Industry group, 5413
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services
1,719,390 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $102,150 a year (BLS, May 2025). 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. Estimate.
a year: 647 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 68%
- 14%
- 19%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 14% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 22% within reach now and 37% by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five.
Share of the paid hours within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this industry's paid hours were within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 14%. Today's estimate: 18%.
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.
Where the hours are
Jobs by hours within reach now. The 40 largest jobs hold 75% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Management Specialists | 99,830 | 33% | 69 million | $107K |
| Architectural and Civil Drafters | 73,450 | 23% | 35 million | $66K |
| Office Clerks, General | 29,210 | 54% | 33 million | $48K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 36,170 | 43% | 32 million | $51K |
| Surveying and Mapping Technicians | 35,480 | 39% | 29 million | $50K |
| General and Operations Managers | 56,390 | 23% | 27 million | $164K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 16,160 | 78% | 26 million | $59K |
| Construction and Building Inspectors | 47,310 | 24% | 24 million | $75K |
| Civil Engineers | 201,620 | 5% | 23 million | $101K |
| Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians | 35,380 | 22% | 16 million | $63K |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 31,350 | 24% | 16 million | $51K |
| Architectural and Engineering Managers | 57,730 | 12% | 14 million | $168K |
People: BLS counts for this industry, May 2025. Pay here: the median paid for the job in this industry, else its mean, else the national median. 288 smaller jobs (420,210 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 99% of the industry'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 industry, on the chosen pace and reliability.
- Plan and design transportation or hydraulic systems or structures, using computer-assisted design or drawing tools.Civil Engineers70 million hours79% of the task within reach
- Analyze survey reports, maps, drawings, blueprints, aerial photography, or other topographical or geologic data.Civil Engineers33 million hours98% of the task within reach
- Design energy-efficient or environmentally sound civil structures.Civil Engineers33 million hours79% of the task within reach
- Compute load and grade requirements, water flow rates, or material stress factors to determine design specifications.Civil Engineers30 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Review and interpret plans, blueprints, site layouts, specifications, or construction methods to ensure compliance to legal requirements and safety regulations.Construction and Building Inspectors28 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Manage the coordination and overall integration of technical activities in architecture or engineering projects.Architectural and Engineering Managers27 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Develop or update project plans including information such as objectives, technologies, schedules, funding, and staffing.Project Management Specialists23 million hours96% of the task within reach
- Develop or implement policies, standards, or procedures for engineering and technical work.Architectural and Engineering Managers23 million hours85% of the task within reach
- Produce drawings, using computer-assisted drafting systems (CAD) or drafting machines, or by hand, using compasses, dividers, protractors, triangles, and other drafting devices.Architectural and Civil Drafters22 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Draw rough and detailed scale plans for foundations, buildings, and structures, based on preliminary concepts, sketches, engineering calculations, specification sheets, and other data.Architectural and Civil Drafters22 million hours99% of the task within reach
Scan a typical company in this industry
The industry's largest jobs, in the proportions BLS counts across the whole industry, at the pay it pays, run through the company scan. A starting point before you have a roster, or a benchmark for the one you have.
Next to this industry
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services2,445,140 people24% now, 69% by 2028
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services1,872,730 people24% now, 65% by 2028
- Legal Services1,224,710 people25% now, 62% by 2028
- Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services1,091,370 people34% now, 75% by 2028
- Scientific Research and Development Services931,790 people16% now, 57% by 2028
- Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services881,820 people26% now, 44% by 2028
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services481,600 people28% now, 65% by 2028
- Specialized Design Services151,930 people27% now, 70% by 2028
How it is built: BLS counts the people in each job in this industry; each job's tasks and their lengths give its share within reach at a date; the industry'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