Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for balancing a data processing load among a plurality of compute nodes in a parallel computer that include: partitioning application data for processing on the plurality of compute nodes into data chunks; receiving, by each compute node, at least one of the data chunks for processing; estimating, by each compute node, processing time involved in processing the data chunks received by that compute node for processing; and redistributing, by at least one of the compute nodes to at least one of the other compute nodes, a portion of the data chunks received by that compute node in dependence upon the processing time estimated by that compute node.