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AI Jobs Statistics 2026: Demand, Salaries & Displacement

These AI jobs statistics for 2026 cover hiring demand, salary benchmarks, displacement risk by occupation, and remote-vs-onsite trends.

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  • May 1, 2026Last updated
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Last updated May 1, 2026 · 8 statistics · Curated by AI Understanding (nonprofit)

Every number, with its source

Each card is one claim, the context behind it, and the dated source it comes from.

  1. #01As of 2025-11-01

    AI-related job postings grew 21% year-over-year in 2025.

    Outpacing total tech-job growth (-2%) by a wide margin.

    Source: LinkedIn Economic Graph

  2. #02As of 2026-01-01

    Median US salary for an AI engineer is $213,000.

    Frontier-lab senior roles exceed $1M total comp including equity.

    Source: Levels.fyi

  3. #03As of 2025-12-01

    AI-product manager openings tripled year-over-year.

    The role is the second-fastest-growing AI title after AI engineer.

    Source: LinkedIn

  4. #04As of 2025-07-01

    An estimated 14% of workers have already had to change occupation due to automation.

    Highest in admin, customer support, and entry-level content roles.

    Source: OECD Employment Outlook

  5. #05As of 2025-05-01

    AI workers earn ~77% more on average than non-AI workers in the same industry.

    The premium is largest in finance, healthcare, and legal.

    Source: PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer

  6. #06As of 2025-09-01

    62% of AI-engineering roles offer remote or hybrid work.

    Higher than the tech-industry average of 41%.

    Source: Hired State of Software Engineers

  7. #07As of 2025-04-15

    AI safety and policy roles are the fastest-growing AI subfield in 2025.

    Driven by regulator pressure and frontier-lab staffing-up of trust & safety teams.

    Source: AI Index Report — Stanford HAI

  8. #08As of 2025-08-01

    55% of executives plan to hire prompt engineers in the next 12 months.

    The role remains controversial — some companies bundle it into product or content roles.

    Source: Gartner

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AI Understanding is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Cite the underlying source or link back here when quoting these numbers.

The percentages, drawn to scale

Every share-of-a-whole percentage in this roundup as a bar — each one is the figure its source reports.

  • Hired State of Software Engineers62%
  • Gartner55%
  • OECD Employment Outlook14%

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When citing these statistics, please credit the underlying source and link back to this page. AI Understanding is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 41-3273048). Content here is licensed CC BY 4.0 — free to quote with attribution.

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AI Understanding. “AI Jobs Statistics 2026: Demand, Salaries & Displacement.” May 1, 2026. https://aiunderstanding.org/stats/ai-jobs-statistics-2026

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