diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/convert_gitter_data.py b/zerver/management/commands/convert_gitter_data.py
index e18bd893b9..c6c8d7406b 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/convert_gitter_data.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/convert_gitter_data.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import os
 import tempfile
 from typing import Any
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError, CommandParser
 
 from zerver.data_import.gitter import do_convert_data
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         parser.add_argument('--threads',
                             dest='threads',
                             action="store",
-                            default=6,
+                            default=settings.DEFAULT_DATA_EXPORT_IMPORT_PARALLELISM,
                             help='Threads to download avatars and attachments faster')
 
         parser.formatter_class = argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter
diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/convert_slack_data.py b/zerver/management/commands/convert_slack_data.py
index 5168146d14..dbdb0e0e08 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/convert_slack_data.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/convert_slack_data.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import os
 import tempfile
 from typing import Any
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError, CommandParser
 
 from zerver.data_import.slack import do_convert_data
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         parser.add_argument('--threads',
                             dest='threads',
                             action="store",
-                            default=6,
+                            default=settings.DEFAULT_DATA_EXPORT_IMPORT_PARALLELISM,
                             help='Threads to use in exporting UserMessage objects in parallel')
 
         parser.formatter_class = argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter
diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/export.py b/zerver/management/commands/export.py
index a3a0b5cca9..57ded815ab 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/export.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/export.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import tempfile
 from argparse import ArgumentParser
 from typing import Any
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.management.base import CommandError
 
 from zerver.lib.export import export_realm_wrapper
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ class Command(ZulipBaseCommand):
         parser.add_argument('--threads',
                             dest='threads',
                             action="store",
-                            default=6,
+                            default=settings.DEFAULT_DATA_EXPORT_IMPORT_PARALLELISM,
                             help='Threads to use in exporting UserMessage objects in parallel')
         parser.add_argument('--public-only',
                             action="store_true",
diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/import.py b/zerver/management/commands/import.py
index 92282013c8..fbe68e0f4a 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/import.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/import.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ import a database dump from one or more JSON files."""
         parser.add_argument('--processes',
                             dest='processes',
                             action="store",
-                            default=6,
+                            default=settings.DEFAULT_DATA_EXPORT_IMPORT_PARALLELISM,
                             help='Number of processes to use for uploading Avatars to S3 in parallel')
         parser.formatter_class = argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter
 
diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/transfer_uploads_to_s3.py b/zerver/management/commands/transfer_uploads_to_s3.py
index 77ade9cf48..c646513723 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/transfer_uploads_to_s3.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/transfer_uploads_to_s3.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         parser.add_argument('--processes',
                             dest='processes',
                             action="store",
-                            default=6,
+                            default=settings.DEFAULT_DATA_EXPORT_IMPORT_PARALLELISM,
                             help='Processes to use for exporting uploads in parallel')
 
     def handle(self, *args: Any, **options: Any) -> None:
diff --git a/zproject/default_settings.py b/zproject/default_settings.py
index 104b1426f2..979f3323ef 100644
--- a/zproject/default_settings.py
+++ b/zproject/default_settings.py
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ if PRODUCTION:
 else:
     from .dev_settings import EXTERNAL_HOST, ZULIP_ADMINISTRATOR
 
+import os
+
 DEBUG = DEVELOPMENT
 
 # These settings are intended for the server admin to set.  We document them in
@@ -415,3 +417,6 @@ NAGIOS_BOT_HOST = EXTERNAL_HOST
 
 # Automatically deactivate users not found by the AUTH_LDAP_USER_SEARCH query.
 LDAP_DEACTIVATE_NON_MATCHING_USERS: Optional[bool] = None
+
+# Use half of the available CPUs for data import purposes.
+DEFAULT_DATA_EXPORT_IMPORT_PARALLELISM = (len(os.sched_getaffinity(0)) // 2) or 1