Published 2026-03-08 Based on 1,969 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 1,969 tracked postings across 491 companies.
  • AI/ML Engineer is the most common role at 967 postings (49%).
  • The median max posted salary is $225K, with significant variation by role and seniority.
  • 24% of AI roles are posted as remote.

Key Numbers

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

1,969
Active AI Postings
Tracked roles
491
Companies Hiring
Unique employers
$225K
Median Max Salary
From 1,585 postings w/ salary
24%
Remote
468 remote postings

Role Distribution

How AI job postings distribute across role categories.

AI/ML Engineer
967 (49%)
Research Scientist
251 (13%)
Data Scientist
161 (8%)
LLM Engineer
116 (6%)
Prompt Engineer
112 (6%)
MLOps Engineer
94 (5%)
AI Software Engineer
86 (4%)
AI Product Manager
70 (4%)
Data Engineer
29 (1%)
Research Engineer
22 (1%)
RAG Engineer
14 (1%)
AI Engineering Manager
13 (1%)

Salary by Role

Median max salary by role category. Premium is vs the overall median of $225K.

RoleMedian Salaryvs MedianPostings
AI Engineering Manager$260K+16%10
Research Scientist$260K+16%241
AI Product Manager$255K+14%67
Research Engineer$250K+11%19
AI Software Engineer$250K+11%64
MLOps Engineer$239K+6%79
LLM Engineer$223K-1%95
Data Scientist$222K-1%130
AI/ML Engineer$212K-5%745
Prompt Engineer$212K-5%81
Data Engineer$202K-10%17
RAG Engineer$190K-16%12

Top Hiring Companies

The companies with the most active AI job postings.

Amazon.com
362 jobs
Amazon Web Services
141 jobs
Accenture
94 jobs
Google
91 jobs
Deloitte
60 jobs
FutureSight
58 jobs
Microsoft
45 jobs
Crowe LLP
45 jobs
Apple
32 jobs
Uber
28 jobs
Unknown
27 jobs
Anduril
24 jobs
Information Technology Senior Management Forum
19 jobs
GEICO
18 jobs
JPMorganChase
17 jobs

Top Locations

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

San Francisco
321
New York
197
Seattle
185
Los Angeles
180
Austin
108
Remote
89
Boston
89
Denver
15
Chicago
10

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 1,969 AI job postings collected by AI Market Pulse in March 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 1,969 active AI job postings across 491 companies. This includes roles in ML engineering, data science, prompt engineering, research, and AI product management.
Based on 1,585 postings with disclosed compensation, the median salary range for AI roles is $141K to $225K. Actual salaries vary significantly by role, experience, and location.
The top AI employers by posting volume include Amazon.com, Amazon Web Services, Accenture, Google, Deloitte. Company hiring patterns shift frequently as projects ramp up and down.
The most common role categories are AI/ML Engineer, Research Scientist, Data Scientist, LLM Engineer, Prompt Engineer. These categories encompass a range of specific titles and specializations.
Data Source: Analysis based on 1,969 AI job postings collected and verified by AI Market Pulse. Data reflects active job listings as of March 2026. Salary figures represent posted compensation ranges and may not include equity, bonuses, or other benefits.

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