SQL jobs trend | HN Hiring Index

Skill ProfileLanguages

SQL

SQL appeared in 8 hiring posts in June 2026 — roughly 1.1% of all jobs. Currently #6 of 21 languages.

Mentions · June 2026+33%vs prior

mentions

this month

12-Mo TrendJul '25 → Jun '26

Share of All Jobs

1.1%

All-Time Peak

27mentions · October 2017

First Seen

April 2011

Month Momentum

Rising+33%

§ 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

1,996since April 2011 · 183 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

1,996183 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=80

By seniority

Junior— n=7

Mid— n=3

Senior$149k – $200k n=31

Staff+$70k – $214k n=14

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

Disclosed

80of 375 posts

Disclosure rate

21.3%

Senior eng median · languages · 2023–Present

Where SQL sits in the pay distribution

−4%vs Kotlin+5%vs JavaScript

LanguageMedianvs SQL

Kotlin

$178k+4.4%

$175k+2.9%

Python

$175k+2.9%

SQLyou are here

$170k—

TypeScript

$170k0%

GraphQL

$165k−2.9%

JavaScript

$163k−4.4%

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%12

Canada16.7%

Canada16.7%3

Unspecified16.7%

Unspecified16.7%3

Asia5.6%

Asia5.6%1

Europe (EU)5.6%

Europe (EU)5.6%1

Latin America5.6%

Latin America5.6%1

Remote Policy

67%remote

Remote

66.7%

Hybrid

33.3%

On-site

0.0%

§ 04Composition

Who hires for SQL

By Seniority

Roles by level

Senior44.4%

Senior44.4%8

Staff22.2%

Staff22.2%4

Junior11.1%

Junior11.1%2

By Function

Roles by function

Engineering61.1%

Engineering61.1%11

Data / ML38.9%

Data / ML38.9%7

§ 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

3.7×

iOS

2.7×

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

Common Stacks · Top co-mentioned skills2023–Present

01Python40663%

02TypeScript24438%

03AWS23436%

04PostgreSQL19931%

05React18729%

06JavaScript16526%

07Node.js13120%

08Machine Learning10616%

09Kubernetes10416%

10Rust9715%

11Google Cloud9415%

12Git8714%

13Terraform8313%

14iOS8213%

15Go8012%

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

Peer Comparison · LanguagesWhere SQL stands among languages

SkillMentionsYoYMarket share

Python

48-7.7%

6.7%

TypeScript

41-4.7%

5.7%

20-9.1%

2.8%

Rust

12-7.7%

1.7%

JavaScript

9-18%

1.3%

SQLyou are here

80.0%

1.1%

GraphQL

70.0%

1.0%

Java

60.0%

0.8%

Kotlin

6+100%

0.8%

Ruby

6-14%

0.8%

Percentage of jobs mentioning the skill · June 2026

§ 06Sponsorship

Visa support stays a minority signal across the thread.

Visa Sponsorship

21 posts offer sponsorship

2.9%

Offer sponsorship

212.9%

Explicitly decline

101.4%

Don’t mention

68995.7%

Based on 720 HN job posts in June 2026. Visa policy is not broken down per language — these rates cover all postings in the thread.