Geographers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 38% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 74% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 26% of the time, stays with people.
Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena. Conduct research on physical aspects of a region, including land forms, climates, soils, plants, and animals, and conduct research on the spatial implications of human activities within a given area, including social characteristics, economic activities, and political organization, as well as researching interdependence between regions at scales ranging from local to global.
1,400 people do this job in the US. $102,040 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on15 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet15 h
- Stays with people10 h
Geographers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 15 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 15 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 10 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales (about 4 h); Gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps (about 3 h); Study the economic, political, and cultural characteristics of a specific region's population (about 3 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 74%
- 13%
- 13%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 5%. Today's estimate: 38%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.032% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 267th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 12 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.07% to 0.1% (released February and March 2025); 0.034% to 0.039% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.034% to 0.032% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.07% | 227 of 708 | 6 of 12 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.1% | 159 of 703 | 5 of 12 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.034% | 291 of 655 | 6 of 12 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.041% | 267 of 672 | 7 of 12 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.039% | 281 of 677 | 5 of 12 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.034% | 261 of 434 | 1 of 12 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.032% | 267 of 447 | 1 of 12 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 6% of this job's working time as physical work. For 3% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 3% in any setting. 0.08 of 3, the 541st highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 94%
- No robot shown 4%
- In any setting 3%
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. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 12 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study the economic, political, and cultural characteristics of a specific region's population.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 20% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Analyze geographic distributions of physical and cultural phenomena on local, regional, continental, or global scales.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 17% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now | |
| Create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 13% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 80%Half by now | |
| Write and present reports of research findings.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 8% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Develop, operate, and maintain geographical information computer systems, including hardware, software, plotters, digitizers, printers, and video cameras.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 3.3 h50 min to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Teach geography.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Collect data on physical characteristics of specified areas, such as geological formations, climates, and vegetation, using surveying or meteorological equipment.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in any setting, WingtraOne (with Septentrio AsteRx GNSS) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Provide geographical information systems support to the private and public sectors.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h25 min to 6.7 h | 88%Half by now | |
| Provide consulting services in fields such as resource development and management, business location and market area analysis, environmental hazards, regional cultural history, and urban social planning.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.8 work days | 66%Half by now | |
| Locate and obtain existing geographic information databases.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.3 h25 min to 4.2 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Conduct field work at outdoor sites.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 1% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians68% now, 99% by 2028
- Geography Teachers, Postsecondary49% now, 80% by 2028
- Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers20% now, 80% by 2028
- Data Scientists71% now, 95% by 2028
- Cartographers and Photogrammetrists78% now, 98% by 2028
- Anthropologists and Archeologists8% now, 34% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Geographers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 38% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 74% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (69% to 74% 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 tasks of Geographers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales (80% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Study the economic, political, and cultural characteristics of a specific region's population (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Geographers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Write and present reports of research findings; Develop, operate, and maintain geographical information computer systems, including hardware, software, plotters, digitizers, printers, and video cameras; and Teach geography. Together such tasks are about 26% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Geographers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.032% went to this job's tasks, the 267th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 12 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 11%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Geographers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 6% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 3% of the working time, 3% in any setting. Its index is 0.08 of 3. One example: WingtraOne (with Septentrio AsteRx GNSS) for "collect data on physical characteristics of specified areas, such as geological formations, climates, and vegetation, using surveying or meteorological equipment". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 12 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, 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. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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