With the IT unemployment rate hovering around 3.8 percent, employers can no longer rely on mere incentives and perks to keep people in the house. Nowadays, they have to write checks.

This is especially true for companies in secondary markets like Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Milwaukee. The pool of talent is shallower in regions like these, but that doesn't mean there's less work to be done in their IT departments. So, the rule of supply and demand's kicking in: Salaries are going up.

Ironically, the same's not true in Silicon Valley: There, 2012 tech salaries slipped 2.8 percent year over year, according to Dice's annual salary survey. Still, the average tech salary there is $101,278, making it the only market where pay averages in the six figures.