Live data report
The Ghost Jobs Report
ShouldApply scores real postings for hiring intent every day. This report aggregates what that data shows about ghost jobs — listings with little to no chance of an actual hire. Updated 2026-08-02.
117,949
postings analyzed
76%
list no salary at all
13%
of scored jobs show high ghost risk
Estimated ghost risk across 3,731 scored postings
Average estimated risk: 25%. Risk is a heuristic estimate from posting age, salary transparency, description quality, and repost patterns — full methodology here.
Salary transparency by job board
A missing salary range is the single most common ghost signal. Share of postings with no salary listed, by board:
| Board | Postings sampled | No salary listed |
|---|---|---|
| 33,777 | 83% | |
| Indeed | 10,077 | 27% |
| ZipRecruiter | 6,858 | 54% |
| Remote Zest Jobs | 2,799 | 100% |
| DailyRemote | 2,692 | 100% |
| Remote.co | 2,528 | 91% |
| Jobgether | 2,457 | 96% |
| SaluteMyJob | 2,452 | 100% |
Stop applying to jobs that were never real
ShouldApply estimates ghost risk on every job it scores for you, alongside a 0-100 fit score against your actual skills. Score your first jobs free or try the free ghost job checker.
Method note: figures are aggregates over the ShouldApply posting pool and scored-job set. Ghost risk is an estimated probability derived from public posting signals, not a determination about any specific employer's intent. Sample composition skews toward the roles our users search for.