Community Sentiment
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Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?
AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment?
Task-level automation exposure for Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment: 20 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
14%
weighted task index
20 of 20 tasks scored
Median Salary
$35,830 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
380,430 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+3.9%
employment change
51,500 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$21,890 – $42,710
Highest medians
District of Columbia $42,710
Alaska $40,210
Washington $40,070
Colorado $39,610
Vermont $39,530
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $21,890
Guam $21,980
Louisiana $27,600
Virgin Islands $28,290
Mississippi $28,640
State figures come from the 53-7061 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 14%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 84%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 0%
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 19/100
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
20 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) 5%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 5%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 90%
18 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
#4997 · Core · 5% automatable
Rinse objects and place them on drying racks or use cloth, squeegees, or air compressors to dry surfaces.
physical manipulation — Hands-on washing of vehicle surfaces and parts
Clean vehicles or vehicle components.
#5006 · Core · 10% automatable
Apply paints, dyes, polishes, reconditioners, waxes, or masking materials to vehicles to preserve, protect, or restore color or condition.
physical manipulation — Applying finishes requires hands-on coating work
Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.
#4996 · Core · 5% automatable
Clean and polish vehicle windows.
physical manipulation — Hands-on washing of vehicle surfaces and parts
Clean vehicles or vehicle components.
#4998 · Core · 10% automatable
Drive vehicles to or from workshops or customers' workplaces or homes.
situated mobility — Driving passenger vehicles needs real-world control
Drive passenger vehicles.
#4993 · Core · 8% automatable
Scrub, scrape, or spray machine parts, equipment, or vehicles, using scrapers, brushes, clothes, cleaners, disinfectants, insecticides, acid, abrasives, vacuums, or hoses.
physical manipulation — Machinery cleaning requires hands-on work
Clean machinery or equipment. Clean vehicles or vehicle components.
#4992 · Core · 20% automatable
Inspect parts, equipment, or vehicles for cleanliness, damage, and compliance with standards or regulations.
visual inspection — Vehicle inspection is physical on-site work
Inspect motor vehicles.
#4994 · Core · 12% automatable
Mix cleaning solutions, abrasive compositions, or other compounds, according to formulas.
physical manipulation — Physical handling of substances in workspace
Mix substances or compounds needed for work activities.
#5005 · Core · 68% automatable
Maintain inventories of supplies.
decision support — Acquisition workflow aided; human commits resources
Acquire supplies or equipment.
#5000 · Core · 8% automatable
Pre-soak or rinse machine parts, equipment, or vehicles by immersing objects in cleaning solutions or water, manually or using hoists.
physical manipulation — Machinery cleaning requires hands-on work
Clean machinery or equipment. Clean vehicles or vehicle components.
#5007 · Core · 15% automatable
Turn valves or disconnect hoses to eliminate water, cleaning solutions, or vapors from machinery or tanks.
physical manipulation — Physical control of pumping equipment
Control pumps or pumping equipment.
#4999 · Core · 15% automatable
Turn valves or handles on equipment to regulate pressure or flow of water, air, steam, or abrasives from sprayer nozzles.
physical manipulation — Physical control of pumping equipment
Control pumps or pumping equipment.
#5008 · Core · 4% automatable
Sweep, shovel, or vacuum loose debris or salvageable scrap into containers and remove containers from work areas.
physical manipulation — Physical cleaning of facilities and work areas
Clean facilities or work areas. Remove debris or damaged materials. Shovel materials.
#5002 · Core · 45% automatable
Monitor operation of cleaning machines and stop machines or notify supervisors when malfunctions occur.
text generation — Reporting malfunctions is structured information relay
Monitor engine operation or functioning. Report vehicle or equipment malfunctions.
#4995 · Core · 15% automatable
Press buttons to activate cleaning equipment or machines.
physical manipulation — Hands-on control of industrial machinery in unstructured settings
Operate industrial equipment.
#5004 · Core · 10% automatable
Connect hoses or lines to pumps or other equipment.
physical manipulation — Connecting hoses requires physical fitting
Connect hoses to equipment or machinery.
#5011 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Clean the plastic work inside cars, using paintbrushes.
physical manipulation — Hands-on washing of vehicle surfaces and parts
Clean vehicles or vehicle components.
#5003 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Disassemble and reassemble machines or equipment or remove and reattach vehicle parts or trim, using hand tools.
physical manipulation — Installing parts requires hands-on mechanical work
Install parts, assemblies, or attachments in transportation or material handling equipment.
#5001 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Lubricate machinery, vehicles, or equipment or perform minor repairs or adjustments, using hand tools.
physical manipulation — Physical vehicle maintenance work
Maintain vehicles in good working condition.
#5009 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Transport materials, equipment, or supplies to or from work areas, using carts or hoists.
physical manipulation — Manual moving of materials and supplies
Move materials, equipment, or supplies.
#5012 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Fit boot spoilers, side skirts, or mud flaps to cars.
physical manipulation — Installing parts requires hands-on mechanical work
Install parts, assemblies, or attachments in transportation or material handling equipment.
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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
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