Industry group, 2213
Water, Sewage and Other Systems
63,310 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $70,940 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: 28 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 35%
- 15%
- 50%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 17% 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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 19%. Today's estimate: 22%.
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators | 16,780 | 11% | 3.8 million | $58K |
| Office Clerks, General | 3,110 | 54% | 3.5 million | $42K |
| Customer Service Representatives | 1,810 | 64% | 2.4 million | $46K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 1,490 | 78% | 2.4 million | $49K |
| General and Operations Managers | 3,600 | 23% | 1.7 million | $114K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 2,480 | 32% | 1.6 million | $85K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 1,330 | 43% | 1.2 million | $45K |
| Billing and Posting Clerks | 670 | 77% | 1.1 million | $46K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 1,430 | 35% | 1 million | $66K |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 690 | 43% | 617,138 | $84K |
| Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters | 1,780 | 16% | 603,494 | $54K |
| First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers | 1,030 | 27% | 569,881 | $89K |
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. 100 smaller jobs (7,380 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 98% 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.
- Record operational data, personnel attendance, or meter and gauge readings on specified forms.Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators3.8 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.Office Clerks, General778,973 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 Workers581,870 hours100% of the task within reach
- Plan and develop new products and production processes.First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers519,127 hours67% of the task within reach
- Design new equipment to aid in the repair or maintenance of machines, mechanical equipment, or building structures.Maintenance and Repair Workers, General501,219 hours70% of the task within reach
- Operate computers programmed with accounting software to record, store, and analyze information.Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks484,560 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 Managers460,331 hours40% of the task within reach
- Lay out full scale drawings of pipe systems, supports, or related equipment, according to blueprints.Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters459,838 hours100% of the task within reach
- Set prices or credit terms for goods or services, based on forecasts of customer demand.General and Operations Managers440,086 hours100% of the task within reach
- Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.Office Clerks, General433,977 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.
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