 | $110,880 | $130,200 | -1.0% | $690 | -0.7% | |
| Data Centre Engineer | $75,600 | $89,250 | $105,000 | +2.2% | $580 | +1.6% | |
| Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) | $130,200 | $153,300 | $180,600 | +9.1% | $1,030 | +6.2% | |
| Cloud & DevOps | |||||||
| Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure/GCP) | $172,200 | $201,600 | $237,300 | +7.8% | $1,340 | +5.2% | |
| Principal Cloud Engineer | $155,400 | $182,700 | $214,200 | +7.1% | $1,240 | +4.8% | |
| Cloud Systems Engineer | $105,000 | $123,900 | $145,950 | +4.8% | $810 | +3.2% | |
| DevOps Engineer | $134,400 | $157,500 | $186,900 | +6.5% | $1,070 | +4.2% | |
| DevOps Lead / Architect | $163,800 | $192,150 | $226,800 | +7.5% | $1,300 | +5.0% | |
| DevSecOps Engineer | $142,800 | $170,100 | $199,500 | +10.8% | $1,190 | +7.1% | |
| Infrastructure as Code Specialist | $126,000 | $149,100 | $176,400 | +5.6% | $1,030 | +3.8% | |
| Cloud Migration Specialist | $130,200 | $153,300 | $180,600 | +4.2% | $1,030 | +2.8% | |
| FinOps Specialist | $121,800 | $144,900 | $170,100 | +7.5% | $970 | +4.8% | |
| Cybersecurity & Risk | |||||||
| Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) | $235,200 | $276,150 | $325,500 | +7.4% | $1,840 | +5.0% | |
| Information Security Manager | $155,400 | $180,600 | $213,150 | +6.2% | $1,190 | +4.1% | |
| Cyber Security Engineer | $117,600 | $138,600 | $163,800 | +8.1% | $970 | +5.5% | |
| Cyber Security Analyst | $86,100 | $101,850 | $120,750 | +5.1% | $650 | +3.4% | |
| Penetration Tester / Ethical Hacker | $112,350 | $131,880 | $155,400 | +6.5% | $910 | +4.2% | |
| SOC Analyst | $75,600 | $89,250 | $105,000 | +4.0% | $580 | +2.6% | |
| Security Architect | $163,800 | $192,150 | $226,800 | +9.4% | $1,300 | +6.1% | |
| Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Lead | $134,400 | $159,600 | $187,950 | +5.6% | $1,030 | +3.7% | |
| Identity & Access Management (IAM) Specialist | $109,200 | $128,100 | $151,200 | +6.8% | $810 | +4.5% | |
| Cloud Security Specialist | $140,700 | $165,900 | $195,300 | +8.8% | $1,110 | +5.8% | |
| Software & ERP | |||||||
| Software Engineering Manager | $163,800 | $192,150 | $226,800 | +4.5% | $1,300 | +3.0% | |
| Lead Software Developer | $140,700 | $165,900 | $195,300 | +4.9% | $1,110 | +3.3% | |
| Senior Full Stack Developer | $121,800 | $144,900 | $170,100 | +3.9% | $970 | +2.5% | |
| Software Engineer (Python/Java/.NET) | $112,350 | $131,880 | $155,400 | +4.2% | $910 | +2.8% | |
| ERP / CRM Manager | $134,400 | $159,600 | $187,950 | +2.0% | $1,070 | +1.4% | |
| Solution Architect | $157,500 | $186,900 | $220,500 | +5.2% | $1,220 | +3.4% | |
September’s numbers make one thing clear: pay for people who build or defend, and be more selective on pure coordination roles.
If you’re hiring or reviewing pay in light of these figures, get in touch — call us on 0207 788 6600 or email james@langleyjames.com.