Data Scientist jobs in 2026 — required skills, demand trends, and top hiring cities
As of 2026-10-20, Skillenai has indexed 5,612 job postings with the title “Data Scientist” over the past 90 days. The skill mentioned most often is Python, with demand share down 1.6% vs the prior 4 weeks.
Last updated · 90d ending 2026-10-20
How well does your resume match Data Scientist?
Upload your resume and Skillenai will score it against the Data Scientist skills on this page, then show exactly which ones you are missing.
Prepare for your next Data Scientist interview
We’re bringing our job-posting and career-profile data into mock interviews, so you can practice the skills and experience that matter for Data Scientist roles.
Frequently asked questions about Data Scientist jobs
+How many Data Scientist jobs are being posted in 2026?
Skillenai has indexed 5,612 job postings with the title “Data Scientist” over the 90 days ending 2026-10-20.
+What skills do Data Scientist jobs require?
Across Data Scientist postings indexed by Skillenai over the 90 days ending 2026-10-20, the skills mentioned most often are Python, SQL, machine learning, R, data visualization.
+Which cities are hiring the most Data Scientist?
As of 2026-10-20, Data Scientist postings indexed by Skillenai are concentrated in London, New York City, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington.
+Is Data Scientist a good career path right now?
Skillenai indexes 5,612 Data Scientist postings over the 90 days ending 2026-10-20. The skill mentioned most often in Data Scientist postings is Python, so building it gives the strongest signal that an applicant matches the role.
+How can I track new Data Scientist job postings as they’re indexed?
Skillenai sends a daily email digest of new Data Scientist postings indexed across the open web. Subscribe from your account dashboard after creating a free Skillenai account.
+What roles do people move into and out of Data Scientist?
The career-flow chart shows roles before and after observed employer changes across all locations. Counts are moves, not distinct people or promotion probabilities. Same-role moves to another employer are included. The incoming and outgoing sides are separate groups of observations, not a matched three-stage journey.
Weekly indexed Data Scientist postings — last 90 days
Salary distribution
Box = 25th–75th percentile · tick = median · whisker = 10th–90th · USD, annualized
Career paths through Data Scientist
Different-role employer moves. Each side is scaled independently.
Historical career profiles · all locations
9,693 employer moves kept the same role.
Roles before Data Scientist
Roles after Data Scientist
How to read this chart · view counts
Each side is an independent set of observed employer moves, not the same people followed through three stages. Ribbon widths compare move counts within that side. Internal moves are not included.
Same role means a change of employer while keeping the same role. Counts are moves, not distinct people, promotions, or your chances of making a particular move.
Source: Skillenai talent graph, historical career profiles. Historical descriptions and coverage can change. Only the leading published connections are shown.
| Connection | Moves |
|---|---|
| Before: Data Scientist (different employer) | 9,693 |
| Before: Software Engineer | 2,292 |
| Before: Data Analyst | 2,222 |
| Before: Research Assistant | 905 |
| Before: ML Engineer | 713 |
| Before: Teaching Assistant | 509 |
| Before: Data Engineer | 416 |
| Before: Research Scientist | 330 |
| After: Data Scientist (different employer) | 9,693 |
| After: Software Engineer | 2,390 |
| After: Data Analyst | 1,421 |
| After: ML Engineer | 812 |
| After: Data Engineer | 592 |
| After: Machine Learning Engineer | 387 |
| After: Research Assistant | 361 |
| After: Teaching Assistant | 282 |
Skills most often required for Data Scientist
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 3,608 | 64.3% |
| SQL | 2,706 | 48.2% |
| machine learning | 2,266 | 40.4% |
| R | 1,277 | 22.8% |
| data visualization | 882 | 15.7% |
| scikit-learn | 684 | 12.2% |
| PyTorch | 635 | 11.3% |
| AWS | 601 | 10.7% |
| A/B testing | 599 | 10.7% |
| causal inference | 576 | 10.3% |
| Spark | 573 | 10.2% |
| Tableau | 564 | 10.0% |
| Statistical modeling | 562 | 10.0% |
| predictive modeling | 549 | 9.8% |
| pandas | 542 | 9.7% |
Top companies posting Data Scientist jobs
Employers ranked by indexed job postings in the last 90 days.
| Company | Postings · 90 days |
|---|---|
| Capital One | 78 |
| Bah | 76 |
| Grab | 61 |
| Mastercard | 52 |
| Elsevier | 51 |
| NielsenIQ | 43 |
| Stripe | 42 |
| Guidehouse | 41 |
| Amgen | 40 |
| PwC | 37 |
Job postings indexed over the past 90 days, grouped by resolved employer. Counts are postings, not hires. Companies without a published page appear without a link.
Top metros hiring Data Scientist
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| London | 166 | 3.0% |
| New York City | 166 | 3.0% |
| San Francisco | 165 | 2.9% |
| Toronto | 99 | 1.8% |
| Washington | 97 | 1.7% |
| Singapore | 92 | 1.6% |
| Bengaluru | 85 | 1.5% |
| Chicago | 81 | 1.4% |
| Atlanta | 76 | 1.4% |
Get a daily email digest of new Data Scientist jobs
Skillenai aggregates data scientist jobs from across the open web. Click below and we'll open a pre-filled daily digest — change the cadence to hourly or weekly if you prefer, then save. Free account required (~30 seconds).
Explore related pages
How this was computed
Counts derive from the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-10-20, matching postings whose canonical role is “Data Scientist”. Pages refresh weekly (or daily for the top-50 most-posted roles). Adjusted posting share: 2.4% to 2.3%. Demand share change is the relative percentage change between these adjusted shares. Each employer-and-ATS group has at least 10 postings in each 90-day window; its earlier posting count supplies the same weight in both windows. The panel includes 2,611 identified employers and covers 72% of earlier and 73% of latest indexed postings. Windows: 2026-06-23 to 2026-09-21 and 2026-07-21 to 2026-10-19 (UTC; end dates excluded). The windows overlap by 62 days. Dates reflect indexing, not the employer’s posting date. This measures posting mix, not total hiring or market-wide demand. Matching excludes entrants and exits; changes in crawl completeness within an employer or ATS can still affect the result.
- role
- Data Scientist
- source
- Skillenai jobs index, deduplicated daily
- data_as_of
- 2026-10-20
- window_days
- 90
The demand, skills, and geo numbers on this page come from the same Skillenai labor market index that powers our API. Use it for compensation benchmarking, hiring-competition analysis, and skill-adoption tracking.
Skillenai for recruiters →