Metro area, Colorado
Boulder, CO
192,390 people work in this area, at mean pay of $91,760 a year (BLS, May 2025), in every industry. What follows is how much of their working time the best AI models could finish, when, and in which jobs and tasks. Estimates.
of the paid hours. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
a year: 127 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 46%
- 24%
- 31%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 25% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 30% within reach now and 36% by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
Share of the paid hours within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
What handing the work over would take
For the 169,114 people in jobs so far, 88% of the area's people; the others are in the totals above and join this split as the review reaches their jobs. Shares of their working time within reach now, at the pace and reliability chosen above. Estimates. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
about 87 million hours a year. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
about 34 million hours a year. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
about 31 million hours a year. Short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the totals.
What their work is made of
- 34%
- 11%
- 10%
- 14%
- 31%
Each task's time split among five kinds of doing, judged one task at a time; only documents and systems can count as within reach.
What changes for the people
For the 169,114 people in jobs reviewed task by task so far, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five: the shares of their working time, from each job page's own map, weighted by how many people here do that job. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job. Estimates.
Conversation, in-person and hands-on work.
Desk work within reach in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs.
Desk work within reach that is small if wrong, with lighter checks.
What most people here would learn first
How many of them have each skill among the first two things to learn on their job's page. Every state, and the US
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself85,306 (50%)
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts69,131 (41%)
- The hands-on craft62,152 (37%)
- The conversations47,562 (28%)
- Judgment where errors are severe34,377 (20%)
- Signing off under your license14,172 (8%)
- Running AI inside the business systems12,260 (7%)
- Dealing with people outside the organization8,030 (5%)
- Handling protected records400 (under 1%)
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this area's paid hours were within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 18%. Today's estimate: 34%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 36% of the working time of the people in this area as physical work. For 26% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 19% in a purpose-built cell, 6% in a structured facility, 1% in any setting. 0.33 of 3.
- Not physical 64%
- No robot shown 10%
- In a purpose-built cell 19%
- In a structured facility 6%
- In any setting 1%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. Weighted by the people in each occupation; each job's page names the robot behind each rated task.
Where the hours are
Jobs by hours within reach now. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index. The 40 largest jobs hold 46% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 7,130 | 48% | 7.1 million | $165K |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 3,230 | 59% | 3.9 million | $100K |
| Project Management Specialists | 2,920 | 58% | 3.5 million | $122K |
| Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists | 3,130 | 50% | 3.2 million | $98K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 2,070 | 64% | 2.8 million | $48K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 1,440 | 88% | 2.6 million | $57K |
| General and Operations Managers | 2,750 | 45% | 2.6 million | $152K |
| Registered Nurses | 3,140 | 37% | 2.4 million | $103K |
| Retail Salespersons | 4,880 | 23% | 2.3 million | $39K |
| Accountants and Auditors | 2,380 | 45% | 2.2 million | $100K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 1,910 | 54% | 2.2 million | $79K |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 1,710 | 57% | 2 million | $74K |
People: BLS counts for this area, May 2025. Pay here: the median paid for the job in this area, else its mean, else the national median. 398 smaller jobs (95,550 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 92% of the area's people; the rest are in BLS "all other" groups with no task list, or in counts BLS does not publish.
The tasks with the most hours within reach by the end of 2028
Across the whole area, on the chosen pace and reliability.
- Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design.Software Developers2.4 million hours80% of the task within reach
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.Software Developers2 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand.Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists2 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.Software Developers1.4 million hours70% of the task within reach
- Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications.Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel1.4 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.Software Developers1.3 million hours80% of the task within reach
- Determine system performance standards.Software Developers1.1 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.Software Developers970,478 hours100% of the task within reach
- Gather data on competitors and analyze their prices, sales, and method of marketing and distribution.Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists791,379 hours100% of the task within reach
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.Software Developers767,620 hours100% of the task within reach
The regional report on Boulder, CO
This page lists the largest jobs. The scan reads the whole workforce: every occupation BLS publishes here that the site has task data for, 92% of the people, at their local headcount and pay. The preview is free. The full report ($249, or included in Pro) is the report for a workforce board, a college or an economic development team: every occupation and the tasks behind its hours, what handing the work over would take, what changes for the people in each job and what they would learn, with the workbook and the slides to cite. Dated, with the method. For workforce boards and colleges
See what it holds first: the full report for Worcester, MA, Excel and slides.
Other areas in Colorado
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO1,609,350 people33% now, 41% by 2028
- Colorado Springs, CO316,060 people31% now, 38% by 2028
- Fort Collins-Loveland, CO169,430 people30% now, 37% by 2028
- Northwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area132,270 people28% now, 33% by 2028
- Greeley, CO119,540 people28% now, 33% by 2028
- Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area108,360 people28% now, 32% by 2028
- Eastern and Southern Colorado nonmetropolitan area70,160 people28% now, 32% by 2028
- Grand Junction, CO67,170 people29% now, 33% by 2028
How it is built: BLS counts the people in each job in this area; each job's tasks and their lengths give its share within reach at a date; the area's share is those shares weighted by people. Value is pay times 1.43 for benefits and payroll costs. Seen in Claude use splits today's share by whether Anthropic saw people bring each task to Claude in 2025; other AI tools are not counted. How it works
Questions about this area
- How much of the work in Boulder, CO is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 34% of the paid hours in Boulder, CO are within reach of AI models now and 45% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (43% to 46% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which jobs in Boulder, CO carry the most hours within reach?
- By hours within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index): Software Developers (7,130 people, 48% of their time, about 7.1 million hours a year); Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel (3,230 people, 59% of their time, about 3.9 million hours a year); and Project Management Specialists (2,920 people, 58% of their time, about 3.5 million hours a year).
- Which tasks in Boulder, CO carry the most hours within reach by the end of 2028?
- Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design (Software Developers, about 2.4 million hours a year); Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance (Software Developers, about 2 million hours a year); and Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand (Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists, about 2 million hours a year).
- What would people working in Boulder, CO learn first?
- Among the 169,114 people in jobs reviewed task by task, the skills most often among the first two things to learn on their job's page are reviewing work you did not do yourself (85,306 people); briefing a model and checking its drafts (69,131 people); and the hands-on craft (62,152 people). By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 55% of their working time stays with people, 36% becomes checking a model's work and 8% can be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- How is this estimated?
- BLS counts the people in each occupation in Boulder, CO (May 2025); each occupation's share of working time within reach comes from its O*NET tasks, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. The area's share is those shares weighted by people. Task data covers 92% of its people, and 88% are in occupations reviewed task by task. Data checked November 10, 2026.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.