Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Urban and Regional Planners?
Task-level automation exposure for Urban and Regional Planners: 25 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
59%
weighted task index
25 of 25 tasks scored
Median Salary
$89,320 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
44,230 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+3.9%
employment change
3,200 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 53 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$51,600 – $137,000
Highest medians
District of Columbia $137,000
California $109,610
Oregon $103,070
Arizona $102,400
Colorado $101,340
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $51,600
Mississippi $60,300
West Virginia $61,390
Arkansas $63,530
Kentucky $65,000
State figures come from the 19-3051 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 59%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 0%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 47%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 13%
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 0/100
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
25 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) 59%
15 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 27%
7 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 13%
3 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
#220 · Core · 53% automatable
Design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation.
interpersonal — Public communication needs accountability and audience trust
Design civil structures or systems. Inform the public about policies, services or procedures.
#226 · Core · 62% automatable
Advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives.
decision support — Drafts advice; accountability and context owned by human
Advise others on business or operational matters.
#225 · Core · 72% automatable
Create, prepare, or requisition graphic or narrative reports on land use data, including land area maps overlaid with geographic variables, such as population density.
text generation — Reports drafted; presentations need human delivery
Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.
#18476 · Core · 55% automatable
Hold public meetings with government officials, social scientists, lawyers, developers, the public, or special interest groups to formulate, develop, or address issues regarding land use or community plans.
interpersonal — Public environmental communication needs trust and accountability
Communicate with the public on environmental issues.
#230 · Core · 30% automatable
Mediate community disputes or assist in developing alternative plans or recommendations for programs or projects.
interpersonal — Mediation requires live facilitation and trust
Mediate disputes.
#222 · Core · 62% automatable
Recommend approval, denial, or conditional approval of proposals.
decision support — Drafts advice; accountability and context owned by human
Advise others on business or operational matters.
#227 · Core · 62% automatable
Conduct field investigations, surveys, impact studies, or other research to compile and analyze data on economic, social, regulatory, or physical factors affecting land use.
information retrieval — Literature synthesis strong; field measurement human
Research impacts of environmental conservation initiatives.
#19777 · Core · 60% automatable
Evaluate proposals for infrastructure projects or other development for environmental impact or sustainability.
decision support — Evaluates conservation plans; judgment and field context needed
Review plans or proposals for environmental conservation.
#228 · Core · 55% automatable
Discuss with planning officials the purpose of land use projects, such as transportation, conservation, residential, commercial, industrial, or community use.
text generation — Drafting agency communications aided; relationships human
Communicate with government agencies.
#229 · Core · 82% automatable
Keep informed about economic or legal issues involved in zoning codes, building codes, or environmental regulations.
information retrieval — AI can search and summarize literature, human curates
Review professional literature to maintain professional knowledge.
#20524 · Core · 60% automatable
Assess the feasibility of land use proposals and identify necessary changes.
decision support — Evaluates conservation plans; judgment and field context needed
Review plans or proposals for environmental conservation.
#20523 · Core · 68% automatable
Determine the effects of regulatory limitations on land use projects.
information retrieval — Legal change impact analysis; counsel validates
Analyze impact of legal or regulatory changes.
#232 · Core · 68% automatable
Review and evaluate environmental impact reports pertaining to private or public planning projects or programs.
decision support — Reviews permit reports against standards; human signs off
Review environmental permits, plans, or reports.
#233 · Core · 32% automatable
Supervise or coordinate the work of urban planning technicians or technologists.
interpersonal — Technical supervision requires judgment and accountability
Supervise scientific or technical personnel.
#19776 · Core · 50% automatable
Develop plans for public or alternative transportation systems for urban or regional locations to reduce carbon output associated with transportation.
decision support — Sustainability plans drafted; organizational buy-in human
Develop environmental sustainability plans or projects.
#19778 · Core · 50% automatable
Identify opportunities or develop plans for sustainability projects or programs to improve energy efficiency, minimize pollution or waste, or restore natural systems.
decision support — Sustainability plans drafted; organizational buy-in human
Develop environmental sustainability plans or projects.
#231 · Core · 60% automatable
Coordinate work with economic consultants or architects during the formulation of plans or the design of large pieces of infrastructure.
decision support — Technical design collaboration aided; humans own decisions
Collaborate with technical specialists to resolve design or development problems.
#19775 · Core · 58% automatable
Advocate sustainability to community groups, government agencies, the general public, or special interest groups.
text generation — Campaign content drafted; human leads advocacy
Promote environmental sustainability or conservation initiatives.
#20525 · Core · 78% automatable
Investigate property availability for purposes of development.
information retrieval — Property info lookup from databases
Obtain property information.
#22225 · Core · 30% automatable
Conduct interviews, surveys and site inspections concerning factors that affect land usage, such as zoning, traffic flow and housing.
interpersonal — Observation and interviews are inherently human
Collect information from people through observation, interviews, or surveys.
#22226 · Core · 72% automatable
Prepare reports, using statistics, charts, and graphs, to illustrate planning studies in areas such as population, land use, or zoning.
text generation — Reports drafted; presentations need human delivery
Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.
#22227 · Core · 60% automatable
Prepare, develop and maintain maps and databases.
visual inspection — Generates maps from data; cartographic judgment human
Prepare maps.
#22228 · Core · 82% automatable
Prepare, maintain and update files and records, including land use data and statistics.
data analysis — Record research or operational data into schemas
Record research or operational data.
#22229 · Core · 74% automatable
Research, compile, analyze and organize information from maps, reports, investigations, and books for use in reports and special projects.
data analysis — Geographic data compilation, human checks quality
Compile geographic or related data. Analyze geological or geographical data.
#22230 · Core · 55% automatable
Respond to public inquiries and complaints.
information retrieval — Technical public assistance partly automatable; trust needs human
Provide technical information or assistance to public.
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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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