The accelerating evolution of artificial intelligence is transforming industries at a staggering pace. In the process, it’s driving a shift in demand for workers with more specific sets of AI-related skills.
The AI job market in the U.S. continued its upward trajectory in the second quarter of 2025, building on a strong Q1 with sustained growth in both the number of AI-related positions and the average salaries they command. But the numbers only tell part of the story. There’s also an intriguing shift in the types of roles—from data science to AI project management—a change suggestive of the technology’s maturation as organizations pivot from AI experimentation to full-fledged integration.
AI job growth is outpacing the broader labor market, but showing signs of slowing
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), overall job growth in the U.S. slowed by 7.2% in the second quarter of 2025, with 36,000 fewer payroll positions added than in the preceding three months.
Meanwhile, data from Aspen Tech Labs (ATL) shows that openings in AI-related roles grew by 3.9% during the same period—up to 36,810 from 35,445 in Q1—indicating a continuing demand for expertise in this rapidly advancing field.
As might be expected, the top five leading employers for AI-related roles in Q2 2025 were all technology companies, led by Amazon with 934 job postings. Also among the top 10 were banking and commerce giants JPMorgan Chase and Walmart, indicating a growing demand for expertise in AI transformation across industries. The top three AI employers, listed below, remained consistent from Q1 2025:
- Amazon: 934 roles active in Q2 2025
- Apple: 912 roles
- TikTok: 556 roles
However, the growth in AI-related jobs may be showing signs of slowing. The 3.9% increase from Q2 is less than half the 8.8% jump observed between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, and just a fraction of the 24.2% year-over-year growth:
- Q3 2024–Q4 2024: 7.3% increase in AI-related jobs
- Q4 2024–Q1 2025: 8.8% increase
- Q1 2025–Q2 2025: 3.9% increase
At the same time, however, the compensation for these roles is rising. The median salary for AI roles in the second quarter of 2025 was up 5.1% from the preceding quarter, from $156,998 to $165,006. This outstrips both the year-over-year rise of 4.8% and the previous quarterly gain of just 0.8%. This change may be part of a larger shift in the nature of AI work—one that is bearing out in the data on AI-related job types.
AI-related job roles are becoming more specialized, less research-based
Perhaps the most noteworthy change in the job market is in the titles being posted. While still making up the highest total of openings at 14,324, Data Scientist jobs witnessed a stark reversal from the 4.2% growth observed between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. From April through June, the number of Data Scientist postings fell by 4.4%, while more specialized titles like AI/ML Engineer and AI/ML Architect saw dramatic rises:
- Product/Project Manager: +20.8% increase in job postings
- AI/ML Architect: +20.3% increase
- AI/ML Engineer: +19.4% increase
Notably, the title with the largest quarter-over-quarter decrease was AI/ML Researcher, which dropped 19.8% from 756 openings to 606. Given the evolution of enterprise AI, this erosion of demand for research-specific roles could be reflective of a broader shift from isolated experimentation to full-scale integration of the technology into core business functions.
Demand is strong and spreading to new regions
Overall, the demand for AI expertise remains strong, a fact grounded not only in the wealth of openings but also in the overall compensation for these positions. The Q2 median salary of $165,006 for AI roles is significantly higher than the $129,698 of non-AI IT roles. A similar gulf was also noted in the field of software development, where AI-related positions commanded an 18.8% higher salary than their non-AI-related counterparts ($169,343 to $142,501).
A further indication of how much AI transformation is permeating industries, demand is expanding quickly beyond the confines of Silicon Valley. While AI-related job growth remained steady in tech hotbeds like California, New York, and Washington, the strongest quarterly gains were observed in locales not traditionally associated with technology innovation: Of the states with more than 100 AI-related job vacancies, the greatest increases took place in Iowa (37.0%), Tennessee (28.6%), and Kentucky (13.7%).
Overall, this Q2 2025 labor market analysis reveals some interesting hints at the direction of AI’s impact on the U.S. job market. New roles are continuing to emerge, and salaries are climbing. While growth has slowed somewhat compared to previous quarters, the nature of these roles is shifting as the technology matures. At the same time, the demand for talent is spreading to new regions, further proving that AI’s influence is reshaping not just industries but entire economic landscapes.
