data annotation jobs in 2026 — demand, top roles hiring, and related skills
As of 2026-08-12, data annotation appears in 1,151 job postings indexed by Skillenai over the past 90 days — most often required for AI Trainer roles, with demand down 33% vs the prior 4 weeks.
Last updated · 90d ending 2026-08-12
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Frequently asked questions about data annotation
+Is data annotation in demand in 2026?
Yes. data annotation appears in 1,151 job postings indexed by Skillenai over the 90 days ending 2026-08-12, with demand down 33% vs the prior 4 weeks. It is most often required for AI Trainer roles (13% of AI Trainer postings list it).
+What jobs require data annotation?
According to the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-08-12, the job titles most likely to require data annotation are AI Trainer (13% of postings list data annotation), AI Training Participant (11% of postings list data annotation), AI Training Expert (8% of postings list data annotation).
+What skills are commonly paired with data annotation?
Across job postings indexed by Skillenai (90 days ending 2026-08-12), data annotation most often appears alongside data labeling, AI model evaluation, AI training, internet connection, editing.
+Where is data annotation most in demand?
As of 2026-08-12, the metro areas posting the most jobs requiring data annotation are Leisure World, Castlebar, New York City, Mountain View, Paris, according to the Skillenai jobs index.
+How can I keep up with new data annotation content and jobs?
Skillenai indexes news, blog posts, and research papers mentioning data annotation alongside the jobs index. You can subscribe to a daily email digest of new data annotation content from your Skillenai account.
Weekly job postings requiring data annotation — last 90 days
Salary distribution
Box = 25th–75th percentile · tick = median · whisker = 10th–90th · USD, annualized
Job titles most likely to require data annotation
| Role | Postings mentioning | % requiring |
|---|---|---|
| AI Trainer | 148 | 12.9% |
| AI Training Participant | 126 | 10.9% |
| AI Training Expert | 92 | 8.0% |
| Database Administrator | 74 | 6.4% |
| Data Entry Clerk | 72 | 6.3% |
| AI Training Specialist | 40 | 3.5% |
| Generative AI Analyst | 37 | 3.2% |
| AI Evaluation Specialist | 30 | 2.6% |
| HR and Talent Professionals | 30 | 2.6% |
| Biology Expert | 25 | 2.2% |
Top metros hiring for data annotation
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Leisure World | 23 | 2.0% |
| Castlebar | 15 | 1.3% |
| New York City | 10 | 0.9% |
| Mountain View | 8 | 0.7% |
| Paris | 8 | 0.7% |
| San Francisco | 8 | 0.7% |
| Delhi | 7 | 0.6% |
| London | 7 | 0.6% |
| San Jose | 7 | 0.6% |
Skills commonly paired with data annotation
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How this was computed
Counts derive from the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-08-12. Skills are resolved against the Skillenai canonical taxonomy, so the same entity is counted whether a posting writes 'Python', 'Python 3', or 'python'. Pages refresh weekly (or daily for the top-50 most-requested skills).
- source
- Skillenai jobs index, deduplicated daily
- entity_id
- a7ccce47304a1548
- data_as_of
- 2026-08-12
- 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.
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