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 Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians?
Task-level automation exposure for Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians: 14 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
23%
weighted task index
14 of 14 tasks scored
Median Salary
$56,550 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
37,870 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+10.7%
employment change
3,700 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 47 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$46,240 – $65,250
Highest medians
Nevada $65,250
North Dakota $63,030
New Jersey $62,300
South Dakota $62,140
Delaware $61,850
Lowest medians
West Virginia $46,240
South Carolina $46,640
Virginia $47,700
Tennessee $47,830
Louisiana $48,330
State figures come from the 49-3041 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 23%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 78%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 5%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 9%
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 25/100
Moderate
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
14 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) 13%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 8%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 78%
11 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
#13749 · Core · 16% automatable
Reassemble machines and equipment following repair, testing operation and making adjustments, as necessary.
physical manipulation — Hands-on mechanical testing in physical environment
Test mechanical equipment to ensure proper functioning. Reassemble equipment after repair. Adjust equipment to ensure optimal performance.
#13750 · Core · 8% automatable
Maintain, repair, and overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, and irrigation systems.
physical manipulation — Hands-on engine teardown and repair
Repair defective engines or engine components. Service vehicles to maintain functionality.
#13751 · Core · 41% automatable
Examine and listen to equipment, read inspection reports, and confer with customers to locate and diagnose malfunctions.
decision support — Diagnosis from description aided, repair judgment human
Read work orders or descriptions of problems to determine repairs or modifications needed. Inspect mechanical equipment to locate damage, defects, or wear. Confer with customers or users to assess problems.
#13748 · Core · 80% automatable
Record details of repairs made and parts used.
text generation — Log maintenance and repair records from data
Maintain repair or maintenance records.
#13752 · Core · 8% automatable
Dismantle defective machines for repair, using hand tools.
physical manipulation — Disassembly requires hands-on tool use
Disassemble equipment for maintenance or repair.
#13755 · Core · 11% automatable
Clean and lubricate parts.
physical manipulation — Physical lubrication task requiring hands and access
Clean equipment, parts, or tools to repair or maintain them in good working order. Lubricate equipment to allow proper functioning.
#13754 · Core · 10% automatable
Repair or replace defective parts, using hand tools, milling and woodworking machines, lathes, welding equipment, grinders, or saws.
physical manipulation — Manual replacement of mechanical parts
Replace worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts. Repair worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.
#13753 · Core · 15% automatable
Test and replace electrical components and wiring, using test meters, soldering equipment, and hand tools.
physical manipulation — Electrical probing and meter work by hand
Test electrical circuits or components for proper functioning. Install machine or equipment replacement parts.
#13756 · Core · 10% automatable
Tune or overhaul engines.
physical manipulation — Hands-on vehicle component adjustment
Adjust vehicle components according to specifications.
#13757 · Core · 10% automatable
Drive trucks to haul tools and equipment for on-site repair of large machinery.
physical manipulation — Operating heavy equipment by hand in field
Move large objects using heavy equipment.
#13758 · Core · 10% automatable
Fabricate new metal parts, using drill presses, engine lathes, and other machine tools.
physical manipulation — Part fabrication requires physical machining and handling
Fabricate parts or components.
#13761 · Core · 10% automatable
Repair bent or torn sheet metal.
physical manipulation — Structural repair is hands-on physical work
Repair structural components.
#13759 · Supplemental · 82% automatable
Calculate bills according to record of repairs made, labor time, and parts used.
data analysis — Cost calculation from structured inputs
Calculate costs of goods or services.
#13760 · Supplemental · 7% automatable
Install and repair agricultural irrigation, plumbing, and sprinkler systems.
physical manipulation — Pipe leak repair requires hands-on manipulation
Install piping for installation or maintenance activities. Repair pipes to stop leaking.
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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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