Industry group, 8114
Personal and Household Goods Repair and Maintenance
84,260 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $54,320 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: 32 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 26%
- 9%
- 66%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 15% 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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 17%. Today's estimate: 19%.
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 88% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office Clerks, General | 3,870 | 54% | 4.4 million | $42K |
| Home Appliance Repairers | 12,630 | 16% | 4.1 million | $56K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 1,590 | 78% | 2.6 million | $50K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 1,850 | 64% | 2.5 million | $41K |
| General and Operations Managers | 4,500 | 23% | 2.1 million | $78K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 1,720 | 43% | 1.5 million | $40K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers | 2,340 | 27% | 1.3 million | $74K |
| Geothermal Technicians | 2,600 | 23% | 1.2 million | $47K |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 690 | 53% | 759,221 | $40K |
| Retail Salespersons | 1,480 | 19% | 597,210 | $36K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 890 | 32% | 590,535 | $66K |
| Upholsterers | 4,040 | 7% | 554,612 | $46K |
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. 68 smaller jobs (9,460 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 97% 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.
- Provide repair cost estimates, and recommend whether appliance repair or replacement is a better choice.Home Appliance Repairers1.1 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Refer to schematic drawings, product manuals, and troubleshooting guides to diagnose and repair problems.Home Appliance Repairers1.1 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.Office Clerks, General969,333 hours100% of the task within reach
- Bill customers for repair work, and collect payment.Home Appliance Repairers780,231 hours100% of the task within reach
- Develop or implement electronic maintenance programs or computer information management systems.First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers753,125 hours96% of the task within reach
- Talk to customers or refer to work orders to establish the nature of appliance malfunctions.Home Appliance Repairers611,312 hours100% of the task within reach
- Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.General and Operations Managers575,413 hours40% of the task within reach
- Set prices or credit terms for goods or services, based on forecasts of customer demand.General and Operations Managers550,107 hours100% of the task within reach
- Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.Office Clerks, General540,030 hours80% of the task within reach
- Prepare staff work schedules and assign specific duties.General and Operations Managers518,318 hours80% 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.
- Automotive Repair and Maintenance1,039,270 people15% now, 22% by 2028
- Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance244,630 people20% now, 31% by 2028
- Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance101,470 people24% now, 42% 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