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 Plasterers and Stucco Masons?
Task-level automation exposure for Plasterers and Stucco Masons: 15 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
9%
weighted task index
15 of 15 tasks scored
Median Salary
$57,660 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
19,310 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+2.8%
employment change
1,500 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 28 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$45,350 – $120,180
Highest medians
New York $120,180
Hawaii $104,260
Minnesota $102,530
Illinois $93,790
New Hampshire $93,000
Lowest medians
New Mexico $45,350
Montana $46,540
Florida $47,420
Colorado $47,570
Oklahoma $49,450
State figures come from the 47-2161 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 9%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 94%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 6%
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 9/100
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
15 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) 6%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 0%
0 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 94%
14 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
#20789 · Core · 4% automatable
Cover surfaces such as windows, doors, or sidewalks to protect from splashing.
physical manipulation — Hands-on placement of protective coverings
Protect structures or surfaces near work areas to avoid damage.
#9878 · Core · 4% automatable
Apply coats of plaster or stucco to walls, ceilings, or partitions of buildings, using trowels, brushes, or spray guns.
physical manipulation — Hands-on textured finish application
Apply decorative or textured finishes or coverings.
#9883 · Core · 7% automatable
Clean and prepare surfaces for applications of plaster, cement, stucco, or similar materials, such as by drywall taping.
physical manipulation — Surface preparation is hands-on physical work
Clean surfaces in preparation for work activities. Prepare surfaces for finishing.
#9880 · Core · 4% automatable
Create decorative textures in finish coat, using brushes or trowels, sand, pebbles, or stones.
physical manipulation — Hands-on textured finish application
Apply decorative or textured finishes or coverings.
#9879 · Core · 12% automatable
Mix mortar and plaster to desired consistency or direct workers who perform mixing.
physical manipulation — Physical handling of substances in workspace
Mix substances or compounds needed for work activities.
#20790 · Core · 10% automatable
Clean job sites.
physical manipulation — Equipment and facility cleaning is hands-on
Clean equipment or facilities.
#9884 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Rough the undercoat surface with a scratcher so the finish coat will adhere.
physical manipulation — Hands-on surface preparation before finishing
Prepare surfaces for finishing.
#20791 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Set up scaffolds.
physical manipulation — Erecting temporary structures requires physical assembly
Assemble temporary equipment or structures.
#9882 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Cure freshly plastered surfaces.
physical manipulation — Hands-on textured finish application
Apply decorative or textured finishes or coverings.
#9885 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Apply weatherproof, decorative coverings to exterior surfaces of buildings, such as by troweling or spraying on coats of stucco.
physical manipulation — Hands-on textured finish application
Apply decorative or textured finishes or coverings.
#20792 · Supplemental · 63% automatable
Determine materials needed to complete the job and place orders accordingly.
data analysis — Material takeoffs from plans; human verifies quantities
Estimate materials requirements for projects. Order construction or extraction materials or equipment.
#9881 · Supplemental · 3% automatable
Apply insulation to building exteriors by installing prefabricated insulation systems over existing walls or by covering the outer wall with insulation board, reinforcing mesh, and a base coat.
physical manipulation — Insulation installation requires manual fitting
Install insulation in equipment or structures.
#9887 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Spray acoustic materials or texture finish over walls or ceilings.
physical manipulation — Hands-on textured finish application
Apply decorative or textured finishes or coverings.
#9886 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Install guide wires on exterior surfaces of buildings to indicate thickness of plaster or stucco and nail wire mesh, lath, or similar materials to the outside surface to hold stucco in place.
physical manipulation — Marking reference points is hands-on site work
Mark reference points on construction materials.
#9888 · Supplemental · 7% automatable
Mold or install ornamental plaster pieces, panels, or trim.
physical manipulation — Part fabrication requires physical machining and handling
Install trim or paneling. Fabricate parts or components.
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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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