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 16 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 131 | 152 | 143 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +21 | -9 | -19 |
| Permanent jobs citing Data Science | 1,679 | 1,005 | 1,275 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 1.41% | 2.06% | 1.81% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 1.92% | 2.31% | 2.20% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 955 | 493 | 550 |
| 10th Percentile | £44,850 | £39,075 | £42,500 |
| 25th Percentile | £55,000 | £52,500 | £52,500 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £75,000 | £70,000 | £67,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +7.14% | +3.70% | -4.36% |
| 75th Percentile | £95,000 | £92,500 | £86,250 |
| 90th Percentile | £107,500 | £118,750 | £115,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £75,000 | £57,500 | £62,690 |
| % change year-on-year | +30.43% | -8.28% | -3.55% |
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.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills | 87,497 | 43,445 | 57,940 |
| As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK | 73.45% | 88.84% | 82.20% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 59,802 | 24,607 | 31,056 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,250 | £28,250 | £33,099 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £36,250 | £44,541 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £60,000 | £55,000 | £60,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +9.09% | -8.33% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £78,000 | £75,000 | £78,750 |
| 90th Percentile | £100,000 | £95,000 | £97,500 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £55,000 | £47,000 | £53,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +17.02% | -11.32% | -1.85% |
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 Salary Trend
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 16 October 2026.
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 16 October 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 | +24 | 1,562 | £75,000 | +7.14% | 2,720 |
| UK excluding London | +13 | 852 | £75,000 | +30.43% | 958 |
| London | +1 | 758 | £85,000 | - | 1,865 |
| Work from Home | +43 | 484 | £75,000 | +15.38% | 1,164 |
| North of England | +88 | 292 | £80,000 | +41.93% | 253 |
| North West | +62 | 174 | £75,000 | +30.43% | 152 |
| South East | -71 | 173 | £70,000 | +27.27% | 221 |
| Midlands | +24 | 144 | £60,805 | +2.62% | 134 |
| South West | +3 | 133 | £60,000 | -14.29% | 108 |
| Yorkshire | +31 | 85 | £76,263 | +32.63% | 74 |
| East Midlands | +16 | 85 | £70,000 | +75.00% | 60 |
| West Midlands | -16 | 59 | £47,988 | -27.29% | 74 |
| Scotland | +13 | 35 | £75,026 | -10.40% | 81 |
| East of England | -48 | 35 | £72,500 | +20.83% | 96 |
| North East | -45 | 33 | £80,000 | +68.42% | 27 |
| Wales | -55 | 30 | £87,500 | +94.18% | 38 |
| Northern Ireland | -72 | 10 | £72,500 | +81.25% | 36 |
Data Science 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.
Processes & Methodologies
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI | 51.7% | 868 |
| 2 | Machine Learning | 47.9% | 804 |
| 3 | Analytics | 37.6% | 632 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 18.3% | 307 |
| 5 | Decision-Making | 16.7% | 280 |
| 6 | Software Engineering | 16.6% | 278 |
| 7 | Data Engineering | 15.8% | 265 |
| 8 | Data Pipeline | 15.5% | 261 |
| 9 | Problem-Solving | 15.5% | 260 |
| 10 | Roadmaps | 15.4% | 259 |
| 11 | Agile | 14.6% | 245 |
| 12 | Generative AI | 14.2% | 238 |
| 13 | Business Intelligence | 13.0% | 219 |
| 14 | Mentoring | 12.8% | 215 |
| 15 | Actionable Insight | 12.6% | 212 |
| 16 | MLOps | 11.4% | 191 |
| 17 | Continuous Improvement | 10.9% | 183 |
| 17 | Data Modelling | 10.9% | 183 |
| 19 | DevOps | 10.2% | 171 |
| 20 | LLM | 10.0% | 168 |