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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Tree Trimmers and Pruners?
Task-level automation exposure for Tree Trimmers and Pruners: 24 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
24 of 24 tasks scored
Median Salary
$50,960 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
55,160 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+4.2%
employment change
7,900 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 50 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$39,380 – $77,460
Highest medians
Minnesota $77,460
Oregon $75,440
New Jersey $71,940
Illinois $64,450
Washington $63,850
Lowest medians
Nebraska $39,380
Texas $39,880
Alabama $41,500
Mississippi $41,560
Iowa $42,890
State figures come from the 37-3013 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 5%
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 7/100
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
24 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) 3%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 10%
2 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 87%
21 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
#13120 · Core · 10% automatable
Operate shredding and chipping equipment, and feed limbs and brush into the machines.
situated mobility — Grounds equipment operation needs real-world control
Operate grounds maintenance equipment.
#13113 · Core · 10% automatable
Operate boom trucks, loaders, stump chippers, brush chippers, tractors, power saws, trucks, sprayers, and other equipment and tools.
situated mobility — Grounds equipment operation needs real-world control
Operate grounds maintenance equipment. Drive trucks or other vehicles to or at work sites.
#13116 · Core · 8% automatable
Cut away dead and excess branches from trees, or clear branches around power lines, using climbing equipment or buckets of extended truck booms, or chainsaws, hooks, handsaws, shears, and clippers.
situated mobility — Grounds equipment operation needs real-world control
Trim trees or other vegetation. Operate grounds maintenance equipment.
#13115 · Core · 5% automatable
Clean, sharpen, and lubricate tools and equipment.
physical manipulation — Manual cleaning of equipment and supplies
Clean equipment or supplies.
#13119 · Core · 10% automatable
Hoist tools and equipment to tree trimmers, and lower branches with ropes or block and tackle.
situated mobility — Grounds equipment operation needs real-world control
Operate grounds maintenance equipment.
#13114 · Core · 3% automatable
Climb trees, using climbing hooks and belts, or climb ladders to gain access to work areas.
situated mobility — Climbing ladders requires physical balance
Climb ladders or vehicles to perform duties.
#13112 · Core · 38% automatable
Supervise others engaged in tree trimming work and train lower-level employees.
interpersonal — Policy instruction content aided, delivery human
Instruct staff in work policies or procedures. Supervise maintenance workers.
#13117 · Core · 5% automatable
Trim, top, and reshape trees to achieve attractive shapes or to remove low-hanging branches.
physical manipulation — Hands-on trimming of vegetation in the field
Trim trees or other vegetation.
#13121 · Core · 7% automatable
Load debris and refuse onto trucks and haul it away for disposal.
situated mobility — Driving vehicles at work sites is situated mobility
Remove debris from work sites. Drive trucks or other vehicles to or at work sites.
#13122 · Core · 30% automatable
Inspect trees to determine if they have diseases or pest problems.
visual inspection — Landscape inspection needs on-site visual assessment
Inspect landscaping to determine treatment needs.
#13125 · Core · 50% automatable
Provide information to the public regarding trees, such as advice on tree care.
interpersonal — Cost/service explanation requires site-specific human input
Provide information about landscaping services or costs.
#13128 · Core · 5% automatable
Trim jagged stumps, using saws or pruning shears.
physical manipulation — Hands-on trimming of vegetation in the field
Trim trees or other vegetation.
#13126 · Core · 4% automatable
Clear sites, streets, and grounds of woody and herbaceous materials, such as tree stumps and fallen trees and limbs.
physical manipulation — Manual removal of debris from sites
Remove debris from work sites.
#13124 · Core · 4% automatable
Collect debris and refuse from tree trimming and removal operations into piles, using shovels, rakes, or other tools.
physical manipulation — Manual removal of debris from sites
Remove debris from work sites.
#13123 · Core · 4% automatable
Cable, brace, tie, bolt, stake, and guy trees and branches to provide support.
physical manipulation — Tree support installation requires field labor
Install equipment to protect or support trees.
#13131 · Supplemental · 65% automatable
Plan and develop budgets for tree work, and estimate the monetary value of trees.
data analysis — Maintenance cost estimation from specs
Estimate maintenance service requirements or costs.
#13118 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Prune, cut down, fertilize, and spray trees as directed by tree surgeons.
physical manipulation — Treating greenery is physical application work
Trim trees or other vegetation. Treat greenery or surfaces with protective substances.
#13127 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Remove broken limbs from wires, using hooked extension poles.
physical manipulation — Manual removal of debris from sites
Remove debris from work sites.
#13132 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Water, root-feed, and fertilize trees.
physical manipulation — Irrigating plants requires physical setup
Irrigate lawns, trees, or plants.
#13135 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Scrape decayed matter from cavities in trees and fill holes with cement to promote healing and to prevent further deterioration.
physical manipulation — Treating greenery is physical application work
Treat greenery or surfaces with protective substances.
#13130 · Supplemental · 12% automatable
Spray trees to treat diseased or unhealthy trees, including mixing chemicals and calibrating spray equipment.
physical manipulation — Chemical preparation requires hands-on handling
Prepare chemicals for work application. Treat greenery or surfaces with protective substances. Operate grounds maintenance equipment.
#13133 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Apply tar or other protective substances to cut surfaces or seal surfaces and to protect them from fungi and insects.
physical manipulation — Treating greenery is physical application work
Treat greenery or surfaces with protective substances.
#13129 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Transplant and remove trees and shrubs, and prepare trees for moving.
physical manipulation — Planting greenery requires hands-on digging
Plant greenery to improve landscape appearance.
#13136 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Split logs or wooden blocks into bolts, pickets, posts, or stakes, using hand tools such as ax wedges, sledgehammers, and mallets.
situated mobility — Grounds equipment operation needs real-world control
Operate grounds maintenance 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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