Data Science Job Trends

Data Science
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Data Science skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 160 137 107
Rank change year-on-year -23 -30 -42
Permanent jobs citing Data Science 1,006 1,003 2,213
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.36% 2.30% 2.63%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.74% 2.46% 3.01%
Number of salaries quoted 521 511 1,295
10th Percentile £44,196 £42,500 £41,250
25th Percentile £55,000 £52,500 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £70,000 £67,500
Median % change year-on-year - +3.70% -6.90%
75th Percentile £90,000 £91,226 £88,750
90th Percentile £102,500 £115,000 £115,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £62,500 £62,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year - +8.70% -10.20%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Data Science falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 57,853 40,823 73,554
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 78.06% 93.60% 87.34%
Number of salaries quoted 35,092 22,156 55,922
10th Percentile £29,750 £32,366 £29,000
25th Percentile £39,911 £45,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -11.86%
75th Percentile £76,674 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £93,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -9.09%

Data Science
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Data Science job vacancy trend in the UK

Data Science
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Data Science.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Data Science

Data Science
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Data Science over the 6 months to 14 March 2026.

Salary histogram for Data Science in the UK

Data Science
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Data Science within the UK over the 6 months to 14 March 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
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -16 932 £70,000 - 812
London +31 493 £80,000 - 417
UK excluding London -55 441 £62,500 - 579
Work from Home -25 322 £68,229 +6.61% 248
South East +5 158 £65,000 +8.33% 207
North of England -73 94 £62,500 - 136
South West -45 74 £60,000 -14.29% 65
Midlands -29 71 £55,000 +7.32% 83
North West -3 64 £62,500 -2.15% 58
West Midlands -11 38 £65,000 +44.44% 26
East Midlands -25 33 £40,000 -44.83% 57
Yorkshire -71 25 £60,000 -5.74% 55
East of England -3 20 £84,288 +38.18% 43
Scotland -47 13 £90,000 +71.43% 30
Wales -4 8 £39,756 -51.81% 18
North East -25 5 £62,500 +11.11% 25
Northern Ireland -32 3 - - 8

Data Science
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 75 (7.46%) Apache Spark
2 59 (5.86%) Apache Airflow
3 24 (2.39%) SharePoint
4 22 (2.19%) ArcGIS
5 21 (2.09%) Apache
6 10 (0.99%) Jupyter
7 7 (0.70%) SAS
8 6 (0.60%) Confluence
8 6 (0.60%) IIS
9 3 (0.30%) Apache Superset
9 3 (0.30%) CMS
9 3 (0.30%) GeoServer
10 1 (0.099%) Microsoft Exchange
10 1 (0.099%) Palantir Foundry
10 1 (0.099%) WordPress
Applications
1 64 (6.36%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (0.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (0.40%) Chatbot
3 4 (0.40%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
4 3 (0.30%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (0.60%) Salesforce CRM
2 2 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.099%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.099%) FIS Private Capital Suite
3 1 (0.099%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.099%) Odoo
3 1 (0.099%) SAP PLM
3 1 (0.099%) Sprinklr
3 1 (0.099%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 302 (30.02%) AWS
2 295 (29.32%) Azure
3 182 (18.09%) GCP
4 149 (14.81%) Power Platform
5 72 (7.16%) Snowflake
6 44 (4.37%) dbt
7 42 (4.17%) Azure Machine Learning
8 38 (3.78%) Azure AI
9 34 (3.38%) Amazon SageMaker
10 31 (3.08%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 31 (3.08%) Vertex AI
11 30 (2.98%) Azure Data Factory
12 29 (2.88%) Azure DevOps
13 26 (2.58%) GitHub
14 23 (2.29%) SaaS
15 22 (2.19%) Microsoft 365
16 20 (1.99%) Dagster
17 17 (1.69%) Amazon S3
17 17 (1.69%) PowerApps
17 17 (1.69%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 71 (7.06%) Broadband
2 11 (1.09%) 4G
2 11 (1.09%) BGP
2 11 (1.09%) Cisco IOS
2 11 (1.09%) Ethernet VPN
2 11 (1.09%) IOS XR
2 11 (1.09%) MPLS
3 4 (0.40%) HTTP
3 4 (0.40%) Kerberos
3 4 (0.40%) TCP/IP
4 3 (0.30%) Internet
4 3 (0.30%) MQTT
5 2 (0.20%) Tactical Data Link
6 1 (0.099%) DHCP
6 1 (0.099%) LTE
6 1 (0.099%) Modbus
6 1 (0.099%) Network Security
6 1 (0.099%) Software-Defined Radio
6 1 (0.099%) TCAP
6 1 (0.099%) Value-Added Service
Database & Business Intelligence
1 141 (14.02%) Power BI
2 126 (12.52%) Data Warehouse
3 108 (10.74%) Tableau
4 87 (8.65%) Data Lake
5 60 (5.96%) BigQuery
6 52 (5.17%) Metadata
7 47 (4.67%) NoSQL
8 46 (4.57%) Amazon Redshift
9 40 (3.98%) Elasticsearch
10 38 (3.78%) Big Data
11 35 (3.48%) MongoDB
12 32 (3.18%) Looker
12 32 (3.18%) SQL Server
13 31 (3.08%) PostgreSQL
14 30 (2.98%) GIS
15 26 (2.58%) QGIS
16 25 (2.49%) Data Mining
16 25 (2.49%) Hadoop
17 24 (2.39%) Delta Lake
18 22 (2.19%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 67 (6.66%) Git
2 43 (4.27%) MLflow
3 15 (1.49%) GitLab
4 8 (0.80%) JIRA
5 7 (0.70%) ERwin
5 7 (0.70%) PowerDesigner
6 5 (0.50%) Jenkins
7 4 (0.40%) ER Studio
8 3 (0.30%) Selenium
9 2 (0.20%) Burp Suite
10 1 (0.099%) Metasploit
10 1 (0.099%) MSBuild
10 1 (0.099%) TeamCity
10 1 (0.099%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 274 (27.24%) Finance
2 264 (26.24%) Social Skills
3 214 (21.27%) Analytical Skills
4 91 (9.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 88 (8.75%) Banking
6 81 (8.05%) Marketing
7 56 (5.57%) Retail
8 54 (5.37%) Pharmaceutical
9 41 (4.08%) Financial Institution
9 41 (4.08%) Law
9 41 (4.08%) Public Sector
10 22 (2.19%) Legal
11 20 (1.99%) Manufacturing
12 19 (1.89%) Organisational Skills
13 14 (1.39%) Advertising
13 14 (1.39%) Influencing Skills
13 14 (1.39%) Telecoms
14 11 (1.09%) Documentation Skills
15 10 (0.99%) Investment Banking
16 6 (0.60%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 227 (22.56%) Data Scientist
2 210 (20.87%) Senior
3 152 (15.11%) Data Engineer
4 134 (13.32%) Lead
5 88 (8.75%) Analyst
5 88 (8.75%) Senior Data Scientist
6 74 (7.36%) Consultant
7 71 (7.06%) Data Analyst
8 61 (6.06%) Software Engineer
9 51 (5.07%) Developer
10 50 (4.97%) Senior Data Engineer
11 33 (3.28%) Artificial Intelligence Consultant
12 28 (2.78%) Architect
12 28 (2.78%) Python Engineer
13 27 (2.68%) Data Consultant
14 24 (2.39%) Scala Engineer
15 21 (2.09%) Machine Learning Consultant
16 20 (1.99%) Lead Data Scientist
16 20 (1.99%) Senior Consultant
16 20 (1.99%) Spatial Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 110 (10.93%) PyTorch
2 81 (8.05%) TensorFlow
3 44 (4.37%) scikit-learn
4 38 (3.78%) gRPC
5 35 (3.48%) LangChain
6 34 (3.38%) PySpark
7 33 (3.28%) Kafka
8 30 (2.98%) React
9 20 (1.99%) HTML
9 20 (1.99%) Pandas
10 19 (1.89%) RESTful
11 16 (1.59%) Django
12 15 (1.49%) CSS
13 13 (1.29%) .NET
13 13 (1.29%) FastAPI
14 12 (1.19%) REST
15 11 (1.09%) Jinja
15 11 (1.09%) NETCONF
15 11 (1.09%) Node.js
15 11 (1.09%) XGBoost
Miscellaneous
1 97 (9.64%) Algorithms
2 85 (8.45%) Life Science
3 62 (6.16%) Distributed Systems
4 50 (4.97%) Product Ownership
5 49 (4.87%) Video\Live Streaming
6 40 (3.98%) Over-the-Top Content
7 37 (3.68%) Management Information System
8 33 (3.28%) Cloud Native
8 33 (3.28%) Self-Motivation
9 25 (2.49%) Data Structures
10 23 (2.29%) AI Agents
11 21 (2.09%) Pharmacovigilance
12 19 (1.89%) Social Media
13 18 (1.79%) Greenfield Project
13 18 (1.79%) Onboarding
14 12 (1.19%) Clustering
15 11 (1.09%) Enterprise Software
15 11 (1.09%) Public Cloud
16 10 (0.99%) Analytical Mindset
17 9 (0.89%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 11 (1.09%) Linux
2 5 (0.50%) Unix
3 3 (0.30%) Windows
4 1 (0.099%) Android
4 1 (0.099%) Kali Linux
4 1 (0.099%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 521 (51.79%) AI
2 499 (49.60%) Analytics
3 493 (49.01%) Machine Learning
4 245 (24.35%) Problem-Solving
5 216 (21.47%) Decision-Making
6 214 (21.27%) Business Intelligence
7 213 (21.17%) Agile
8 206 (20.48%) Computer Science
9 193 (19.18%) Data Engineering
10 191 (18.99%) CI/CD
11 177 (17.59%) Data Pipeline
12 172 (17.10%) Data Modelling
13 157 (15.61%) Data Analysis
14 152 (15.11%) Visualisation
15 146 (14.51%) ETL
16 144 (14.31%) Mentoring
17 135 (13.42%) Data Governance
17 135 (13.42%) Mathematics
18 134 (13.32%) Generative AI
19 132 (13.12%) Use Case
Programming Languages
1 576 (57.26%) Python
2 299 (29.72%) SQL
3 83 (8.25%) Scala
4 68 (6.76%) R
5 65 (6.46%) Java
6 51 (5.07%) Go
7 30 (2.98%) JavaScript
8 20 (1.99%) VBA
9 15 (1.49%) C++
10 14 (1.39%) C#
11 12 (1.19%) Bash
11 12 (1.19%) TypeScript
12 8 (0.80%) Rust
12 8 (0.80%) T-SQL
13 7 (0.70%) ANSI SQL
13 7 (0.70%) PHP
14 6 (0.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 5 (0.50%) Bicep
15 5 (0.50%) PowerShell
16 4 (0.40%) C
Qualifications
1 354 (35.19%) Degree
2 133 (13.22%) Master's Degree
3 103 (10.24%) Security Cleared
4 84 (8.35%) Computer Science Degree
5 68 (6.76%) PhD
6 60 (5.96%) SC Cleared
7 42 (4.17%) DV Cleared
8 38 (3.78%) Numerate Degree
9 22 (2.19%) DBS Check
9 22 (2.19%) MBA
10 17 (1.69%) Azure Certification
11 13 (1.29%) APMP
12 9 (0.89%) Microsoft Certification
13 8 (0.80%) PMI Certification
14 7 (0.70%) PMP
15 6 (0.60%) BPSS Clearance
16 4 (0.40%) AWS Certification
17 3 (0.30%) SAP Certification
18 2 (0.20%) Postgraduate
19 1 (0.099%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 168 (16.70%) Data Quality
2 58 (5.77%) Accessibility
3 57 (5.67%) GDPR
4 31 (3.08%) QA
5 28 (2.78%) GxP
6 22 (2.19%) Solvency II
7 21 (2.09%) EU AI Act
7 21 (2.09%) HIPAA
7 21 (2.09%) PSD2
8 12 (1.19%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 9 (0.89%) Actionable Recommendations
10 6 (0.60%) CDISC
10 6 (0.60%) HL7
11 3 (0.30%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 3 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 3 (0.30%) PERC
12 2 (0.20%) ISO 9001
13 1 (0.099%) GMP
13 1 (0.099%) IFRS
13 1 (0.099%) IFRS 17
System Software
1 104 (10.34%) Docker
2 5 (0.50%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.20%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 60 (5.96%) Kubernetes
2 43 (4.27%) Terraform
3 6 (0.60%) Ansible
4 5 (0.50%) Kubeflow
5 2 (0.20%) Argo
6 1 (0.099%) Nagios
6 1 (0.099%) Nessus
6 1 (0.099%) Nmap
Vendors
1 131 (13.02%) Databricks
2 88 (8.75%) Microsoft
3 73 (7.26%) Google
4 36 (3.58%) Typelevel
5 30 (2.98%) Alteryx
5 30 (2.98%) Bloomberg
6 27 (2.68%) Salesforce
7 25 (2.49%) Dell
8 24 (2.39%) Informatica
9 23 (2.29%) Oracle
10 22 (2.19%) OpenAI
11 20 (1.99%) Cisco
12 14 (1.39%) Palantir
13 12 (1.19%) Denodo
13 12 (1.19%) SAP
13 12 (1.19%) Teradata
14 9 (0.89%) Cloudera
15 8 (0.80%) Foundry
15 8 (0.80%) Talend
16 7 (0.70%) ServiceNow