Meter Readers, Utilities
Read meter and record consumption of electricity, gas, water, or steam.
19,430 people do this job in the US. $48,150 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 3%
- 0%
- 97%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h 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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 3%.
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walk or drive vehicles along established routes to take readings of meter dials.Done daily by most who do it. | 69% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 5.8 h | Stays with people | |
| Install new or replace broken meters.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform preventative maintenance or minor repairs on meters.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Connect and disconnect utility services at specific locations.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Upload into office computers all information collected on hand-held computers during meter rounds, or return route books or hand-held computers to business offices so that data can be compiled.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Verify readings in cases where consumption appears to be abnormal, and record possible reasons for fluctuations.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Dig dirt away from meters to take readings.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Read electric, gas, water, or steam consumption meters and enter data in route books or hand-held computers.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 1% | 4 min3 min to 8 min | Stays with people | |
| Report to service departments any problems, such as meter irregularities, damaged equipment, or impediments to meter access, including dogs.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 1.0% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Answer customers' questions about services and charges, or direct them to customer service centers.Done daily by most who do it. | 0.9% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Update client address and meter location information.Done daily by most who do it. | 0.9% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Inspect meters for unauthorized connections, defects, and damage, such as broken seals.Done daily by most who do it. | 0.9% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 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.
- Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door1% now, 1% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay19% now, 19% by 2028
- Power Distributors and Dispatchers82% now, 91% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment14% now, 20% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment8% now, 8% by 2028
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers28% now, 30% 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).