AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Carpet Installers?

Task-level automation exposure for Carpet Installers: 17 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

13% weighted task index

17 of 17 tasks scored

Median Salary

$50,340 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

13,780 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-16.4% employment change

700 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 45 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$33,810 – $115,180

Highest medians

New Jersey $115,180

Minnesota $85,910

Alaska $76,790

Tennessee $74,510

Nevada $67,040

Lowest medians

South Carolina $33,810

West Virginia $36,220

Mississippi $36,590

Arkansas $37,390

Kentucky $37,800

State figures come from the 47-2041 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 13%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 82%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 18%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 0%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 11/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

17 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 0%

0 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 11%

2 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 89%

15 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#2837 · Core · 30% automatable

Plan the layout of the carpet, allowing for expected traffic patterns and placing seams for best appearance and longest wear.

physical manipulation — Site layout requires physical inspection of space

Plan layout of construction, installation, or repairs.

#2833 · Core · 3% automatable

Join edges of carpet and seam edges where necessary, by sewing or by using tape with glue and heated carpet iron.

physical manipulation — Carpet installation needs precise manual fitting

Install carpet or flooring.

#2840 · Core · 5% automatable

Cut carpet padding to size and install padding, following prescribed method.

physical manipulation — Hand cutting of flexible flooring materials

Install carpet or flooring. Cut carpet, vinyl or other flexible materials.

#2834 · Core · 7% automatable

Cut and trim carpet to fit along wall edges, openings, and projections, finishing the edges with a wall trimmer.

physical manipulation — Abrasive hand work on physical surfaces

Cut carpet, vinyl or other flexible materials. Smooth surfaces with abrasive materials or tools.

#2838 · Core · 3% automatable

Stretch carpet to align with walls and ensure a smooth surface, and press carpet in place over tack strips or use staples, tape, tacks or glue to hold carpet in place.

physical manipulation — Carpet installation needs precise manual fitting

Install carpet or flooring.

#2836 · Core · 13% automatable

Roll out, measure, mark, and cut carpeting to size with a carpet knife, following floor sketches and allowing extra carpet for final fitting.

physical manipulation — Physical measurement for assembly fitting

Measure materials or objects for installation or assembly. Cut carpet, vinyl or other flexible materials. Mark reference points on construction materials.

#2842 · Core · 3% automatable

Nail tack strips around area to be carpeted or use old strips to attach edges of new carpet.

physical manipulation — Carpet installation needs precise manual fitting

Install carpet or flooring.

#2835 · Core · 12% automatable

Inspect the surface to be covered to determine its condition, and correct any imperfections that might show through carpet or cause carpet to wear unevenly.

visual inspection — On-site physical condition assessment is human work

Inspect work sites to determine condition or necessary repairs. Prepare surfaces for finishing.

#2839 · Core · 54% automatable

Take measurements and study floor sketches to calculate the area to be carpeted and the amount of material needed.

visual inspection — Specs reading aided, human validates requirements

Review blueprints or specifications to determine work requirements. Measure work site dimensions. Estimate materials requirements for projects.

#2841 · Core · 3% automatable

Install carpet on some floors using adhesive, following prescribed method.

physical manipulation — Carpet installation needs precise manual fitting

Install carpet or flooring.

#20142 · Core · 10% automatable

Clean up before and after installation, including vacuuming carpet and discarding remnant pieces.

physical manipulation — Work site cleaning is physical labor

Clean work sites.

#2845 · Core · 50% automatable

Draw building diagrams and record dimensions.

text generation — Installation diagrams drafted; field accuracy human-owned

Create construction or installation diagrams.

#24050 · Core · 5% automatable

Cut and install vinyl composition tile or vinyl base.

physical manipulation — Hand cutting of flexible flooring materials

Install carpet or flooring. Cut tile, stone, or other masonry materials. Cut carpet, vinyl or other flexible materials.

#2843 · Core · 3% automatable

Fasten metal treads across door openings or where carpet meets flooring to hold carpet in place.

physical manipulation — Carpet installation needs precise manual fitting

Install carpet or flooring.

#2846 · Core · 5% automatable

Move furniture from area to be carpeted and remove old carpet and padding.

physical manipulation — Hands-on removal of worn materials

Remove worn, damaged or outdated materials from work areas.

#2844 · Supplemental · 14% automatable

Measure, cut and install tackless strips along the baseboard or wall.

physical manipulation — Physical measurement for assembly fitting

Measure materials or objects for installation or assembly. Install carpet or flooring.

#2847 · Supplemental · 6% automatable

Cut and bind material.

physical manipulation — Hand cutting of flexible flooring materials

Cut carpet, vinyl or other flexible materials.

Embed this calculator on your site ↓

Bloggers & authors: Embed this interactive calculator directly in your articles or comparison guides. It loads dynamically via a responsive iframe (auto-resizing to prevent double scrollbars) and provides a direct, high-value tool for your audience.

<div class="giniloh-calculator-embed" data-calculator="carpet-installers"></div>
<script src="https://giniloh.com/embed.js" async></script>

Community Sentiment

Do you agree?

Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?

Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

Best AI Proof Jobs in a Changing Market

Worried robots are coming for your paycheck? You’re not alone—but the real story is far more hopeful. This guide cuts through the scare headlines to reveal exactly where smart, sustainable career opportunities exist right now. We’ve curated a list of true ai proof jobs—roles in healthcare, skilled trades, and cybersecurity that not only survive automation but thrive because of human judgment and empathy. You’ll get specific, money-making data on projected growth (the BLS says wind turbine technicians, for instance, will grow 44% by 2032), real salary ranges from active job listings, and a simple self-assessment quiz to identify your own most resilient path. Plus, we name companies hiring today and the niche job boards they use. Stop worrying and start planning—your secure career is closer than you think.

Read Article ->