Free Access No Registration Updated: 2026-06-01

Data Scientist Career Market Report 2026

OverviewSalarySkillsCareer PathAI ImpactResume Guide

4,560 active jobs. 1,452 companies. Median salary $134K. Data from Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, Ashby, SmartRecruiters, Workable, and 14 additional ATS sources. Last computed: 2026-06-01.

4,560
Active Job Openings
1,452
Companies Hiring
$134K
Median Salary (US)
79%
With Salary Data

About This Report

Data Scientist roles are rapidly incorporating AI/LLM requirements, with 81% of postings now listing it.

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: 79% of positions include salary data.

Key Findings

Median salary: $134K in the US

Middle 50% of salaries range from $99K to $212K.

Remote roles pay 20% 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.

Python is the most-demanded skill at 73%

MLOps demand rose +11.2pp — fastest-growing skill

Cobblestoneenergy leads hiring with 103 open positions

Biggest salary jump: Lead → Staff (+$67K, +60%)

Salary increase: +$67K · Sample: Lead → Staff

AI automation risk: low (score 30/100)

Score: 30/100 · AI/LLM demand: 139% of postings

Salary by Experience Level

LevelJobsP25MedianP90
Senior261$99K$130K$187K
Staff103$156K$180K$250K
Mid-Level97$92K$99K$175K
Manager64$118K$160K$360K
Junior58$78K$78K$131K
Lead52$90K$113K$179K
Director52$157K$182K$250K
Entry-Level4$80K$88K$120K

What jumps out

Lead → Staff: +$67K (60%) — 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 States422$137KUSD
Remote107$165KUSD
United Kingdom14$99KGBP
India11$10KUSD

Work Mode

ModeShare
On-Site2.2%
Remote16.1%
Hybrid2.6%

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

Top Skills in Demand

Python
73%
AI/LLM
66%
SQL
54%
Data Analysis
30%
AWS
21%
PyTorch
16%
Spark
16%
Pandas
15%
TensorFlow
15%
scikit-learn
15%
Azure
14%
R
14%

Skills on the Rise

MLOps ↑+11.2ppDatabricks ↑+10.8ppPython ↑+10.0ppAI/LLM ↑+9.3ppData Pipeline ↑+9.2pp

Declining in Demand

Agile ↓-12.7ppJournalism ↓-11.5pp

Top Companies Hiring

CompanyOpeningsShare
Cobblestoneenergy1032.3%
Bah821.8%
Capitalone821.8%
Micron511.1%
Amazon400.9%
Relx330.7%
Amgen310.7%
Nielseniq300.7%

Top Countries by Job Volume

CountryJobs
United States1,477
Remote367
India273
United Kingdom201
United Arab Emirates113
Singapore109
Canada96
Germany72

Education Requirements

LevelSharePositions
Associate Degree47.9%1,729
Master's Degree14.6%527
PhD / Doctorate9.9%358
Bachelor's Degree6.9%249
MBA0.3%12

Certifications

All certifications below 1% threshold. Certifications carry minimal weight in this profession's hiring decisions.

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