Published 2026-07-23 Based on 3,708 job postings

AI Job Market Overview: Key Numbers for 2026

Comprehensive overview of the AI job market including role distribution, salary ranges, and hiring trends.

Key Takeaways

  • The AI job market currently has 3,708 tracked postings across 1,561 companies.
  • AI/ML Engineer is the most common role at 2,605 postings (70%).
  • The median max posted salary is $210K, with significant variation by role and seniority.
  • 14% of AI roles are posted as remote.

Key Numbers

AI market intelligence showing trends, funding, and hiring velocity

A snapshot of the AI job market based on our tracking of active job postings.

3,708
Active AI Postings
Tracked roles
1,561
Companies Hiring
Unique employers
$210K
Median Max Salary
From 2,646 postings w/ salary
14%
Remote
508 remote postings

Role Distribution

How AI job postings distribute across role categories.

AI/ML Engineer
2,605 (70%)
Data Scientist
310 (8%)
AI Software Engineer
259 (7%)
AI Product Manager
181 (5%)
Research Scientist
104 (3%)
Research Engineer
65 (2%)
AI Architect
47 (1%)
AI Agent Developer
37 (1%)
Data Engineer
30 (1%)
MLOps Engineer
30 (1%)
AI Engineering Manager
9 (0%)
AI Consultant
9 (0%)

Salary by Role

Median max salary by role category. Premium is vs the overall median of $210K.

RoleMedian Salaryvs MedianPostings
Research Engineer$236K+13%44
AI Architect$225K+7%33
AI Agent Developer$222K+6%26
AI Product Manager$219K+5%140
Research Scientist$219K+4%83
AI Engineering Manager$217K+4%4
AI Software Engineer$214K+2%194
MLOps Engineer$212K+1%20
AI/ML Engineer$210K0%1841
Data Scientist$184K-12%226
Data Engineer$161K-23%15
AI Consultant$148K-29%5

Top Hiring Companies

The companies with the most active AI job postings.

Google
126 jobs
Amazon.com
97 jobs
JPMorganChase
88 jobs
Amazon Web Services
73 jobs
Capital One
73 jobs
Information Technology Senior Management Forum
44 jobs
Publicis Groupe
41 jobs
BV Teck
40 jobs
World Wide Technology
31 jobs
Microsoft
29 jobs
Apple
28 jobs
Meta
26 jobs
NVIDIA
26 jobs
Cognizant
22 jobs
Accenture
19 jobs

Top Locations

Where AI jobs are concentrated geographically (by metro area).

New York
536
Remote
508
San Francisco
399
Los Angeles
323
Seattle
136
Austin
95
Chicago
79
Boston
61
Denver
25

What This Means for Your Career

The data in this report points to actionable steps for AI professionals at every level. If you are entering the field, focus on the skills and role types showing the strongest demand growth. For mid-career engineers, the salary premiums and skill clusters above highlight where specialization pays off most. Senior practitioners should watch the company-level trends to identify where AI investment is accelerating and position themselves accordingly.

Methodology: This analysis is based on 3,708 AI job postings collected by AI Pulse in July 2026. Data is sourced from Indeed and company career pages. Only postings with disclosed salary information are included in compensation analyses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our database currently tracks 3,708 active AI job postings across 1,561 companies. This includes roles in ML engineering, data science, prompt engineering, research, and AI product management.
Based on 2,646 postings with disclosed compensation, the median salary range for AI roles is $143K to $210K. Actual salaries vary significantly by role, experience, and location.
The top AI employers by posting volume include Google, Amazon.com, JPMorganChase, Amazon Web Services, Capital One. Company hiring patterns shift frequently as projects ramp up and down.
The most common role categories are AI/ML Engineer, Data Scientist, AI Software Engineer, AI Product Manager, Research Scientist. These categories encompass a range of specific titles and specializations.
Data Source: Analysis based on 3,708 AI job postings collected and verified by AI Pulse. Data reflects active job listings as of July 2026. Salary figures represent posted compensation ranges and may not include equity, bonuses, or other benefits.

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