Survey Researchers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 44% 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 75% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 25% of the time, stays with people.
Plan, develop, or conduct surveys. May analyze and interpret the meaning of survey data, determine survey objectives, or suggest or test question wording. Includes social scientists who primarily design questionnaires or supervise survey teams.
8,290 people do this job in the US. $69,460 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on18 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet12 h
- Stays with people10 h
Survey Researchers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 18 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 12 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 10 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Conduct surveys and collect data, using methods such as interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, market analysis surveys, public opinion polls, literature reviews, and file reviews (about 7 h); Support, plan, and coordinate operations for single or multiple surveys (about 4 h); Conduct research to gather information about survey topics (about 2 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.
- 75%
- 25%
- 0%
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, 3%. Today's estimate: 45%.
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, 0.011% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 408th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.12% to 0.18% (released February and March 2025); 0.31% to 0.18% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.023% to 0.011% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.12% | 155 of 708 | 9 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.18% | 95 of 703 | 6 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.31% | 57 of 655 | 5 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.13% | 120 of 672 | 6 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.18% | 99 of 677 | 8 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.023% | 320 of 434 | 2 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.011% | 408 of 447 | 1 of 16 |
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 almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
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 . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct surveys and collect data, using methods such as interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, market analysis surveys, public opinion polls, literature reviews, and file reviews.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 19% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 2.1 work days | 86%Half by now | |
| Support, plan, and coordinate operations for single or multiple surveys.Done daily by most who do it. | 17% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now | |
| Determine and specify details of survey projects, including sources of information, procedures to be used, and the design of survey instruments and materials.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Analyze data from surveys, old records, or case studies, using statistical software.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 8% | 1.3 work days2.5 h to 4.2 work days | 36%Half by Feb 2027 | |
| Prepare and present summaries and analyses of survey data, including tables, graphs, and fact sheets that describe survey techniques and results.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 8% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Collaborate with other researchers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of surveys.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Conduct research to gather information about survey topics.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 73%Half by now | |
| Write proposals to win new projects.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Direct and review the work of staff members, including survey support staff and interviewers who gather survey data.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Review, classify, and record survey data in preparation for computer analysis.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 73%Half by now | |
| Direct updates and changes in survey implementation and methods.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Produce documentation of the questionnaire development process, data collection methods, sampling designs, and decisions related to sample statistical weighting.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 1 work day3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 52%Half by now |
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.
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 Survey Researchers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 45% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 75% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (71% to 75% 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 Survey Researchers 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: Conduct surveys and collect data, using methods such as interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, market analysis surveys, public opinion polls, literature reviews, and file reviews (86% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Support, plan, and coordinate operations for single or multiple surveys (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Conduct research to gather information about survey topics (73% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Survey Researchers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Prepare and present summaries and analyses of survey data, including tables, graphs, and fact sheets that describe survey techniques and results; Collaborate with other researchers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of surveys; and Direct and review the work of staff members, including survey support staff and interviewers who gather survey data. Together such tasks are about 25% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Survey Researchers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.011% went to this job's tasks, the 408th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 16 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 43%. 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 Survey Researchers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 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.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
This occupation has not been reviewed task by task yet, so the full personal report is not offered for it; 402 of 923 occupations are reviewed so far, largest first.