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 26 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 156 129 100
Rank change year-on-year -27 -29 -33
Permanent jobs citing Data Science 972 1,113 2,109
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.40% 2.34% 2.81%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.77% 2.52% 3.18%
Number of salaries quoted 509 505 1,305
10th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £42,264
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 £90,000 £87,500
90th Percentile £104,000 £107,000 £115,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £61,418 £62,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year -1.73% +8.70% -10.59%

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 55,019 44,239 66,292
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 78.97% 92.93% 88.38%
Number of salaries quoted 33,006 22,069 51,040
10th Percentile £29,000 £33,750 £29,440
25th Percentile £38,500 £45,750 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,001 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £76,250 £81,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -9.07%

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 26 February 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 26 February 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 -24 900 £70,000 - 410
London +25 477 £80,939 +1.17% 213
UK excluding London -73 428 £61,418 -1.73% 271
Work from Home -46 309 £67,500 +3.85% 164
South East -16 160 £60,000 -1.64% 83
North of England -63 93 £62,500 -2.25% 72
South West -37 70 £60,000 -14.29% 35
Midlands -13 67 £55,000 +15.79% 48
North West -11 64 £62,500 -3.85% 42
East Midlands -13 35 £40,000 -40.74% 25
West Midlands -11 32 £65,000 +44.44% 22
Yorkshire -79 24 £60,000 -6.25% 16
East of England -9 15 £81,850 +33.09% 13
Wales +1 11 £39,756 -51.81% 7
Scotland -58 11 £95,000 +100.00% 14
North East -11 5 £62,500 +25.00% 15
Northern Ireland -27 2 £40,000 -52.94% 6

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 70 (7.20%) Apache Spark
2 46 (4.73%) Apache Airflow
3 27 (2.78%) SharePoint
4 22 (2.26%) ArcGIS
5 20 (2.06%) Apache
6 10 (1.03%) Jupyter
7 7 (0.72%) SAS
8 6 (0.62%) Confluence
8 6 (0.62%) IIS
9 3 (0.31%) Apache Superset
9 3 (0.31%) CMS
10 1 (0.10%) GeoServer
10 1 (0.10%) Microsoft Exchange
10 1 (0.10%) Palantir Foundry
10 1 (0.10%) WordPress
Applications
1 72 (7.41%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (0.51%) Chatbot
2 5 (0.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (0.41%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.31%) Microsoft Office
4 3 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (0.62%) Salesforce CRM
2 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.10%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.10%) FIS Private Capital Suite
3 1 (0.10%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.10%) Odoo
3 1 (0.10%) SAP PLM
3 1 (0.10%) Sprinklr
3 1 (0.10%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 287 (29.53%) Azure
2 274 (28.19%) AWS
3 167 (17.18%) GCP
4 141 (14.51%) Power Platform
5 54 (5.56%) Snowflake
6 42 (4.32%) Azure Machine Learning
7 39 (4.01%) Azure AI
8 34 (3.50%) Amazon SageMaker
9 32 (3.29%) dbt
10 31 (3.19%) Vertex AI
11 29 (2.98%) Azure Data Factory
12 28 (2.88%) Azure DevOps
13 27 (2.78%) GitHub
14 25 (2.57%) Azure Synapse Analytics
15 24 (2.47%) Microsoft 365
16 23 (2.37%) SaaS
17 20 (2.06%) Dagster
18 19 (1.95%) PowerApps
19 16 (1.65%) Serverless
20 14 (1.44%) AWS Lambda
Communications & Networking
1 59 (6.07%) Broadband
2 11 (1.13%) 4G
2 11 (1.13%) BGP
2 11 (1.13%) Cisco IOS
2 11 (1.13%) Ethernet VPN
2 11 (1.13%) IOS XR
2 11 (1.13%) MPLS
3 7 (0.72%) TCP/IP
4 5 (0.51%) Firewall
5 4 (0.41%) Bluetooth
5 4 (0.41%) HTTP
5 4 (0.41%) Intrusion Detection
5 4 (0.41%) Kerberos
5 4 (0.41%) Modbus
5 4 (0.41%) Network Security
5 4 (0.41%) VLAN
5 4 (0.41%) Wireshark
5 4 (0.41%) ZigBee
6 3 (0.31%) MQTT
7 2 (0.21%) Tactical Data Link
Database & Business Intelligence
1 134 (13.79%) Power BI
2 106 (10.91%) Data Warehouse
3 103 (10.60%) Tableau
4 71 (7.30%) Data Lake
5 53 (5.45%) Metadata
6 49 (5.04%) BigQuery
7 42 (4.32%) NoSQL
8 40 (4.12%) Big Data
9 38 (3.91%) Amazon Redshift
10 33 (3.40%) SQL Server
11 29 (2.98%) MongoDB
12 28 (2.88%) Data Mining
13 27 (2.78%) Hadoop
14 26 (2.67%) Elasticsearch
14 26 (2.67%) GIS
15 24 (2.47%) Looker
15 24 (2.47%) PostgreSQL
15 24 (2.47%) QGIS
16 23 (2.37%) Delta Lake
17 22 (2.26%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 62 (6.38%) Git
2 35 (3.60%) MLflow
3 16 (1.65%) ERwin
4 13 (1.34%) GitLab
5 9 (0.93%) JIRA
6 7 (0.72%) PowerDesigner
7 5 (0.51%) Burp Suite
8 4 (0.41%) ER Studio
8 4 (0.41%) Metasploit
8 4 (0.41%) Selenium
9 3 (0.31%) Jenkins
10 1 (0.10%) JUnit
10 1 (0.10%) MSBuild
10 1 (0.10%) TeamCity
10 1 (0.10%) TestNG
10 1 (0.10%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 299 (30.76%) Finance
2 283 (29.12%) Social Skills
3 209 (21.50%) Analytical Skills
4 91 (9.36%) Banking
5 88 (9.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 81 (8.33%) Marketing
7 66 (6.79%) Pharmaceutical
8 55 (5.66%) Retail
9 45 (4.63%) Financial Institution
10 44 (4.53%) Law
11 34 (3.50%) Public Sector
12 24 (2.47%) Legal
12 24 (2.47%) Manufacturing
13 21 (2.16%) Organisational Skills
14 14 (1.44%) Telecoms
15 12 (1.23%) Advertising
15 12 (1.23%) Documentation Skills
16 11 (1.13%) Influencing Skills
17 9 (0.93%) Investment Banking
17 9 (0.93%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 210 (21.60%) Data Scientist
2 199 (20.47%) Senior
3 150 (15.43%) Data Engineer
4 144 (14.81%) Lead
5 96 (9.88%) Analyst
6 83 (8.54%) Senior Data Scientist
7 73 (7.51%) Consultant
7 73 (7.51%) Data Analyst
8 56 (5.76%) Software Engineer
9 51 (5.25%) Senior Data Engineer
10 48 (4.94%) Developer
11 35 (3.60%) Architect
12 34 (3.50%) Artificial Intelligence Consultant
13 24 (2.47%) Data Consultant
14 23 (2.37%) Data Architect
15 21 (2.16%) Machine Learning Consultant
15 21 (2.16%) Python Engineer
15 21 (2.16%) Senior Analyst
16 20 (2.06%) Spatial Consultant
17 19 (1.95%) Senior Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 101 (10.39%) PyTorch
2 75 (7.72%) TensorFlow
3 37 (3.81%) PySpark
3 37 (3.81%) scikit-learn
4 30 (3.09%) LangChain
5 29 (2.98%) gRPC
5 29 (2.98%) React
6 24 (2.47%) Kafka
6 24 (2.47%) Pandas
7 19 (1.95%) HTML
8 18 (1.85%) RESTful
9 15 (1.54%) Django
10 14 (1.44%) CSS
11 13 (1.34%) Hugging Face
12 11 (1.13%) .NET
12 11 (1.13%) FastAPI
12 11 (1.13%) Jinja
12 11 (1.13%) NETCONF
12 11 (1.13%) YANG
13 10 (1.03%) NumPy
Miscellaneous
1 101 (10.39%) Algorithms
2 92 (9.47%) Life Science
3 57 (5.86%) Distributed Systems
4 51 (5.25%) Product Ownership
5 39 (4.01%) Video\Live Streaming
6 36 (3.70%) Self-Motivation
7 32 (3.29%) Data Structures
8 31 (3.19%) Management Information System
9 30 (3.09%) Over-the-Top Content
10 23 (2.37%) AI Agents
10 23 (2.37%) Cloud Native
11 21 (2.16%) Pharmacovigilance
12 18 (1.85%) Social Media
13 17 (1.75%) Onboarding
14 15 (1.54%) Greenfield Project
15 13 (1.34%) Legacy Systems
16 12 (1.23%) Analytical Mindset
17 10 (1.03%) Enterprise Software
18 9 (0.93%) Hybrid Cloud
18 9 (0.93%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 13 (1.34%) Linux
2 5 (0.51%) Unix
3 4 (0.41%) Android
3 4 (0.41%) Kali Linux
3 4 (0.41%) Ubuntu
4 2 (0.21%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 505 (51.95%) AI
2 492 (50.62%) Analytics
3 486 (50.00%) Machine Learning
4 237 (24.38%) Problem-Solving
5 229 (23.56%) Computer Science
6 222 (22.84%) Agile
7 205 (21.09%) Decision-Making
8 196 (20.16%) Business Intelligence
9 176 (18.11%) CI/CD
9 176 (18.11%) Data Analysis
10 175 (18.00%) Data Engineering
11 170 (17.49%) Data Pipeline
12 166 (17.08%) Data Modelling
13 156 (16.05%) Visualisation
14 143 (14.71%) Mentoring
15 140 (14.40%) Data Governance
15 140 (14.40%) Mathematics
16 138 (14.20%) Statistics
17 134 (13.79%) ETL
17 134 (13.79%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 566 (58.23%) Python
2 297 (30.56%) SQL
3 73 (7.51%) R
3 73 (7.51%) Scala
4 67 (6.89%) Java
5 41 (4.22%) Go
6 27 (2.78%) JavaScript
7 22 (2.26%) VBA
8 21 (2.16%) C++
9 16 (1.65%) C#
10 11 (1.13%) Rust
10 11 (1.13%) TypeScript
11 10 (1.03%) Bash
12 7 (0.72%) ANSI SQL
12 7 (0.72%) PHP
13 6 (0.62%) C
13 6 (0.62%) MATLAB
13 6 (0.62%) T-SQL
14 5 (0.51%) PowerShell
15 4 (0.41%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 367 (37.76%) Degree
2 152 (15.64%) Master's Degree
3 107 (11.01%) Security Cleared
4 91 (9.36%) Computer Science Degree
5 83 (8.54%) PhD
6 71 (7.30%) SC Cleared
7 41 (4.22%) Numerate Degree
8 39 (4.01%) DV Cleared
9 24 (2.47%) MBA
10 21 (2.16%) DBS Check
11 16 (1.65%) Azure Certification
12 13 (1.34%) APMP
13 10 (1.03%) BPSS Clearance
14 9 (0.93%) Microsoft Certification
15 8 (0.82%) AWS Certification
15 8 (0.82%) PMI Certification
16 7 (0.72%) PMP
17 3 (0.31%) SAP Certification
18 1 (0.10%) ACCA
18 1 (0.10%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 164 (16.87%) Data Quality
2 58 (5.97%) GDPR
3 53 (5.45%) Accessibility
4 39 (4.01%) GxP
5 32 (3.29%) QA
6 22 (2.26%) EU AI Act
6 22 (2.26%) Solvency II
7 21 (2.16%) HIPAA
7 21 (2.16%) PSD2
8 9 (0.93%) Actionable Recommendations
9 7 (0.72%) CDISC
9 7 (0.72%) HL7
10 5 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 3 (0.31%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 3 (0.31%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.31%) PERC
12 2 (0.21%) ISO 9001
12 2 (0.21%) NIST
12 2 (0.21%) SOC 2
13 1 (0.10%) GAAP
System Software
1 96 (9.88%) Docker
2 4 (0.41%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 58 (5.97%) Kubernetes
2 36 (3.70%) Terraform
3 6 (0.62%) Ansible
4 4 (0.41%) Nessus
4 4 (0.41%) Nmap
5 3 (0.31%) Kubeflow
6 2 (0.21%) Argo
7 1 (0.10%) Nagios
Vendors
1 111 (11.42%) Databricks
2 83 (8.54%) Microsoft
3 76 (7.82%) Google
4 31 (3.19%) Alteryx
4 31 (3.19%) Bloomberg
5 30 (3.09%) Salesforce
6 27 (2.78%) Typelevel
7 25 (2.57%) OpenAI
8 23 (2.37%) Cisco
8 23 (2.37%) Oracle
9 14 (1.44%) Palantir
10 13 (1.34%) Informatica
11 12 (1.23%) SAP
12 9 (0.93%) Foundry
12 9 (0.93%) Talend
13 5 (0.51%) BT
13 5 (0.51%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
13 5 (0.51%) ServiceNow
14 4 (0.41%) Fortinet
14 4 (0.41%) Splunk