Applied Scientist (Economics) Intern

About the team

The forecasting and business economics group at Zillow shapes planning and drives decision making across Zillow’s businesses. Embedded in the finance organization, our team prioritizes research projects that directly impact the company’s bottom line and growth.

We bring together forecasters, economists, applied scientists, data scientists, and data visualization engineers to build forecasts and craft research that elevates how our businesses operate. We transform our industry-leading data with our expertise in statistics and economics into actionable insights that inform decisions at every level of the company. Our work combines state of the art quantitative methods across forecasting, data science, and causal inference to help answer practical questions for our business leaders.

About the role

At Zillow, interns do meaningful work that contributes to the business from day one. Our 9 week summer internship program, running June 14th through August 13th, gives students the opportunity to bring their ideas and perspectives to real projects alongside Zillow teams.

Interns build hands-on experience, connect with mentors and leaders, and take part in learning and community experiences with their intern cohort. Our 2027 internships are based in Seattle and follow a hybrid schedule, with interns generally working together in person Tuesday through Thursday. Eligible interns will receive a stipend to help offset summer housing and relocation costs.

We’re looking for students who are analytical and detail-oriented with the ability to create structure from ambiguity. You have an intense curiosity to learn and can do so in a fast-paced dynamic environment. If you are not afraid of working with large amounts of data, you’ll get the chance to make it all come together into meaningful metrics used to make strategic business decisions.

During your internship, you will have opportunities to: 

• Partner with your manager and stakeholders to translate open-ended business questions into an analytical approach, with clear deliverables that will directly translate to tangible benefits to revenue. 
• Explore, clean, and validate housing, economic, business, or financial data; document assumptions and identify data-quality issues.
• Build and compare models to support prediction and forecasting.
• Transform observational data into causal models using clever identification
• Design experiments to improve how we price and operate across our different businesses 
• Evaluate models using appropriate baselines and time-based validation, and communicate uncertainty, limitations, and trade-offs.
• Investigate trends, forecast errors, and drivers of business performance to develop actionable insights.
• Create reproducible analyses, visualizations, or reporting workflows that help partners understand and use your findings.
• Share your approach, results, and recommendations with technical and nontechnical audiences, and document your work for a clear handoff.

This role has been categorized as an Office position. “Office” employees regularly work at an existing ZG corporate office for approximately 80 to 100 percent of their time each month. Employees must live within reasonable commuting distance of their designated ZG office. ZG has not defined a reasonable distance, and expects employees will use judgment in determining this for themselves and understand the implications re: time commitment and cost of daily commute.In California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $104,000.00 - $166,000.00 annually. This base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location.

Who you are

• Currently pursuing a Masters or PhD in statistics, economics, data science, applied mathematics, quantitative finance, or a related quantitative field, with an expected graduation between December 2027 and Summer 2028. 
• Strong foundation in probability, statistics, and regression analysis, with exposure to econometrics. Specifically time-series and causal analysis through coursework and research experience.
• Use AI tools to accelerate and expand their work without outsourcing their own thinking to it.
• Can use Python or similar to prepare data, conduct analysis, and build models. Even if you’re not writing code anymore, we expect an ability to express statistical concepts clearly through pseudocode and think through edgecases when designing systems. 
• Can explain analytical findings clearly and collaborate with people who bring different perspectives and expertise including non technical stakeholders.
• Move quickly and ambitiously without sacrificing attention to detail; enjoy zooming in and out based on context. 
• Approach problems thoughtfully: you check your assumptions, validate results, and distinguish what the data supports from what remains uncertain.
• Are interested in applying quantitative methods to housing markets, business forecasting, and financial decision-making.

Get to know us

At Zillow, we’re reimagining how people move—through the real estate market and through their careers. As the most-visited real estate platform in the U.S., we help people navigate buying, selling, financing and renting with greater ease and confidence. Whether you're working in tech, sales, operations, or design, you’ll be part of a company reshaping an industry and helping more people make home a reality.

How we work is a key part of that transformation. Through Cloud HQ, our strategic approach to distributed work, most employees have the flexibility to work from wherever they’re most productive—enabling us to move fast, stay connected and deliver on our people promise. 

Zillow is honored to be recognized among the best workplaces in the U.S. Zillow was named one of FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® in 2026, and included on TIME’s America’s Best Companies 2026 list, reflecting our commitment to creating an innovative, inclusive, and engaging culture where employees are empowered to grow.

No matter where you sit in the organization, your work will help drive innovation, support our customers, and move the industry—and your career—forward, together.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable state and local law.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.