Data Scientist Job Trends

Data Scientist
UK

The median Data Scientist salary in the UK is £80,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 11 November 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Nov 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 319 521 484
Rank change year-on-year +202 -37 +34
Permanent Data Scientist jobs 714 135 277
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.58% 0.26% 0.41%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.63% 0.29% 0.43%
Number of salaries quoted 352 87 112
10th Percentile £50,125 £42,500 £38,620
25th Percentile £62,500 £52,500 £51,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £80,000 £65,000 £62,879
Median % change year-on-year +23.08% +3.37% -10.17%
75th Percentile £95,000 £85,000 £75,313
90th Percentile £100,000 £92,000 £93,725
UK excluding London median annual salary £75,000 £62,500 £60,000
% change year-on-year +20.00% +4.17% -7.69%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all permanent IT job adverts they make up.

6 months to
11 Nov 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Permanent job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title 113,137 46,791 63,694
% of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title 91.78% 90.01% 94.86%
Number of salaries quoted 74,688 28,721 35,684
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £35,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,500 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% -8.70% -4.17%
75th Percentile £76,250 £73,750 £75,000
90th Percentile £98,000 £92,500 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £46,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +19.57% -8.00% -4.76%

Data Scientist Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent Data Scientist job postings relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Data Scientist job vacancy trend in the UK

Data Scientist Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Data Scientist job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Data Scientist job vacancies in the UK

Data Scientist Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for Data Scientist jobs over the 6 months to 11 November 2026.

Salary histogram for Data Scientist in the UK

Data Scientist Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in Data Scientist jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 11 November 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Job Ads
Past 6 Months		 Median Salary
Past 6 Months		 Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Jobs
England +197 666 £80,000 +23.08% 646
UK excluding London +117 409 £75,000 +20.00% 203
London +99 285 £84,250 +16.21% 464
Work from Home +29 139 £70,000 +7.69% 252
North of England +12 127 £83,774 +34.04% 62
South East +6 89 £80,000 +88.24% 50
South West -1 88 £75,000 +7.14% 19
Midlands -23 66 £70,000 +12.00% 24
North West -16 60 £75,000 +36.36% 43
East Midlands -1 58 £70,000 +12.00% 8
Yorkshire +7 53 £85,000 +36.00% 14
Wales - 19 £75,000 - 9
North East -62 14 £80,000 +28.00% 5
Northern Ireland -71 10 £72,500 +81.25% 9
West Midlands -51 8 £75,013 +26.60% 16
Scotland -11 5 £75,013 -24.99% 16
East of England -53 5 £45,000 -23.40% 16

Data Scientist Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 11 November 2026, Data Scientist job ads cited the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent Data Scientist job ads.

RankSkillShareJob Ads
1Data Science100.0%714
2Machine Learning48.0%343
3AI38.9%278
4Python33.5%239
5Analytics29.4%210
6SQL18.6%133
7Generative AI14.1%101
8Degree13.2%94
9Actionable Insight12.7%91
9MLOps12.7%91
11Natural Language Processing11.2%80
12Predictive Modelling11.1%79
13Decision-Making10.6%76
14Azure9.5%68
14Statistics9.5%68
16CI/CD9.2%66
17Mentoring8.5%61
18AWS8.4%60
18Problem-Solving8.4%60
20Mathematics8.3%59
21Roadmaps7.6%54
22Security Cleared7.4%53
23LLM7.3%52
24Data Engineering7.1%51
25Software Engineering7.0%50
26Agile6.9%49
26Data Analysis6.9%49
28Validation6.7%48
29GCP6.4%46
30Statistical Modelling6.2%44

Data Scientist Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.

Job Titles

RankJob TitleShareJob Ads
1Senior Data Scientist51.4%367
2Lead Data Scientist16.4%117
3Principal Data Scientist5.5%39
4Research Scientist5.3%38
5Machine Learning Scientist3.6%26
6Developer3.5%25
7Data Engineer3.1%22
8Machine Learning Researcher2.7%19
9Artificial Intelligence Engineer2.1%15
9Senior Data Engineer2.1%15
9Statistician2.1%15
12Lead Developer1.8%13
13Data Manager1.7%12
14Research Software Engineer0.8%6
14Senior Software Engineer0.8%6
16Senior Data Warehouse Specialist0.7%5
17Data Analytics Scientist0.4%3
18Data Analyst0.3%2
18Data Science Leader0.3%2
18Junior Data Scientist0.3%2
750 Data Scientist jobs Nationwide