Key Takeaways
- Twenty-four percent of U.S. workers are in the market for a new job, per a recent report.
- A new study from Lemon.io ranks fast-developing, high-paying tech roles.
Considering a job switch or career pivot to increase your income? Many Americans are.
One in four workers (24%) are actively looking for another job, primarily motivated by increased pay, career growth and improved work-life balance, according to a recent report from USA Today and SurveyMonkey.
The rise in AI and fears surrounding its economic impact also complicate the workforce landscape.
More than 80% of U.S. adults believe AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates, and 68% expect most jobs to pay too little for a decent lifestyle, Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center reported.
At the same time, new tech-driven job opportunities continue to enter the market.
New technology creates new job titles with high pay
A new study by software talent marketplace Lemon.io ranks the tech roles that gained ground in recent years and pay more than six figures annually.
“New technology creates new jobs faster than job titles and training programs can keep up, and the roles in this study show how quickly the market is moving,” the report noted. “Several of them barely appeared in search results a few years ago, but they now pay far more than the typical U.S. job.”
Lemon.io’s research examined 38 emerging tech job titles from LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise 2026 list, in addition to four established roles for comparison.
Roles were scored on pay, hiring growth, current demand and newness, using salary estimates from Glassdoor and Adzuna, hiring posts from Hacker News and search data from Google Trends.
AI product manager, AI solutions architect and more
AI product manager took the top spot among the fastest-developing jobs in the tech sector with high earning potential. The role sees an estimated median base salary of $137,032, and of its nearly 2,000 live job ads, 94.4% offer $100,000 or more, according to the data.
Check out Lemon.io’s top five tech jobs paying six figures in 2026:
1. AI Product Manager
- Estimated median base salary: $137,032
- Live U.S. job ads: 1,827
- Share of live job ads, offering $100,000 or more: 94.4%
- Year of rising online popularity: 2025
2. AI Solutions Architect
- Estimated median base salary: $139,571
- Live U.S. job ads: 4,346
- Share of live job ads, offering $100,000 or more: 96.6%
- Year of rising online popularity: 2025
3. DevSecOps Engineer
- Estimated median base salary: $134,101
- Live U.S. job ads: 1,218
- Share of live job ads, offering $100,000 or more: 91.2%
- Year of rising online popularity: 2022
4. AI Engineer
- Estimated median base salary: $112,208
- Live U.S. job ads: 21,156
- Share of live job ads, offering $100,000 or more: 88.6%
- Year of rising online popularity: 2024
5. Chief AI Officer/Head of AI
- Estimated median base salary: $177,952
- Live U.S. job ads: 236
- Share of live job ads, offering $100,000 or more: 85.2%
- Year of rising online popularity: 2025
Key Takeaways
- Twenty-four percent of U.S. workers are in the market for a new job, per a recent report.
- A new study from Lemon.io ranks fast-developing, high-paying tech roles.
Considering a job switch or career pivot to increase your income? Many Americans are.
One in four workers (24%) are actively looking for another job, primarily motivated by increased pay, career growth and improved work-life balance, according to a recent report from USA Today and SurveyMonkey.
The rise in AI and fears surrounding its economic impact also complicate the workforce landscape.