AI Job Risk in United States

Average generative-AI exposure of the workforce

0.316

ILO score (0–1). Rank 9 of 20 countries.

People in employment, 2025

170,186,000

ILO modelled estimate

What people in United States work as

Share of employment in each ISCO-08 major occupation group, and the group's average generative-AI exposure (ILO score, 0–1). The country figure above is the employment-weighted average of the exposure column.

Occupation group	Share of employment	Exposure (ILO, 0–1)
Professionals	23.4%	0.39
Technicians and associate professionals	17.5%	0.35
Service and sales workers	14.6%	0.26
Managers	11.7%	0.36
Skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations	10.8%	0.15
Clerical support workers	8.3%	0.53
Craft and related trades workers	8.1%	0.17
Plant and machine operators, and assemblers	5.6%	0.20

Method: each country's employment by ISCO-08 major occupation group (ILOSTAT, ILO modelled estimates) multiplied by the average ILO exposure score of the occupations in that group (ILO Working Paper 140), then added up. The ILO publishes skilled agricultural workers and elementary occupations as one group and leaves out the armed forces. The figure uses the ILO's 0–1 scale, not the 0–100 occupation index used elsewhere on this site, and it treats an occupation as equally exposed in every country.

How to read this page in practice

The notes below explain how to read the country figure, what kind of occupation mix raises or lowers it, and what this comparison can and cannot tell you.

How to Read This Country

Reading the United States well means separating the coastal, corporate knowledge economy from the service and operational economy that employs most workers day to day. Drafting, analysis, coding support, customer correspondence, and standardized financial or legal document work sit in the exposed layer, since employers face few contractual barriers to reorganizing these roles quickly. Healthcare delivery, skilled trades, logistics, retail floor work, and public-sector jobs sit in the durable layer, where physical tasks, licensing, and direct accountability to patients or customers slow substitution regardless of how capable the underlying models become.

What drives the figure

Employment concentrates in professional and business services, healthcare, retail, finance, technology, and a large logistics and warehousing sector built around national supply chains. AI pressure is sharpest in back-office finance, insurance claims processing, paralegal and contract review work, customer support centers, and entry-level software tasks, all of which are text-heavy and already digitized. It spreads more slowly through nursing and direct patient care, construction trades, truck driving and warehouse operations, and K-12 teaching, where physical work, licensure, and in-person trust remain central and where a fragmented, state-by-state regulatory system slows any uniform rollout.

What Holds Up Better

What holds up best are roles combining licensed responsibility with physical or interpersonal work: registered nurses, electricians and HVAC technicians, teachers, and first responders. The country's decentralized regulatory structure, with fifty separate states setting licensing and liability rules on their own terms, also slows any single wave of standardized automation from moving uniformly through regulated professions like healthcare and law, even as software tools inside those professions keep improving and law firms experiment with drafting assistance.

What This Page Does Not Claim

A single national score flattens enormous regional variation, from a Bay Area labor market dense with software roles to manufacturing and agricultural regions where AI exposure looks completely different. It also blends states with strong at-will hiring and firing against those with stronger worker protections. Read the number as a broad signal about a knowledge-heavy, flexible labor market, not as a claim that Silicon Valley and small-town Ohio face the same transition.

Jobs Most At Risk from AI

This table is a current snapshot of the jobs that appear on the higher-risk side within this country profile. It is useful as a directional comparison, not as a permanent national ranking. Both lists only include jobs in the three occupation groups that employ the most people in United States, ordered by exposure index.

Rank	Job	Occupation group	Generative-AI exposure
1	Interpreter	Professionals	98
2	Translator	Professionals	98
3	Web Developer	Professionals	97
4	Technical Writer	Professionals	96
5	Programmer	Professionals	96
6	Content Writer	Professionals	95
7	Copywriter	Professionals	95
8	Data Analyst	Professionals	95
9	Data Scientist	Professionals	95
10	Software Tester	Professionals	95
11	Advertising Specialist	Professionals	94
12	Market Research Analyst	Professionals	94
13	Marketing Specialist	Professionals	94
14	SEO Specialist	Professionals	94
15	Social Media Manager	Professionals	94
16	IT Support Specialist	Technicians and associate professionals	94
17	Editor	Professionals	94
18	Sales Representative	Technicians and associate professionals	93
19	Telemarketer	Service and sales workers	93
20	Journalist	Professionals	93

Jobs Safest from AI

This table shows the jobs that currently appear on the lower-risk side within this country profile. Read it as a structural comparison of work, not as a guarantee that these roles will stay unchanged.

Rank	Job	Occupation group	Generative-AI exposure
1	Firefighter	Service and sales workers	25
2	Ship Engineer	Technicians and associate professionals	27
3	Water Treatment Operator	Technicians and associate professionals	27
4	Veterinary Assistant	Technicians and associate professionals	28
5	Paramedic	Technicians and associate professionals	32
6	Dentist	Professionals	33
7	Laboratory Technician	Technicians and associate professionals	37
8	Pilot	Technicians and associate professionals	39
9	Power Plant Operator	Technicians and associate professionals	39
10	Security Guard	Service and sales workers	39
11	Fitness Trainer	Technicians and associate professionals	39
12	Barista	Service and sales workers	39
13	Surgeon	Professionals	39
14	Sound Engineer	Technicians and associate professionals	41
15	Ship Captain	Technicians and associate professionals	42
16	Bartender	Service and sales workers	43
17	Chef	Technicians and associate professionals	44
18	Cook	Service and sales workers	44
19	Medical Assistant	Technicians and associate professionals	46
20	Veterinarian	Professionals	47

Sources

Exposure index calculated by ai-job-risk.net from the datasets below (data as of October 15, 2026). US labour figures are from the BLS, unchanged.

The publishers did not prepare, review or endorse this site. Full citations, licences and method

Frequently asked questions

Q.Which jobs are most at risk from AI in United States?

Most exposed: Interpreter, Translator, Web Developer. Employment concentrates in professional and business services, healthcare, retail, finance, technology, and a large logistics and warehousing sector built around national supply chains. AI pressure is sharpest in back-office finance, insurance claims processing, paralegal and contract review work, customer support centers, and entry-level software tasks, all of which are text-heavy and already digitized.

Q.Which jobs are safest from AI in United States?

Least exposed: Firefighter, Ship Engineer, Water Treatment Operator. What holds up best are roles combining licensed responsibility with physical or interpersonal work: registered nurses, electricians and HVAC technicians, teachers, and first responders. The country's decentralized regulatory structure, with fifty separate states setting licensing and liability rules on their own terms, also slows any single wave of standardized automation from moving uniformly through regulated professions like healthcare and law, even as software tools inside those professions keep improving and law firms experiment with drafting assistance.

Q.How exposed is United States to AI automation?

Reading the United States well means separating the coastal, corporate knowledge economy from the service and operational economy that employs most workers day to day. Drafting, analysis, coding support, customer correspondence, and standardized financial or legal document work sit in the exposed layer, since employers face few contractual barriers to reorganizing these roles quickly. Healthcare delivery, skilled trades, logistics, retail floor work, and public-sector jobs sit in the durable layer, where physical tasks, licensing, and direct accountability to patients or customers slow substitution regardless of how capable the underlying models become.

Q.Does high exposure mean jobs will disappear in United States?

A single national score flattens enormous regional variation, from a Bay Area labor market dense with software roles to manufacturing and agricultural regions where AI exposure looks completely different. It also blends states with strong at-will hiring and firing against those with stronger worker protections. Read the number as a broad signal about a knowledge-heavy, flexible labor market, not as a claim that Silicon Valley and small-town Ohio face the same transition.