Data Center Technician apprenticeships in Rockford, IL
Rockford, IL is a smaller U.S. metro. Here is what working as a data center technician looks like locally.
KEY FACTS — ROCKFORD, IL
Rockford: ~5 of 60 (~7.8%) · market pressure 19/100 — Very low pressure.
Confidence: low. Annual labor earnings (W-2 wages + self-employment), not OEWS hourly-wage extrapolations.
Source: Census ACS 2024 5-year PUMS (state-rate projection onto metro OEWS employment).
Source: BLS OEWS.
Confidence: low. Composite of projected annual openings, projected growth, and current $100K+ earnings rate. Not a direct vacancy count.
Source: Projections Central data; score computed by Prentice.
Source: Census ACS 2022 5-year.
A framing, not a forecast. See methodology.
Numerator: ACS PUMS $100K+ annual earners.
Rockford, IL is one of Illinois's labor markets for data center technicians. This page collects what adults switching into a career as a data center technician inside the Rockford metro need first: how local pay compares to the state, what the available labor-market data says about six-figure work, and which statewide programs and licensing rules apply locally.
Rockford, IL data center technicians earn a median of $47,860 (BLS OEWS Rockford MSA, May 2024). For Illinois context, statewide pay runs from $21/hr at entry to $34/hr at the state median and $51/hr at the experienced end. Statewide headline: $71K avg salary. The Rockford metro is a smaller U.S. MSA; local wages may run above or below the state median depending on sector mix.
Metro-level six-figure data center technician counts for the Rockford metro are not yet published; the estimate is suppressed or pending ingestion. ACS 2024 5-year PUMS estimates ~5 $100K+ annual earners (~7.8% of employed data center technicians, ACS PUMS WAGP+SEMP). Projections Central long-term pressure score: 19/100 (Very low, low confidence). Bachelor's-plus in the metro labor force: 55K (ACS 2022 5-year). For statewide context: Illinois shows ~18 of 3.9K (~0.5%). Sources: BLS OEWS, Census ACS PUMS, Projections Central, Census ACS.
Statewide data center technician programs and employer-sponsored paths are listed on the Illinois programs page; none are flagged as metro-exclusive. Metro program and association references are inherited from sourced state pages unless a metro-exclusive entity is explicitly sourced. Treat them as orientation, not a complete local inventory, and verify current intake details with the statewide source or sponsor before relying. Licensing is set at the state level: Illinois rules apply in the Rockford metro unless a local authority says otherwise. Metro pages use state-level licensing and program context unless a city, county, or sponsor rule is explicitly sourced. Verify current licensing, local add-ons, and sponsor requirements with the official state or local authority before relying. Smaller MSAs like the Rockford metro often source data center technician apprentices from a 60-mile radius into the nearest larger urban center; check with the state programs page for the closest active intake.
DATA CENTER TECHNICIAN PAY SNAPSHOT — ROCKFORD, IL
$47,860 (OEWS MSA-level median)
Source: BLS OEWS MSA cross-industry estimates. Where MSA-level data is suppressed or unpublished we fall back to the state median and label it explicitly.
Programs across Illinois
We list data center technician apprenticeships, schools, and locals statewide.
DATA CENTER TECHNICIAN IN NEARBY METROS
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