Free Access No Registration Updated: 2026-06-01

Associate Career Market Report 2026

21,818 active jobs. 2,989 companies. Median salary $46K. Data from Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, Ashby, SmartRecruiters, Workable, and 14 additional ATS sources. Last computed: 2026-06-01.

21,818
Active Job Openings
2,989
Companies Hiring
$46K
Median Salary (US)
74%
With Salary Data

About This Report

The Associate market data on this page is updated daily from 800,000+ active job postings across 20 ATS platforms.

Greenhouse Lever Workday Ashby SmartRecruiters Workable + 14 more ATS sources

Salary: Extracted via NLP. Only USD $5K-$3M included. Skills: Named entity recognition, noise-filtered (generic soft skills excluded). Experience: Inferred from title + description. Coverage: 74% of positions include salary data.

Key Findings

Median salary: $46K in the US

Middle 50% of salaries range from $36K to $129K.

Remote roles pay 32% above the US national median

Remote-first employers competing nationally for talent. The premium reflects company quality (remote-first firms tend to be well-funded), not a work-mode bonus.

AI/LLM is the most-demanded skill at 16%

SQL demand rose +3.8pp — fastest-growing skill

Walmart leads hiring with 521 open positions

Biggest salary jump: Junior → Mid-Level (+$58K, +124%)

Salary increase: +$58K · Sample: Junior → Mid-Level

AI automation risk: medium-high (score 70/100)

Score: 70/100 · AI/LLM demand: 16% of postings

Week-over-week changes reflect dataset expansion, not market surge

Recent growth in tracked postings is from adding new data sources, not a one-week hiring boom. Interpret trend data with this in mind.

Salary by Experience Level

LevelJobsP25MedianP90
Senior217$38K$76K$157K
Junior216$42K$47K$120K
Mid-Level87$63K$105K$260K
Entry-Level72$47K$63K$86K
Lead8$39K$68K$190K

What jumps out

Junior → Mid-Level: +$58K (124%) — the biggest single-step increase. The salary curve is back-loaded: the largest raises come at transitions where scope changes from executing tasks to owning outcomes, or from owning outcomes to shaping architecture across teams.

Salary by Country

CountryJobsMedianCurrency
United States694$58KUSD
Canada41$45KUSD
Remote30$76KUSD
United Kingdom11$41KUSD
India6$15KUSD

Work Mode

ModeShare
On-Site3.5%
Remote3.7%
Hybrid1.1%

~80% of postings do not specify work mode. Figures show only positions where it is explicitly stated.

Top Skills in Demand

AI/LLM
16%
Project Management
9%
Data Analysis
6%
SQL
4%

Skills on the Rise

SQL ↑+3.8pp

Declining in Demand

Journalism ↓-23.1ppExcel ↓-21.5ppCustomer Service ↓-19.6ppAttention to Detail ↓-18.1ppRisk Management ↓-7.1pp

Top Companies Hiring

CompanyOpeningsShare
Walmart5212.4%
Spartannash2921.3%
Knitwellgroup2721.2%
Gopuff2451.1%
Carmax2271.0%
Amgen2131.0%
Bmo2101.0%
Td1820.8%

Top Countries by Job Volume

CountryJobs
United States8,661
India1,072
Canada835
United Kingdom725
Germany504
Remote398
Australia229
Singapore209

Education Requirements

LevelSharePositions
Associate Degree30.6%1,528
Master's Degree5.6%278
Bachelor's Degree5.1%253
High School / GED0.7%36
MBA0.5%23
PhD / Doctorate0.4%22

Certifications

CPA (2%)MBA (1%)

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