NextChapter

Skills that pay more: which skills go with higher salaries

145 skills listed on at least 100 paid postings from 15 employers, ranked two ways: by the overall salary of postings that list them, and by the gap with function, level and industry matched. 43,426 paid postings with skills, as of November 9, 2026.

By Last updated

Largest pay gap, job mix matched

Postings that list the skill against similar postings that do not (same function, level and industry). Only gaps of 2% or more are listed as higher.

Skills ordered by like-for-like pay gap
SkillMedian pay listing itRaw gapGap, job mix matchedPostingsEmployers
PyTorch$237,500+43.8%+15.9%613221
Enterprise Sales$200,000+21.2%+13.6%1,161484
Machine Learning$207,500+27.7%+12.4%2,886706
C++$200,000+22.8%+9.3%2,180390
HIPAA$195,000+18.2%+9.2%650291
TypeScript$205,000+25.7%+8.4%1,956714
Logistics$137,500−17.6%+8.2%3,8201,065
SaaS Sales$195,000+18.2%+7.8%480218
React$200,000+21.5%+7.5%1,606685
Kubernetes$205,000+26.2%+7.2%2,354653
Kafka$214,000+29.5%+5.8%518239
Go-to-market$200,000+23.1%+5.4%3,202974
Airflow$198,000+20%+5.4%400207
Python$191,500+20.4%+5.4%7,7641,398
Quota$172,500+4.5%+4.8%2,044722
Android$200,000+21.2%+4.6%389173
Terraform$199,000+20.5%+4.4%1,347545
GCP$204,500+25.6%+4.1%1,943590
Forecasting$170,500+3.2%+3.3%3,3961,244
Procurement$156,000−5.8%+3.1%3,9071,302
iOS$196,000+18.8%+2.5%374183

Highest overall salary

Median advertised pay of postings that list the skill. This mixes in the seniority and field of the roles that list it.

Skills ordered by median pay of postings listing them
SkillMedian pay listing itRaw gapGap, job mix matchedPostingsEmployers
PyTorch$237,500+43.8%+15.9%613221
TensorFlow$232,500+40.9%n/a233113
Redis$225,000+36.4%n/a241122
Kafka$214,000+29.5%+5.8%518239
Cross-functional Leadership$210,000+27.3%+0.8%712377
Machine Learning$207,500+27.7%+12.4%2,886706
Prometheus$206,500+25.1%n/a268142
TypeScript$205,000+25.7%+8.4%1,956714
Kubernetes$205,000+26.2%+7.2%2,354653
M&A$205,000+24.2%n/a540285
GCP$204,500+25.6%+4.1%1,943590
MySQL$204,000+23.6%n/a187112
GraphQL$202,500+22.7%n/a363178
DynamoDB$202,000+22.4%n/a13175
Enterprise Sales$200,000+21.2%+13.6%1,161484
C++$200,000+22.8%+9.3%2,180390
React$200,000+21.5%+7.5%1,606685
Go-to-market$200,000+23.1%+5.4%3,202974
Android$200,000+21.2%+4.6%389173
LangChain$200,000+21.2%n/a171100
Terraform$199,000+20.5%+4.4%1,347545
PostgreSQL$199,000+20.6%+0.4%451257
Node.js$199,000+20.5%−0.7%532267
Airflow$198,000+20%+5.4%400207
SSO$197,500+19.7%n/a348241

Skills that go with lower pay than similar roles

The raw median can look high or low for these skills; matched on function, level and industry, postings that list them advertise less than similar postings that do not. Often they are tools used across many roles rather than a mark of a better-paid one.

Skills with a negative like-for-like gap
SkillMedian pay listing itRaw gapGap, job mix matchedPostingsEmployers
Jira$160,000−3%−11.8%1,207427
Oracle$162,500−1.5%−11.6%961290
CRM$150,000−9.6%−11.1%3,1131,154
SAP$159,000−3.6%−10.5%869313
SolidWorks$162,500−1.5%−10.1%544158
Tableau$151,000−8.5%−9.3%882417
Agile$165,000+0%−8.6%2,220674
Bash$171,500+3.9%−8.4%531268
Six Sigma$145,000−12.1%−7.8%597207
Risk Management$167,500+1.5%−7.6%2,114795
ERP$158,000−4.5%−7.6%2,110597
Project Management$142,500−14.9%−7.5%3,9581,296

All 145 skills, A to Z

AI skills have their own page, with the premium by function.

Questions about this data

Which skills are linked to the highest pay?
Two answers. By overall salary, the postings that list PyTorch, TensorFlow, Redis advertise the highest medians ($237,500, $232,500, $225,000). By the gap with function, level and industry matched, the largest are PyTorch (+15.9%), Enterprise Sales (+13.6%), Machine Learning (+12.4%).
What is the difference between overall salary and a skill’s pay gap?
Overall salary is the median pay of postings that list the skill, which mixes in the seniority and field of the roles that list it. The gap with the job mix matched compares those postings with similar postings (same function, level and industry) that do not list it, so it isolates what is left.
Does learning one of these skills raise my salary?
This data cannot say. It compares advertised pay between postings. Employers that ask for a skill may pay more for other reasons, and a posting lists skills the role needs, not what a person earns after learning one.
Do AI skills pay more?
Postings that name a specific AI skill advertise more than similar postings that never mention AI; see the AI skills salary premium page for the figure by function.

Method, download and how to cite

Data as of November 9, 2026. Rebuilt daily.

Pay is the midpoint of the range an employer posted (or stated in the posting text), converted to a year, on live U.S. professional jobs. It is advertised pay, not what anyone is paid.

A “gap, job mix matched” compares postings inside cells of the same function, level and industry, so a group is not credited for simply holding more senior or better-paid roles. It needs 150 or more postings across at least 5 cells with 15 postings on each side, and is shown as n/a otherwise. A gap is a difference in advertised pay between postings. It does not show that a skill, an industry or an employer size causes higher pay.

Download the CSV (aggregates only; no posting, employer or person is in it). Cite as: NextChapter, “Skills and advertised pay in U.S. professional job postings”, data as of November 9, 2026, https://launchyournextchapter.com/resources/pay-data/skills

See also the AI skills salary premium, which uses the same method for AI skills only, and the salary by job title pages.

More pay data

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