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Research report ยท September 2026 edition

Mercor Hiring Data

On 30 Sep 2026, Mercor listed 255 open AI training roles (9.4% of the market, the 4th largest of 16 platforms), spread across 8 kinds of work; 83.9% stated an hourly rate, at a median of $75/hr, and 69.8% accepted applicants from any country.

Read the month's story: The AI Training Job Market in September 2026

Data window
1 Sep 2026 to 30 Sep 2026
30 days, UTC
Frozen
10 Oct 2026, 14:55 UTC
These figures will not change
Source
The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every day. Mercor's figures come from its own public listings only; full descriptions and application forms are read where its job board publishes them.
Method
Version 1. Definitions
CC BY 4.0, how to cite

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Key findings

  1. 1

    Mercor listed 255 open roles on 30 Sep 2026, 9.4% of the 2,726 open across the 16 platforms AITraining.jobs reads, the 4th most.

    Figure 1
  2. 2

    Counted at the end of each week, Mercor went from 372 open roles on 6 Sep 2026 to 255 on 30 Sep 2026 (-31.5%).

    Figure 2
  3. 3

    Mercor lists 8 of the 12 kinds of work with open roles, with Law, Medicine & Finance and Math & STEM tied for the most of its open roles (51 each).

    Figure 3
  4. 4

    83.9% of its open roles state an hourly rate, with a median of $75/hr (middle half $45 to $94), against $55/hr across other platforms' priced roles.

    Figure 4
  5. 5

    Compared within the same kinds of work (5 with enough rates on both sides), the advertised median at Mercor runs 21.1% above other platforms' and is higher in all 5; the widest gap is in Math & STEM ($95/hr against $65/hr).

    Figure 4
  6. 6

    69.8% of its open roles are open to applicants in any country (34.4% on other platforms); 30.2% are limited to listed countries, most often the United States (named by 81.8%).

    Figure 5
  7. 7

    From 1 Sep 2026 to 30 Sep 2026, Mercor posted 335 new listings and removed 405 (listed a median of 38.1 days before removal, against 31 days on other platforms); its open roles went from 325 to 255 (-21.5%).

    Figure 7
  8. 8

    Of the 255 roles Mercor lists with a full description, 14.9% mention a PhD or master's degree, 13.3% a professional credential and 12.9% an assessment or test (other platforms with descriptions: 16.3%, 21.5% and 31.4%).

    Figure 12

Figure 1

Mercor against the other platforms

How does Mercor compare with the rest of the market on size, pay, reach and turnover?

MeasureMercorOther platformsIts rank (1 = highest)
Open roles on 30 Sep 20262552,4714th of 16
Share of all open roles9.4%90.6%4th of 16
New listings in the window3351,2502nd of 16
Kinds of work listed8126th of 16
Open roles stating an hourly rate83.9%70.9%6th of 13
Median advertised pay$75/hr$55/hrjoint 2nd of 11
Open roles accepting any country69.8%34.4%4th of 13
Median days listed, removed roles38.1 days31 days3rd of 9

Sample. 255 roles Mercor listed open at the end of 30 Sep 2026, beside the 2,471 open on the other 15 platforms AITraining.jobs reads; listings from 1 Sep 2026 to 30 Sep 2026.

Other platforms: every other platform read over the same window, pooled (counts are summed, medians are taken over all their roles together).

Rank among the 16 platforms with open roles; shares need at least 10 open roles, a pay median 8 roles stating a rate and days listed 10 removed roles with a known listing date, so a platform below a threshold is not ranked on it. Days listed rank longest first.

Listings only: what the platform's public job board shows.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 2

Open roles at Mercor, week by week

Is Mercor listing more AI training roles or fewer?

WeekOpen at the end of the weekNew listings
1 to 6 SepPartial week
372
116
7 to 13 Sep
343
47
14 to 20 Sep
308
98
21 to 27 Sep
296
53
28 to 30 SepPartial week
255
21

Sample. Listings by Mercor, by ISO week (Monday to Sunday, UTC), 1 Sep 2026 to 30 Sep 2026; 5 weeks tracked.

Open roles are counted at the end of each week (Sunday, UTC), or at the end of the window for a week it cuts. New listings leave out roles that came with the platform's back catalogue.

A week the window cuts is labelled with the days it covers and marked as partial.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 3

What Mercor hires for

Which kinds of AI training work does Mercor list, and how much of each market does it hold?

Kind of workOpen rolesShare of its rolesIts share of the kind's open roles
Law, Medicine & Finance
51
20.0%8.1%
Math & STEM
51
20.0%23.3%
Multilingual & Localization
41
16.1%5.4%
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)
41
16.1%18.3%
Coding & Software Evaluation
37
14.5%14.7%
Red-Teaming & AI Safety
31
12.2%81.6%
Data Annotation & LabelingSmall sample
2
0.8%1.7%
Research Studies & SurveysSmall sample
1
0.4%6.3%

Sample. 255 roles Mercor listed open at the end of 30 Sep 2026; market shares are of the 2,726 roles open on all 16 platforms that day.

Kinds of work are this site's twelve categories of AI training work, each role classified from its title and description.

Its rank in the kind is among the platforms with open roles in it. A median needs at least 8 roles stating an hourly rate.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 4

What Mercor advertises it pays

How often does Mercor state its pay, and how does it compare with other platforms for the same work?

RolesStating an hourly rateIts median per hourOther platforms' medianIts median against theirs
All its open roles83.9%
$75
$55+36.4%
Compared within the same kinds of work (5)n/a
n/a
n/a+21.1%
Law, Medicine & Finance86.3%
$90
$75+20.0%
Math & STEM60.8%
$95
$65+46.2%
Multilingual & Localization100.0%
$38
$37+2.7%
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)90.2%
$70
$58+21.7%
Coding & Software Evaluation75.7%
$79
$65+21.2%
Red-Teaming & AI Safety96.8%
$33
n/an/a
Data Annotation & LabelingSmall sample100.0%
n/a
$28n/a
Research Studies & SurveysSmall sample100.0%
n/a
n/an/a

Sample. 214 of the 255 roles Mercor listed open on 30 Sep 2026 state an hourly rate; other platforms: 1,753 of 2,471.

Pay is the hourly figure a posting advertises (the middle of a stated range). The middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile.

A median needs at least 8 roles stating a rate, on each side for a comparison. The row compared within the same kinds of work averages the kinds where both sides have enough, weighted by the platform's priced roles in each, so a platform listing better-paid work is not read as paying more for the same work.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 5

Who may apply to roles at Mercor

Are the roles Mercor lists open to applicants anywhere, or limited to some countries?

Location ruleIts open rolesShare of its rolesShare on other platforms
Open worldwide178
69.8%
34.4%
Worldwide except listed countries0
0.0%
8.0%
Only listed countries77
30.2%
57.5%
No rule stated0
0.0%
0.0%

Sample. 255 roles Mercor listed open on 30 Sep 2026, against the 2,471 open on other platforms.

The rule is read from each posting's location text and, where the posting is silent, from what the platform states about where it hires. A rule says where applications are accepted; tax, payment and work-permit rules can still apply.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 6

Countries Mercor names in its limited roles

When Mercor limits a role to some countries, which countries does it name?

CountryLimited roles naming itShare of its limited roles
United States
63
81.8%
United Kingdom
7
9.1%
Belgium
6
7.8%
France
6
7.8%
Germany
6
7.8%
Italy
6
7.8%
Netherlands
6
7.8%
Norway
6
7.8%
Portugal
6
7.8%
ร…land Islands
5
6.5%
Albania
5
6.5%
Andorra
5
6.5%
Austria
5
6.5%
Bosnia and Herzegovina
5
6.5%
Bulgaria
5
6.5%

Sample. 77 of the 255 roles Mercor listed open on 30 Sep 2026 accept applicants only from listed countries; 68 of them name a single country. The 15 countries named most often, of 59.

A role naming several countries counts for each. Open only there: roles whose list names this country alone.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 7

Listings posted and removed by Mercor

How many roles did Mercor post and take down?

MeasureRoles
Open at the start of 1 Sep 2026
325
New listings
335
Removed listings
405
Open at the end of 30 Sep 2026
255

Sample. Listings by Mercor from 1 Sep 2026 to 30 Sep 2026.

New listings: roles first seen in the window, outside the platform's first week in this dataset. Removed: roles that left the feed during the window. A role can be both.

The other platforms' count at the start leaves out platforms first tracked during the window.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 8

How long roles at Mercor stayed up

How long had the roles Mercor removed been listed?

Days listedRemoved rolesShare
Under 7 days44
10.9%
7 to 13 days51
12.6%
14 to 29 days76
18.8%
30 to 59 days100
24.7%
60 days or more134
33.1%

Sample. 405 roles Mercor removed from 1 Sep 2026 to 30 Sep 2026 with a known listing date; median 38.1 days (other platforms: 31 days over 1,314 roles).

Days listed: from the listing date the job board states (or the first day the role appeared in the feed) to the last day it was seen. Roles that arrived with the back catalogue and state no date are left out.

A median needs at least 10 removed roles. A removed role may have been filled, paused or closed: platforms do not say which.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 9

What Mercor calls the work

Which words does Mercor use in its job titles: trainer, tutor, expert, rater, annotator?

Title wordIts open rolesShare of its rolesShare on other platforms
Expert or SME
102
40.0%19.8%
Engineer or developer
23
9.0%6.1%
Specialist
23
9.0%24.1%
Voice actor or speaker
15
5.9%5.8%
Analyst or researcher
14
5.5%5.3%
Evaluator or reviewerSmall sample
9
3.5%13.5%
Quality assuranceSmall sample
9
3.5%8.4%
Annotator or labelerSmall sample
7
2.7%6.8%
Lead or managerSmall sample
7
2.7%5.1%
Red teamer or testerSmall sample
6
2.4%0.2%
Contributor or participantSmall sample
1
0.4%4.6%
Linguist or translatorSmall sample
1
0.4%1.5%
RaterSmall sample
1
0.4%2.9%
TutorSmall sample
1
0.4%1.2%
Writer or editorSmall sample
1
0.4%3.2%
None of these words
64
25.1%12.7%

Sample. 255 roles Mercor listed open on 30 Sep 2026, by the words in their titles (the same vocabulary as the job titles report).

A title can use several words ('Expert AI Trainer') and counts for each, so shares add to more than 100%. Whole words, case-insensitive.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 10

Languages Mercor hires for

Which languages does Mercor name in its job titles?

LanguageIts open rolesShare of its rolesIts share of all roles naming the language
English
24
9.4%15.8%
SpanishSmall sample
9
3.5%10.3%
FrenchSmall sample
6
2.4%7.9%
GermanSmall sample
5
2.0%9.3%
DutchSmall sample
3
1.2%8.8%
NorwegianSmall sample
3
1.2%21.4%
PortugueseSmall sample
3
1.2%5.9%
BengaliSmall sample
2
0.8%11.1%
FinnishSmall sample
2
0.8%13.3%
GujaratiSmall sample
2
0.8%12.5%
ItalianSmall sample
2
0.8%5.1%
KoreanSmall sample
2
0.8%4.2%

Sample. 68 of the 255 roles Mercor listed open on 30 Sep 2026 name a language in the title (33 languages, the 12 named most often shown).

Read from titles with the vocabulary of the languages report (whole words); a title naming two counts for both, and a role that needs a language without naming it is not counted.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 11

Expert fields Mercor hires for

Which professions and disciplines does Mercor name in its job titles?

FieldIts open rolesShare of its rolesIts share of all roles naming the field
Finance, accounting & economics
34
13.3%25.6%
Voice acting, music & sound
27
10.6%36.5%
Medicine & nursing
21
8.2%19.8%
Business, sales & consulting
14
5.5%17.3%
Software & computer science
14
5.5%6.7%
Physics & astronomy
12
4.7%27.3%
Design & visual artsSmall sample
7
2.7%9.5%
LawSmall sample
6
2.4%6.3%
ChemistrySmall sample
5
2.0%25.0%
Engineering (non-software)Small sample
5
2.0%5.6%
Humanities & social sciencesSmall sample
5
2.0%13.2%
Biology & life sciencesSmall sample
3
1.2%9.4%

Sample. 141 of the 255 roles Mercor listed open on 30 Sep 2026 name a field in the title (15 fields, the 12 named most often shown).

Read from titles with the vocabulary of the expert fields report (whole words); a title naming two counts for both, and a role that needs a field without naming it is not counted.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

Figure 12

What roles at Mercor ask for

Do the roles Mercor lists ask for degrees, credentials, experience, set hours or tests?

The descriptionIts rolesShare of its roles readOther platforms with descriptions
Mentions a PhD or doctorate30
11.8%
11.3%
Mentions a PhD or master's degree38
14.9%
16.3%
Mentions a degree52
20.4%
25.4%
Mentions a professional credential34
13.3%
21.5%
States years of experience60
23.5%
26.6%
States weekly hours88
34.5%
24.9%
Mentions an assessment, test or trial task33
12.9%
31.4%
Mentions an interview of any kind16
6.3%
9.6%
Mentions an AI-led or recorded interview5
2.0%
6.2%
Mentions a background or identity check1
0.4%
1.8%
Mentions contractor or freelance terms19
7.5%
64.0%

Sample. The full descriptions of 255 of the 255 roles Mercor listed open on 30 Sep 2026, against 595 roles of the other platforms whose boards publish them (AfterQuery, Braintrust and micro1). Median years asked: 4. Median weekly hours stated: 20.

Read with the documented patterns of the requirements report (whole words, case-insensitive). A mention can be a requirement or a preference ('a PhD is a plus'): both count.

Medians of years and hours need at least 5 roles stating them; for hours the lower figure of a range counts.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition.

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The figures above are a summary. Behind them are records we collect ourselves, every day:

  • 9,572 roles tracked, each with its history

    Every role on 29 job boards, read daily since 13 Jul 2026: its pay and place, and the first and last day it was open.

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Method and definitions

The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every day. Mercor's figures come from its own public listings only; full descriptions and application forms are read where its job board publishes them. Every figure is computed by one database query over the window shown, the same query for the live report and for every edition. Each figure states its sample beneath it.

Other platforms
Every platform this site reads other than Mercor, over the same window and pooled: counts are summed and medians are taken over all their rates together. Mercor is compared with the rest of the market, not with a market that includes it.
Rank
Its place among the platforms with open roles on the last day of the window, highest first (longest first for days listed). Shares need at least 10 open roles, a pay median 3 distinct advertised rates and days listed 10 removed roles, so a platform below a threshold is not ranked on that measure.
Open role
A role listed by a given day and still in its platform's feed that day. Week by week, open roles are counted at the end of each week (Sunday, UTC).
Back catalogue
The roles already listed in the week a platform was first tracked. That week is marked in the weekly series and its roles are not counted as new listings; weeks before it are left out.
New listing
A role that first appeared during the window on a platform already tracked before that week.
Removed listing
A role that left its platform's feed during the window. When most removals or new listings fall on one day, the figure says so: one large change to a board moves the window's flow.
Days listed
From a removed role's listing date to the last day it was seen in its feed. A median needs at least 10 removed roles with a known listing date.
Advertised pay
Measured exactly as the job board measures any list of roles, so a median here is the median Mercor's pay page states for the same roles: one sample per distinct advertised rate (the middle of a stated range; a role posted again at the same rate counts once), and an advertised maximum ("up to $X/hr") is a ceiling, not a rate, so it is counted and left out. Typical pay is the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each advertised range) to the 90th-percentile advertised ceiling; it and the median are rounded to $5 ($1 under $20) and need at least 3 distinct rates.
Compared within the same kinds of work
For each kind of work where both the platform and the other platforms state at least 8 distinct hourly rates, its median over theirs, minus one; averaged across those kinds, weighted by the platform's distinct rates, so a platform listing better-paid work is not read as paying more for the same work. It needs two such kinds.
Location rule
Read from each posting's location text and, where that names no country, from what the posting's own description states: open worldwide, worldwide except listed countries, only listed countries, or no rule stated.
Kind of work
Each role is classified from its title and description into one of the twelve kinds of AI training work this site tracks. Every kind links to its own page.
Title word, language, field
Read from titles as whole words with the vocabularies of the job titles, languages and expert fields reports; a title can count for several.
Mention
A description mentions a degree, credential, step or term when it contains one of the patterns published in the requirements report. A mention may be a requirement or a preference.
Application form
The fields an applicant fills in on the platform's own application page, read from its applicant-tracking system. Required: the form will not submit without the field.
Window
Live: the last 28 complete days, in UTC, with the weekly series over the last twelve complete ISO weeks from the week of 3 Aug 2026 at the earliest. Edition: one calendar month, in UTC, its weeks cut at the month's edges.

What this data cannot tell you

  • Platforms that recruit without a public job board are not counted, and a platform may staff projects it never lists: its listings are what it advertises, not everything it hires for.
  • A listing is not a hire. Some platforms keep evergreen roles open for months, and some post one listing per language or country.
  • Listings only: how many people apply to a platform is never published here.
  • Pay is what postings advertise, not what workers are paid after bonuses, tiers or rejected tasks.
  • Full descriptions and application forms are published by some job boards only, so those figures appear only for the platforms whose boards publish them, and describe the roles open on the day they were read.
  • A removed listing may have been filled, paused or closed: platforms do not say which.

How the job feeds are read and roles are classified: site methodology. How fresh, complete and consistent the data is, checked every day: data quality and coverage.

Editions

The live report covers the last 28 complete days and changes every day. Each complete month is also published as an edition, frozen two days after the month ends, so a figure you cite from an edition never moves.

Cite and reuse

Free to quote, chart and republish under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. This edition is frozen, so its figures will read the same later.

Citation

AITraining.jobs (2026). Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition. https://www.aitraining.team/research/mercor-hiring-data/2026-09

BibTeX

@misc{aitrainingjobs_mercor_hiring_data_2026_09,
  author = {{AITraining.jobs}},
  title = {Mercor Hiring Data, September 2026 edition},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.aitraining.team/research/mercor-hiring-data/2026-09}},
}
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