SQL jobs trend | HN Hiring Index

Skill ProfileLanguages

SQL

SQL appeared in 6 hiring posts in May 2026 — roughly 0.8% of all jobs. Currently #8 of 23 languages.

Mentions · May 2026-40%vs prior

mentions

this month

12-Mo TrendJun '25 → May '26

Share of All Jobs

0.8%

All-Time Peak

27mentions · October 2017

First Seen

April 2011

Month Momentum

Declining-40%

§ 01Demand Signal

Mention history

Annual averages give the long-run shape without the monthly noise; the last two years are zoomed in below.

All-time mentions

1,988since April 2011 · 182 months

+8.5% YoY2025 vs 2024

173

'15

167

'16

209

PEAK

'17

205

'18

178

'19

107

'20

191

'21

124

'22

'23

'24

'25

'26

Total mentions, by year · hatched column = year still in progress

All-time

1,988182 mo

↑ Best year

2017209

↓ Quietest full year

201264

Latest full year

2025+8.5% YoY

§ 02Compensation

What SQL jobs pay

Disclosed USD pay over the past 3 years (2023–Present). Single months are too sparse to band.

Pay over the past 3 years · 2023–Present

USD160Kmedian

$120k – $190k middle 50% · n=77

By seniority

Junior— n=7

Mid— n=3

Senior$135k – $205k n=29

Staff+$70k – $238k n=13

Bar = p25 to p75 · tick = median. Junior & Mid shown hatched below the 10-sample floor.

Disclosed

77of 378 posts

Disclosure rate

20.4%

Senior eng median · languages · 2023–Present

Where SQL sits in the pay distribution

−4%vs Go+2%vs Java

LanguageMedianvs SQL

$170k+4.6%

TypeScript

$170k+4.6%

GraphQL

$163k0%

SQLyou are here

$163k—

JavaScript

$161k−0.8%

Java

$160k−1.5%

PHP

$160k−1.5%

Senior eng disclosed pay · 2023–Present

§ 03Footprint

Where SQL is hired

Regions

Top geographies

Share of SQL posts by where the role is based.

United States66.7%

United States66.7%8

Unspecified25.0%

Unspecified25.0%3

Asia8.3%

Asia8.3%1

Canada8.3%

Canada8.3%1

Remote Policy

92%remote

Remote

91.7%

Hybrid

8.3%

On-site

0.0%

§ 04Composition

Who hires for SQL

By Seniority

Roles by level

Staff33.3%

Staff33.3%4

Senior25.0%

Senior25.0%3

Junior16.7%

Junior16.7%2

Mid-level8.3%

Mid-level8.3%1

By Function

Roles by function

Engineering75.0%

Engineering75.0%9

Data / ML8.3%

Data / ML8.3%1

Other8.3%

Other8.3%1

Sales8.3%

Sales8.3%1

§ 05Technical Skills

Python is the skill most co-mentioned with SQL.

#01

Signature Stack

SQL’s strongest
pairings

Skills with the highest lift when co-listed with SQL over 2023–Present.

Top-Lift Pairs · 2023–Present

Git

5.5×

JavaScript

3.8×

iOS

2.7×

Lift = how much more likely to co-appear than by chance

Common Stacks · Top co-mentioned skills2023–Present

01Python40362%

02TypeScript24137%

03AWS22835%

04PostgreSQL19430%

05React17927%

06JavaScript17427%

07Node.js12719%

08Machine Learning10516%

09Kubernetes10416%

10Google Cloud9915%

11Rust9715%

12Git8713%

13Go8513%

14UX/UI8513%

15iOS8213%

% of SQL jobs also mentioning the skill · 2023–Present

Peer Comparison · LanguagesWhere SQL stands among languages

SkillMentionsYoYMarket share

Python

54+13%

7.2%

TypeScript

38-17%

5.1%

230.0%

3.1%

Rust

12-25%

1.6%

JavaScript

9-53%

1.2%

Java

70.0%

0.9%

C++

6+50%

0.8%

SQLyou are here

6+20%

0.8%

5+25%

0.7%

Ruby

5+25%

0.7%

Percentage of jobs mentioning the skill · May 2026

§ 06Sponsorship

Visa support stays a minority signal across the thread.

Visa Sponsorship

11 posts offer sponsorship

1.5%

Offer sponsorship

111.5%

Explicitly decline

141.9%

Don’t mention

72096.6%

Based on 745 HN job posts in May 2026. Visa policy is not broken down per language — these rates cover all postings in the thread.