SQL jobs trend | HN Hiring Index

Skill ProfileLanguages

SQL

SQL appeared in 8 hiring posts in July 2026 — roughly 1.5% of all jobs. Currently #6 of 23 languages.

Mentions · July 20260.0%vs prior

mentions

this month

12-Mo TrendAug '25 → Jul '26

Share of All Jobs

1.5%

All-Time Peak

27mentions · October 2017

First Seen

April 2011

Month Momentum

Flat0.0%

§ 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

2,004since April 2011 · 184 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

2,004184 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 – $189k middle 50% · n=85

By seniority

Junior— n=7

Mid— n=3

Senior$149k – $200k n=32

Staff+$70k – $190k n=15

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

Disclosed

85of 380 posts

Disclosure rate

22.4%

Senior eng median · languages · 2023–Present

Where SQL sits in the pay distribution

−4%vs Go+5%vs Java

LanguageMedianvs SQL

$175k+3.7%

Python

$175k+3.7%

TypeScript

$170k+0.7%

SQLyou are here

$169k—

GraphQL

$165k−2.2%

JavaScript

$163k−3.7%

Java

$160k−5.2%

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 States38.9%

United States38.9%7

Europe (EU)22.2%

Europe (EU)22.2%4

Unspecified22.2%

Unspecified22.2%4

United Kingdom11.1%

United Kingdom11.1%2

Latin America5.6%

Latin America5.6%1

Remote Policy

67%remote

Remote

66.7%

Hybrid

27.8%

On-site

5.6%

§ 04Composition

Who hires for SQL

By Seniority

Roles by level

Senior33.3%

Senior33.3%6

Staff22.2%

Staff22.2%4

Junior11.1%

Junior11.1%2

By Function

Roles by function

Engineering61.1%

Engineering61.1%11

Data / ML27.8%

Data / ML27.8%5

Operations5.6%

Operations5.6%1

Product5.6%

Product5.6%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

5.8×

JavaScript

3.6×

iOS

2.8×

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

Common Stacks · Top co-mentioned skills2023–Present

01Python40763%

02TypeScript25038%

03AWS23636%

04PostgreSQL20632%

05React19229%

06JavaScript16525%

07Node.js13621%

08Kubernetes10616%

09Machine Learning10416%

10Google Cloud10116%

11Rust9815%

12Git9114%

13Terraform8513%

14UX/UI8213%

15iOS8213%

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

Peer Comparison · LanguagesWhere SQL stands among languages

SkillMentionsYoYMarket share

TypeScript

470.0%

9.0%

Python

40-7.0%

7.6%

Rust

18+50%

3.4%

12-37%

2.3%

C++

9+80%

1.7%

SQLyou are here

8+33%

1.5%

JavaScript

7-22%

1.3%

GraphQL

6-14%

1.1%

5-17%

1.0%

Elixir

4+100%

0.8%

Percentage of jobs mentioning the skill · July 2026

§ 06Sponsorship

Visa support stays a minority signal across the thread.

Visa Sponsorship

14 posts offer sponsorship

2.7%

Offer sponsorship

142.7%

Explicitly decline

203.8%

Don’t mention

49093.5%

Based on 524 HN job posts in July 2026. Visa policy is not broken down per language — these rates cover all postings in the thread.