Market data · as of November 8, 2026
AI skills in job postings: how common, and what they pay
About 16% of the 332,591 U.S. postings we analyzed ask for a specific AI skill. The share runs from 61% in Data & Analytics postings to 2.3% in Academic. Where they do ask, the advertised pay is usually higher, by 7% to 44% after comparing like with like.
See where AI is already changing the jobs you are looking at
Exposure is the share of a job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage across 756 occupations. It is not a forecast, and a low number means no use seen yet.
The openings we see, by AI exposure
- 36% high
- 28% some
- 36% little observed
Of the 884,512 openings we could place in an occupation.
Source: Anthropic Economic Index, March 2026.
By function
“Raw” compares the median advertised pay of postings that ask for an AI skill with those that do not. “Like for like” compares within the same level and industry, which removes most of the effect of AI postings sitting at larger employers.
| Function | Ask for AI | Pay, raw | Pay, like for like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data & Analytics | 61% | +54% | +44% (about $60.5k) |
| Product | 41.4% | +19% | +7% (about $15k) |
| Design | 30% | — | — |
| Security | 28.1% | +49% | +9% (about $16.5k) |
| Marketing | 23.6% | +23% | +13% (about $18k) |
| Strategy | 20.7% | — | — |
| Engineering | 17.9% | +37% | +19% (about $32.5k) |
| Research | 16.7% | — | — |
| Customer Success | 16.6% | — | — |
| Human Resources | 13.3% | — | — |
| Investment | 12.4% | — | — |
| Sales | 11.6% | +28% | +18% (about $28.5k) |
| Finance | 11.4% | +46% | +14% (about $20k) |
| Legal | 10.7% | — | — |
| Administration | 7% | — | — |
| Programs | 6.9% | — | — |
| Operations | 5.3% | +40% | +22% (about $28.5k) |
| Executive Leadership | 5.2% | — | — |
| Fundraising & development | 3% | — | — |
| Clinical | 2.4% | — | — |
| Academic | 2.3% | — | — |
A dash means too few postings with pay to compare. Functions with fewer than 500 analyzed postings are left out.
By industry
Like for like here compares within the same function and level inside each industry. Industries with fewer than 300 analyzed postings are left out.
| Industry | Ask for AI | Pay, raw | Pay, like for like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology & Software | 34.3% | +28% | +18% (about $29.5k) |
| Media & Entertainment | 23.4% | — | — |
| Professional Services & Consulting | 18% | — | — |
| Financial Services & Banking | 17.7% | +26% | +17% (about $28k) |
| Telecommunications | 16.2% | — | — |
| Agriculture & Food Production | 11.6% | — | — |
| Pharmaceuticals & Biotech | 11.2% | — | — |
| Construction & Real Estate | 11.1% | — | — |
| Transportation & Logistics | 9.9% | — | — |
| Healthcare & Hospital Systems | 9.8% | +50% | +22% (about $34k) |
| Non-profit & Social Impact | 8% | — | — |
| Energy & Utilities | 7.5% | — | — |
| Aerospace & Defense | 7.3% | — | — |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 6.4% | — | — |
| Education & EdTech | 5% | — | — |
| Government & Public Sector | 4.5% | — | — |
By state
The state the posting lists as its primary location. Like for like compares within the same function and level in each state. States with fewer than 300 analyzed postings are left out.
| State | Ask for AI | Pay, raw | Pay, like for like |
|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 25.1% | +47% | +29% (about $42.5k) |
| CA | 25% | +41% | +30% (about $48.5k) |
| WA | 23.5% | +44% | +6% (about $12k) |
| MA | 18.4% | +21% | +25% (about $34k) |
| ID | 17.8% | — | — |
| IL | 15.5% | — | — |
| CO | 15.4% | +27% | +25% (about $35.5k) |
| DC | 14.5% | — | — |
| TX | 13.3% | +33% | +37% (about $55k) |
| GA | 13% | — | — |
| VA | 12.8% | +19% | +12% (about $16.5k) |
| NJ | 12.3% | — | — |
| UT | 12.3% | — | — |
| MN | 11.4% | — | — |
| DE | 10.8% | — | — |
Show the other 36 states
| State | Ask for AI | Pay, raw | Pay, like for like |
|---|---|---|---|
| NC | 10.6% | — | — |
| MD | 10.1% | — | — |
| AR | 10% | — | — |
| PR | 9.3% | — | — |
| MI | 9.2% | — | — |
| PA | 8.5% | — | — |
| TN | 8.5% | — | — |
| CT | 8.3% | — | — |
| ME | 8.3% | — | — |
| MT | 8.3% | — | — |
| FL | 7.8% | — | — |
| AZ | 7.7% | — | — |
| OR | 7.4% | — | — |
| IN | 7.2% | — | — |
| NE | 7.1% | — | — |
| KY | 7% | — | — |
| OH | 6.7% | — | — |
| MO | 6.6% | — | — |
| KS | 6.5% | — | — |
| OK | 6.1% | — | — |
| IA | 5.8% | — | — |
| NV | 5.5% | — | — |
| SD | 5.4% | — | — |
| WI | 5.3% | — | — |
| RI | 5.3% | — | — |
| ND | 5.2% | — | — |
| AL | 5% | — | — |
| VT | 4.9% | — | — |
| NH | 4.7% | — | — |
| HI | 4.4% | — | — |
| SC | 4.1% | — | — |
| AK | 4.1% | — | — |
| LA | 2.8% | — | — |
| MS | 2.3% | — | — |
| WV | 1.4% | — | — |
| NM | 1.2% | — | — |
Other skills and pay
AI is one skill among many. Skills that pay more ranks every skill with enough postings by the pay of the jobs that list it and by the gap against similar jobs, and the pay data cuts advertised pay by industry, function and employer size.
What counts as an AI skill
Twenty-four specific skills in three groups. A posting counts only when it names one of them, not when it mentions AI in company boilerplate.
Using AI in your work
- AI tools in daily work
- Gen-AI assistants (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude)
- Prompt design
- AI coding assistants
- AI workflow automation
- Automation platforms (Zapier, n8n, Power Automate)
- AI-enabled analytics
- AI in business apps (Agentforce, Now Assist)
- Gen-AI content tools
Leading AI: strategy, adoption, governance
- AI strategy and use cases
- AI adoption and change management
- Responsible AI
- AI governance and risk
- AI product management
- Leading AI teams
Building AI systems
- ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
- LLM application engineering
- RAG and vector search
- Model fine-tuning
- Model training and deep learning
- MLOps
- AI evaluation and guardrails
- GPU and CUDA
- Machine learning engineering
By level
All functions together, by seniority. Like for like compares within the same function.
| Level | Ask for AI | Pay, raw | Pay, like for like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | 7.6% | +23% | +27% (about $22.5k) |
| Early career | 12.1% | +47% | +39% (about $42.5k) |
| Mid-level | 16.6% | +46% | +37% (about $48.5k) |
| Senior IC | 27.2% | +36% | +30% (about $48k) |
| Manager | 12.4% | +36% | +29% (about $44.5k) |
| Director | 16.3% | +25% | +18% (about $35.5k) |
| VP and above | 13.5% | +23% | +7% (about $16.5k) |
By function and level, the advertised pay premium for postings that ask for an AI skill, compared within the same industry. A dash means too few paid postings to compare.
| Function | Entry | Early career | Mid-level | Senior IC | Manager | Director | VP and above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering | +24% | +42% | +22% | +14% | +12% | +8% | — |
| Operations | — | — | — | — | +31% | +12% | — |
| Sales | +19% | +11% | +11% | +24% | +25% | +18% | — |
| Finance | — | — | +11% | — | +15% | — | — |
| Marketing | — | — | +22% | +8% | +27% | -1% | — |
| Product | — | — | +2% | +9% | — | +17% | — |
| Security | — | — | +6% | +10% | — | — | — |
Published studies on seniority, with the source of each, also covered in the White Collar Employment Report.
- Lightcast. U.S. postings that list AI skills offer about 28% more pay (roughly $18,000 a year), and 51% of them are outside IT.
- Oxford Internet Institute. In a hiring experiment with about 1,700 recruiters, listing AI skills raised interview invitations by 8 to 15 percentage points and partly offset disadvantages of age and education. It measures invitations, not jobs or pay.
- NACE. 13.3% of entry-level postings now ask for AI skills, nearly three times the fall 2025 level.
- Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Employment of 22 to 25 year olds in the most AI-exposed jobs is 19% below comparable peers. Older workers show no comparable gap.
- Revelio Labs. Compared with non-adopters, firms using AI grew senior roles by 32% and junior roles by 6%.
Is it growing?
We measure this every week. A trend appears here after four weeks of data. Until then, the research above is the best evidence on direction.
How to read this
- The pay is what employers advertise, not what people were paid.
- Postings that ask for AI skills tend to be at larger employers and higher levels. The like-for-like column adjusts for level and industry, not for everything.
- A posting asking for a skill is not proof the job needs it day to day.
- It describes demand today. It does not say AI caused any layoff or hiring change.
See it for your own field
Candidates: the free Market Reality Assessment shows which AI skills your best-fit jobs ask for and a short course for each gap. Employers, colleges and workforce boards: we can show the same for your people, counts only, and build the training to close it.