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, the team prioritizes research projects that directly affect the company's bottom line and growth.

The group brings together forecasters, economists, applied scientists, data scientists, and data visualization engineers to build forecasts and produce research that improves how the businesses operate. The team combines industry-leading data with expertise in statistics and economics to produce insights that inform decisions at every level of the company. Its work uses modern quantitative methods across forecasting, data science, and causal inference to answer practical questions for business leaders.

About the role

Interns do meaningful work that contributes to the business from day one. The 9 week summer internship runs from June 14th through August 13th and gives students the chance 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. The 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.

The ideal candidate is analytical and detail-oriented, able to create structure from ambiguity, and curious about learning in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Comfort working with large amounts of data is important, since the work turns data into metrics used for strategic business decisions.

During the internship, you will have opportunities to:

• Partner with your manager and stakeholders to turn open-ended business questions into an analytical approach, with clear deliverables that translate into tangible benefits to revenue.
• Explore, clean, and validate housing, economic, business, or financial data, documenting assumptions and identifying data-quality issues.
• Build and compare models to support prediction and forecasting.
• Turn observational data into causal models using sound identification strategies.
• Design experiments to improve how Zillow prices and operates across its 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 is categorized as Remote. Remote employees do not have a permanent corporate office and instead work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

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 or research.
• Uses AI tools to speed up and expand their work without outsourcing their own thinking.
• Can use Python or similar tools to prepare data, conduct analysis, and build models. Able to express statistical concepts clearly through pseudocode and think through edge cases when designing systems.
• Can explain analytical findings clearly and collaborate with people who bring different perspectives, including non-technical stakeholders.
• Moves quickly and ambitiously without sacrificing attention to detail, and adjusts between big-picture and detailed views based on context.
• Approaches problems thoughtfully, checks assumptions, validates results, and distinguishes what the data supports from what remains uncertain.
• Interested in applying quantitative methods to housing markets, business forecasting, and financial decision-making.

Get to know us

Zillow is reimagining how people move, through the real estate market and through their careers. As the most-visited real estate platform in the U.S., Zillow helps people navigate buying, selling, financing, and renting with greater ease and confidence.

Through Cloud HQ, Zillow's approach to distributed work, most employees have the flexibility to work from wherever they are most productive. Zillow was named one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2026 and was included on TIME's America's Best Companies 2026 list.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment. Equal employment opportunity is provided 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.