Nonmetro area, Alabama
Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area
67,570 people work in this area, at mean pay of $48,440 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: 32 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 27%
- 20%
- 53%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 20% 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 60,710 people in jobs so far, 90% 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 20 million hours a year. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
about 12 million hours a year. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
about 5.9 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
- 18%
- 10%
- 5%
- 15%
- 52%
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 60,710 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
- The hands-on craft37,523 (62%)
- Judgment where errors are severe19,617 (32%)
- The conversations17,705 (29%)
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself17,170 (28%)
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts12,358 (20%)
- Signing off under your license6,987 (12%)
- Running AI inside the business systems4,650 (8%)
- Dealing with people outside the organization1,790 (3%)
- Handling protected records290 (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, 17%. Today's estimate: 25%.
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 60% of the working time of the people in this area as physical work. For 48% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 33% in a purpose-built cell, 13% in a structured facility, 1% in any setting. 0.63 of 3.
- Not physical 40%
- No robot shown 12%
- In a purpose-built cell 33%
- In a structured facility 13%
- 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 60% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 1,440 | 59% | 1.8 million | $39K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 1,160 | 48% | 1.2 million | $62K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 610 | 88% | 1.1 million | $43K |
| Registered Nurses | 1,330 | 37% | 1 million | $65K |
| Team Assemblers | 4,500 | 11% | 1 million | $42K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | 960 | 49% | 982,428 | $37K |
| Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | 490 | 84% | 860,205 | $36K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 630 | 64% | 843,898 | $38K |
| Retail Salespersons | 1,690 | 23% | 808,496 | $29K |
| Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | 930 | 40% | 766,024 | $61K |
| Cashiers | 1,860 | 19% | 715,728 | $26K |
| General and Operations Managers | 750 | 45% | 702,005 | $104K |
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. 210 smaller jobs (25,070 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.
- Review work orders and blueprints to ensure work is performed according to specifications.Team Assemblers397,940 hours50% of the task within reach
- Coordinate conferences, meetings, or special events, such as luncheons or graduation ceremonies.Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive352,284 hours60% of the task within reach
- Complete production reports to communicate team production level to management.Team Assemblers321,142 hours100% of the task within reach
- Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive287,629 hours100% of the task within reach
- Determine work assignments and procedures.Team Assemblers287,446 hours50% of the task within reach
- Keep periodic balance sheets of amounts and numbers of transactions.Cashiers273,485 hours100% of the task within reach
- Plan and establish work schedules, assignments, and production sequences to meet production goals.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers272,212 hours100% of the task within reach
- Plan and develop new products and production processes.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers252,036 hours70% of the task within reach
- Set up and manage paper or electronic filing systems, recording information, updating paperwork, or maintaining documents, such as attendance records, correspondence, or other material.Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive232,548 hours70% of the task within reach
- Perform administrative or managerial functions, such as taking responsibility for a unit's staff, budget, planning, or long-range goals.Registered Nurses222,950 hours60% of the task within reach
The regional report on Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area
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 Alabama
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.
- Birmingham, AL520,290 people30% now, 35% by 2028
- Huntsville, AL266,650 people31% now, 41% by 2028
- Mobile, AL172,550 people29% now, 33% by 2028
- Montgomery, AL165,550 people29% now, 35% by 2028
- Northeast Alabama nonmetropolitan area152,620 people24% now, 27% by 2028
- Tuscaloosa, AL108,460 people26% now, 30% by 2028
- Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL87,120 people27% now, 30% by 2028
- Southeast Alabama nonmetropolitan area83,750 people26% now, 29% 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 Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 25% of the paid hours in Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area are within reach of AI models now and 27% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. 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 Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area 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 (1,440 people, 59% of their time, about 1.8 million hours a year); First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers (1,160 people, 48% of their time, about 1.2 million hours a year); and Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks (610 people, 88% of their time, about 1.1 million hours a year).
- Which tasks in Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area carry the most hours within reach by the end of 2028?
- Review work orders and blueprints to ensure work is performed according to specifications (Team Assemblers, about 397,940 hours a year); Coordinate conferences, meetings, or special events, such as luncheons or graduation ceremonies (Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive, about 352,284 hours a year); and Complete production reports to communicate team production level to management (Team Assemblers, about 321,142 hours a year).
- What would people working in Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area learn first?
- Among the 60,710 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 (37,523 people); judgment where errors are severe (19,617 people); and the conversations (17,705 people). By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 72% of their working time stays with people, 21% becomes checking a model's work and 7% 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 Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area (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 90% 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.