Southwest Minnesota is a national leader in agricultural production, and renewable energy.
The region's thriving manufacturing sector includes food processing, machinery, printing, metal products, and computers and electronic products.
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4/13/2022 9:00:00 AM
Luke Greiner
Information Technology (IT) is vital to Southwest Minnesota's economy, but it can be hard to quantify the full impact of IT because it is not separately classified with its own NAICS code. Sometimes confused for an industry, the IT field is actually better classified as a set of occupations, specifically Computer and Mathematical occupations. While focused more heavily in certain sectors, IT employment is actually spread across every industry, since every industry utilizes some amount of IT.
In Southwest Minnesota, there are about 2,000 people employed in IT occupations, accounting for just over 1% of total employment in the region. The largest computer occupations include Computer User Support Specialists, Software Developers, Computer Systems Analysts, Computer Network Support Specialists, and Computer & Information Systems Managers.
Though relatively few people are employed in these occupations in the region, they are extremely high paying. The median hourly wage across all occupations in Southwest was $19.34 in 2020, while the median wage for Computer & Mathematical occupations was $33.90, or 75% higher than the overall median. The highest wages were for Computer Network Architects, which had a median approaching $55 per hour, or well over $110,000 per year. Wages were also near $100,000 annually for Computer & Information Systems Managers, Database Administrators & Architects, and Information Security Analysts (see Table 1).
| Table 1. Southwest Minnesota Computer Occupations, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Code | SOC Occupational Title | Estimated Regional Employment | Median Hourly Wage |
| 00-0000 | Total, All Occupations | 166,690 | $19.34/hr |
| 11-3021 | Computer & Information Systems Managers | 190 | $50.71/hr |
| 15-0000 | Computer & Mathematical Occupations | 1,690 | $33.90/hr |
| 15-1211 | Computer Systems Analysts | 210 | $43.37/hr |
| 15-1212 | Information Security Analysts | 30 | $47.09/hr |
| 15-1231 | Computer Network Support Specialists | 200 | $24.73/hr |
| 15-1232 | Computer User Support Specialists | 440 | $25.81/hr |
| 15-1241 | Computer Network Architects | 70 | $54.39/hr |
| 15-1244 | Network & Computer Systems Administrators | 190 | $38.36/hr |
| 15-1245 | Database Administrators & Architects | 20 | $48.51/hr |
| 15-1251 | Computer Programmers | 60 | $37.33/hr |
| 15-1256 | Software Developers & Software Quality Assurance Analysts & Testers | 330 | $42.40/hr |
| 15-1257 | Web Developers & Digital Interface Designers | 30 | $30.40/hr |
| 15-1299 | Computer Occupations, All Other | 70 | $31.67/hr |
| 15-2041 | Statisticians | 10 | $39.39/hr |
Some IT jobs were already in high demand in the region and were expected to be among the fastest growing into the future before the pandemic. But the rise in telework brought on by COVID-19 has made IT workers even more important, with rising numbers of job vacancies and above average projected growth rates. The number of openings for IT workers increased significantly from the second quarter of 2020, at the outset of the pandemic, to the second quarter of 2021, as employers have adapted to changing technology.
Looking at the new 2021 Occupations in Demand for Southwest Minnesota, there were six IT occupations in the top 250, showing above average demand in the region. Most notably, this included high demand for Computer User Support Specialists and Software Developers. And though all of these openings offer higher wages, IT occupations also typically require higher education, either a vocational award, associate's degree, bachelor's degree or higher (Table 2).
| Table 2. Southwest Minnesota Computer-related Occupations in Demand, 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Code | SOC Occupational Title | Current Demand Rank | Median Annual Wage | Education Requirements |
| 15-1232 | Computer User Support Specialists | 123 | $53,697 | Vocational award |
| 15-1256 | Software Developers & Software Analysts | 138 | $88,202 | Bachelor's degree |
| 15-1244 | Network & Computer Systems Administrators | 158 | $79,791 | Bachelor's degree |
| 15-1231 | Computer Network Support Specialists | 189 | $51,435 | Associate's degree |
| 15-1211 | Computer Systems Analysts | 192 | $90,206 | Bachelor's degree |
| 11-3021 | Computer & Information Systems Managers | 217 | $105,465 | Bachelor's degree |
| Source: DEED Occupations in Demand | ||||
Contact Labor Market Analysts Luke Greiner at 320-308-5378 or Mark Schultz.
