Skip to content
STRATUSWORKFORCE SCAN

State

New Jersey

4,285,720 people work in New Jersey, at mean pay of $78,040 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.

now
31%

of the paid hours. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.

$156B

a year: 2.7 billion hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.

Kinds of work
  • 38%
  • 24%
  • 39%
7%

of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 23% 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

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 38% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 2030
Change assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five

What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .

What handing the work over would take

For the 4,026,704 people in jobs so far, 94% 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.

20%

about 1.7 billion hours a year. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.

10%

about 876 million hours a year. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.

, not counted
8%

about 634 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

  • 26%
  • 11%
  • 9%
  • 16%
  • 39%

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 4,026,704 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.

Stays with people
62%

Conversation, in-person and hands-on work.

Becomes checking
29%

Desk work within reach in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs.

Handed over
8%

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

  • The hands-on craft1,838,267 (46%)
  • Reviewing work you did not do yourself1,493,749 (37%)
  • Briefing a model and checking its drafts1,185,139 (29%)
  • The conversations1,105,715 (27%)
  • Judgment where errors are severe1,065,775 (26%)
  • Signing off under your license446,813 (11%)
  • Running AI inside the business systems386,320 (10%)
  • Dealing with people outside the organization231,880 (6%)
  • Handling protected records12,010 (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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 19%. Today's estimate: 31%.

0%10%20%30%40%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 0% within reacho1, December 2024: 1% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 2% within reacho3, April 2025: 6% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 7% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 10% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 10% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 11% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 12% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 19% within reachToday (estimate), November 2026: 31% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

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 45% of the working time of the people in this area as physical work. For 33% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 21% in a purpose-built cell, 10% in a structured facility, 1% in any setting. 0.45 of 3.

  • Not physical 55%
  • No robot shown 12%
  • In a purpose-built cell 21%
  • In a structured facility 10%
  • 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 47% of the people.

PeoplePay here
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive65,96059%81 million$50K
Customer Service Representatives59,69064%80 million$48K
Office Clerks, General65,13056%77 million$49K
Registered Nurses92,68037%71 million$107K
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks37,55088%69 million$58K
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers55,21054%62 million$77K
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel44,98059%55 million$79K
Receptionists and Information Clerks42,06060%52 million$42K
Software Developers51,57048%52 million$136K
General and Operations Managers53,00045%50 million$174K
Cashiers107,68019%41 million$35K
Accountants and Auditors42,25045%40 million$101K

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. 690 smaller jobs (2,227,910 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 98% 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.

  1. Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications.Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
    19 million hours100% of the task within reach
  2. Develop computer information resources, providing for data security and control, strategic computing, and disaster recovery.Computer and Information Systems Managers
    18 million hours92% of the task within reach
  3. Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design.Software Developers
    17 million hours80% of the task within reach
  4. Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.Office Clerks, General
    16 million hours100% of the task within reach
  5. Coordinate conferences, meetings, or special events, such as luncheons or graduation ceremonies.Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
    16 million hours60% of the task within reach
  6. Keep periodic balance sheets of amounts and numbers of transactions.Cashiers
    16 million hours100% of the task within reach
  7. Perform administrative or managerial functions, such as taking responsibility for a unit's staff, budget, planning, or long-range goals.Registered Nurses
    16 million hours60% of the task within reach
  8. Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand.A job in this area
    15 million hours100% of the task within reach
  9. Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.Software Developers
    14 million hours100% of the task within reach
  10. Record numbers of units handled or moved, using daily production sheets or work tickets.Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
    14 million hours100% of the task within reach

The regional report on New Jersey

This page lists the largest jobs. The scan reads the whole workforce: every occupation BLS publishes here that the site has task data for, 98% 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.

Metro and nonmetro areas in New Jersey

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.

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 New Jersey is within reach of AI now?
An estimated 31% of the paid hours in New Jersey are within reach of AI models now and 37% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (36% to 38% 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 New Jersey carry the most hours within reach?
By hours within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index): Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive (65,960 people, 59% of their time, about 81 million hours a year); Customer Service Representatives (59,690 people, 64% of their time, about 80 million hours a year); and Office Clerks, General (65,130 people, 56% of their time, about 77 million hours a year).
Which tasks in New Jersey carry the most hours within reach by the end of 2028?
Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications (Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel, about 19 million hours a year); Develop computer information resources, providing for data security and control, strategic computing, and disaster recovery (Computer and Information Systems Managers, about 18 million hours a year); and Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design (Software Developers, about 17 million hours a year).
What would people working in New Jersey learn first?
Among the 4,026,704 people in jobs reviewed task by task, the skills most often among the first two things to learn on their job's page are the hands-on craft (1,838,267 people); reviewing work you did not do yourself (1,493,749 people); and briefing a model and checking its drafts (1,185,139 people). By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 62% of their working time stays with people, 29% 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 New Jersey (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 98% of its people, and 94% are in occupations reviewed task by task. Data checked November 10, 2026.

How the estimates are made

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.

See the card