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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Maintenance and Repair Workers, General?
Task-level automation exposure for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General: 27 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
24%
weighted task index
27 of 27 tasks scored
Median Salary
$49,590 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
1,529,700 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+4.2%
employment change
148,700 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.
$23,220 – $60,310
Highest medians
District of Columbia $60,310
Alaska $60,270
Minnesota $59,200
Washington $59,160
Massachusetts $58,320
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $23,220
Guam $30,450
Virgin Islands $38,850
West Virginia $38,890
Oklahoma $42,750
State figures come from the 49-9071 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 24%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 68%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 12%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 4%
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 23/100
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
27 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) 17%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 12%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 72%
20 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 →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 05/2025 · AI/SME
Use drones for inspecting roofs, gutters, and other hard-to-reach areas of buildings.
Constituent Tasks
#20671 · Core · 14% automatable
Perform routine maintenance, such as inspecting drives, motors, or belts, checking fluid levels, replacing filters, or doing other preventive maintenance actions.
visual inspection — Mechanical component inspection requires hands-on access
Inspect mechanical components of vehicles to identify problems. Replace worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.
#3024 · Core · 23% automatable
Inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions.
physical manipulation — Hands-on mechanical testing in physical environment
Inspect mechanical equipment to locate damage, defects, or wear. Test mechanical equipment to ensure proper functioning.
#3030 · Core · 15% automatable
Adjust functional parts of devices or control instruments, using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, or straightedges.
physical manipulation — Hands-on equipment adjustment for performance
Adjust equipment to ensure optimal performance.
#20672 · Core · 13% automatable
Repair machines, equipment, or structures, using tools such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, wrenches, or equipment such as precision measuring instruments or electrical or electronic testing devices.
physical manipulation — Basic equipment maintenance requires hands-on work
Perform basic equipment maintenance. Repair structural components.
#20674 · Core · 75% automatable
Order parts, supplies, or equipment from catalogs or suppliers.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#3023 · Core · 62% automatable
Diagnose mechanical problems and determine how to correct them, checking blueprints, repair manuals, or parts catalogs, as necessary.
information retrieval — Technical reading for maintenance well handled
Read technical information needed to perform maintenance or repairs. Troubleshoot equipment or systems operation problems.
#20679 · Core · 50% automatable
Design new equipment to aid in the repair or maintenance of machines, mechanical equipment, or building structures.
decision support — AI proposes configurations; engineer verifies physical constraints
Develop equipment or component configurations.
#3022 · Core · 10% automatable
Assemble, install, or repair wiring, electrical or electronic components, pipe systems, plumbing, machinery, or equipment.
physical manipulation — Hands-on wiring repair in physical environment
Assemble electrical components, subsystems, or systems. Install electrical components, equipment, or systems. Repair electrical circuits or wiring.
#3026 · Core · 11% automatable
Clean or lubricate shafts, bearings, gears, or other parts of machinery.
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.
#20678 · Core · 70% automatable
Estimate costs to repair machinery, equipment, or building structures.
data analysis — Labor/material cost estimation from rates
Estimate costs for labor or materials.
#3033 · Core · 8% automatable
Align and balance new equipment after installation.
physical manipulation — Physical alignment of machinery requires hands
Align equipment or machinery.
#3025 · Core · 80% automatable
Record type and cost of maintenance or repair work.
text generation — Record parts and repair details from provided data
Record information about parts, materials or repair procedures.
#20673 · Core · 10% automatable
Maintain or repair specialized equipment or machinery located in cafeterias, laundries, hospitals, stores, offices, or factories.
physical manipulation — Physical maintenance of machinery
Maintain work equipment or machinery.
#20670 · Core · 9% automatable
Dismantle machines, equipment, or devices to access and remove defective parts, using hoists, cranes, hand tools, or power tools.
physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control
Disassemble equipment for maintenance or repair. Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
#3028 · Core · 39% automatable
Plan and lay out repair work, using diagrams, drawings, blueprints, maintenance manuals, or schematic diagrams.
decision support — Procedure drafting aided; context-specific validation human
Plan work procedures. Lay out work according to specifications.
#19898 · Core · 10% automatable
Install equipment to improve the energy or operational efficiency of residential or commercial buildings.
physical manipulation — On-site HVAC installation requires hands-on trade work
Install energy-efficient heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) equipment.
#3035 · Core · 10% automatable
Set up and operate machine tools to repair or fabricate machine parts, jigs, fixtures, or tools.
physical manipulation — Part fabrication requires physical machining and handling
Fabricate parts or components.
#20675 · Core · 5% automatable
Perform general cleaning of buildings or properties.
physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of work areas
Clean work areas.
#20676 · Core · 36% automatable
Train or manage maintenance personnel or subcontractors.
interpersonal — Operational training requires live human delivery
Train others in operational procedures. Supervise employees.
#3037 · Core · 3% automatable
Fabricate or repair counters, benches, partitions, or other wooden structures, such as sheds or outbuildings.
physical manipulation — Assembling structural components is hands-on
Assemble structural components.
#3031 · Core · 10% automatable
Paint or repair roofs, windows, doors, floors, woodwork, plaster, drywall, or other parts of building structures.
physical manipulation — Painting surfaces is hands-on manual work
Paint surfaces or equipment.
#19899 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Perform routine maintenance on boilers, such as replacing burners or hoses, installing replacement parts, or reinforcing structural weaknesses to ensure optimal boiler efficiency.
physical manipulation — Physical maintenance of machinery
Install machine or equipment replacement parts. Maintain work equipment or machinery.
#20677 · Supplemental · 3% automatable
Provide groundskeeping services, such as landscaping or snow removal.
physical manipulation — Manual snow removal with tools outdoors
Remove snow. Perform manual agricultural, aquacultural, or horticultural tasks.
#3032 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Operate cutting torches or welding equipment to cut or join metal parts.
physical manipulation — Manual welding requires dexterity and live judgment
Operate welding equipment.
#3034 · Supplemental · 25% automatable
Inspect used parts to determine changes in dimensional requirements, using rules, calipers, micrometers, or other measuring instruments.
physical manipulation — Physical distance measurement in field
Measure distances or dimensions.
#19897 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Assemble boilers at installation sites, using tools such as levels, plumb bobs, hammers, torches, or other hand tools.
physical manipulation — Mechanical assembly needs hands and tools
Assemble mechanical components or machine parts.
#19900 · Supplemental · 3% automatable
Position, attach, or blow insulating materials to prevent energy losses from buildings, pipes, or other structures or objects.
physical manipulation — Insulation installation requires manual fitting
Install insulation in equipment or structures.
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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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