Computer network architects job market in Kentucky

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Kentucky industry employment tracked close to the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Computer network architects in Kentucky.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Computer network architects earn in Kentucky

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$103,740Kentucky
Middle 50% of published wages
$78,640 – $130,330
U.S. median annual wage
$134,050
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Kentucky

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Computer network architects, compared with the Kentucky median of $103,740.

Kentucky median$103,740
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN$133,000+28.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$106,210 – $165,510Published employment1,170
Bowling Green, KY$131,150+26.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$85,670 – $152,890Published employment40
Lexington-Fayette, KY$103,840+0.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$83,300 – $132,070Published employment240
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN$101,040−2.6% vs. state
Middle 50%$71,810 – $130,240Published employment620
Clarksville, TN-KY$100,810−2.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$79,360 – $120,880Published employment70
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH$97,380−6.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$76,610 – $117,430Published employment40
View 1 more published metro area
Elizabethtown, KY$78,920−23.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$75,860 – $116,340Published employment50

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Kentucky median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Kentucky’s weighted industry mix.

+0.1%Industry employmentKentucky industry employmentU.S. -0.2%vs. -0.2% U.S.
+1.3%Establishments in weighted industriesKentucky establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.7%vs. +2.7% U.S.
+3.2%Avg. weekly industry wageKentucky avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +4.2% · not occupation payvs. +4.2% U.S. · not occupation pay
+0.3 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 80,070 represented establishments, 85.25% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for computer network architects in Kentucky

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 10, 2026.

The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market

Bowling Green, KY leads the Kentucky metro comparison on median annual pay at $131,150, with estimated employment of 40. Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN leads on employment size at 620, while its median pay is $101,040. Across 4 metro estimates with both measures in OEWS May 2025, the highest-paying metro's median is 29.8% higher than the largest employment market's. Employment counts describe existing jobs, not available vacancies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Some metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.

This occupation is less concentrated in the state

Employment concentration provides a different comparison for computer network architects in Kentucky. In OEWS May 2025, the published location quotient is 0.74, meaning the occupation's share of employment is 0.74 times its national share. The state estimate is 1,710 jobs, 1.0% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.85 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. This measures existing employment concentration, not current hiring or future growth.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

OEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.

Published median pay is below the U.S. median

The national median annual wage for computer network architects is $134,050 in OEWS May 2025. Kentucky's corresponding estimate is $103,740, or 22.6% below that benchmark. The comparison uses published medians without adjusting for living costs or individual workers' circumstances.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Industry groups are pulling in opposite directions

Professional and business services and Information moved in opposite directions in Kentucky in January to March 2026: their year-over-year employment changes were +0.7% and -1.4%, respectively. These are leading industry groups for this occupation, and the groups examined account for 95.2% of its national industry mix. Their opposing movements are combined in the overall industry figure.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Kentucky · 2026 Q1+0.1%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-0.2%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Kentucky industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterKentuckyCoverage
2024 Q2-1.1%100%
2024 Q3-2.3%100%
2024 Q4-2.4%100%
2025 Q1-1.2%100%
2025 Q2-0.5%100%
2025 Q3-0.1%100%
2025 Q4+0.6%100%
2026 Q1+0.1%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Kentucky’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
-0.2%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Computer network architects Work

The occupation mix determines which Kentucky industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Kentucky Computer network architects context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Professional and business services50.0%+0.7%32,895$1,427
Information17.4%-1.4%4,439$1,757
Financial activities11.7%+0.8%14,767$2,042
Private education and health services6.2%+1.1%27,969$1,259
Trade, transportation, and utilities5.9%-0.6%30,548$1,148
Manufacturing4.1%-3.4%7,646$1,566

Which industries are growing?

3 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Kentucky employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+1.1%
  • Financial activities+0.8%
  • Professional and business services+0.7%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Kentucky context

Current Kentucky Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Kentucky. They are not Computer network architects demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Kentucky

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

102.8Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
+2.8%Versus the February 2020 baseline
-0.1%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026100.82
Jul 31, 2026100.32
Aug 7, 202699.22
Aug 14, 202698.73
Aug 21, 202698.90
Aug 28, 202699.06
Sep 4, 202699.83
Sep 11, 2026101.12
Sep 18, 2026101.43
Sep 25, 2026102.87
Oct 2, 2026102.25
Oct 9, 2026102.87
Oct 16, 2026102.68
Oct 23, 2026102.78

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Oct 30, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Computer network architects in Kentucky FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Computer network architects in Kentucky?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Kentucky industries weighted to Computer network architects changed +0.1% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -0.2% nationwide.

Are wages for Computer network architects rising in Kentucky?

QCEW does not publish pay for Computer network architects in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +3.2% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Kentucky industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Computer network architects openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Computer network architects
SOC code
15-1241
State
Kentucky
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+0.1%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
-0.2%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
+0.3 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
+1.3%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+3.2%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/computer-network-architects/kentucky#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Computer network architects in other states