Computer and Information Research Scientists
Also called: Computer Scientist, Computer Specialist, Control System Computer Scientist, Research ScientistConduct research into fundamental computer and information science as theorists, designers, or inventors. Develop solutions to problems in the field of computer hardware and software.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 12 of its 15 tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 21.8% by 2035. In the most exposed occupations, the squeeze shows up first among early-career workers. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 3.4% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 7.9 hires for every 10 job openings in professional and business services, which employs about 45% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.7.9 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $117,870 | $80,600 to $149,800 | 570 |
| Arizona | $129,760 | $96,300 to $164,960 | 360 |
| California | $159,100 | $112,170 to $213,630 | 8,440 |
| Colorado | $133,160 | $107,090 to $166,820 | 400 |
| Connecticut | $131,650 | $131,650 to $131,650 | not published |
| District of Columbia | $144,190 | $121,180 to $185,220 | 330 |
| Florida | $119,810 | $94,270 to $155,420 | 1,070 |
| Georgia | $92,250 | $84,450 to $118,060 | 810 |
| Hawaii | $134,350 | $112,840 to $143,020 | 70 |
| Idaho | not published | not published | 70 |
| Illinois | $136,540 | $104,340 to $170,390 | 630 |
| Indiana | $85,460 | $68,840 to $106,900 | 720 |
| Louisiana | $115,210 | $93,040 to $136,200 | 140 |
| Maryland | $145,310 | $118,290 to $175,720 | 2,870 |
| Massachusetts | $170,510 | $119,950 to $214,110 | 1,760 |
| Michigan | $82,590 | $82,590 to $133,350 | 530 |
| Minnesota | $135,850 | $118,870 to $158,830 | 30 |
| Mississippi | $109,050 | $79,500 to $137,240 | 300 |
| Missouri | $127,820 | $92,560 to $164,630 | 230 |
| Nevada | $134,310 | $104,070 to $174,500 | 80 |
| New Hampshire | $136,160 | $104,920 to $188,710 | 90 |
| New Jersey | $140,840 | $107,860 to $170,890 | 1,580 |
| New Mexico | $165,690 | $134,460 to $207,780 | 490 |
| New York | $181,990 | $133,350 to $280,710 | 1,950 |
| North Carolina | $128,370 | $108,010 to $162,910 | 600 |
| Ohio | $135,510 | $96,330 to $157,710 | 280 |
| Oklahoma | $93,100 | $79,500 to $115,920 | 590 |
| Oregon | $206,220 | $169,240 to $278,150 | 730 |
| Pennsylvania | $130,300 | $104,640 to $150,950 | 330 |
| Rhode Island | $121,470 | $102,790 to $154,460 | 500 |
| South Carolina | $126,980 | $101,880 to $136,990 | 430 |
| Tennessee | $108,830 | $100,100 to $130,680 | not published |
| Texas | $121,210 | $85,010 to $162,760 | 1,960 |
| Utah | $94,700 | $77,940 to $126,920 | 1,250 |
| Virginia | $157,390 | $124,780 to $207,480 | 3,590 |
| Washington | $202,400 | $132,240 to $234,150 | 2,050 |
Nationally: $140,300. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 12 of its 15 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI alone | Analyze problems to develop solutions involving computer hardware and software. | 0.05% |
| Not much | Conduct logical analyses of business, scientific, engineering, and other technical problems, formulating mathematical models of problems for solution by computers. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Apply theoretical expertise and innovation to create or apply new technology, such as adapting principles for applying computers to new uses. | 0.01% |
| Not much | Meet with managers, vendors, and others to solicit cooperation and resolve problems. | Not published |
| AI + software | Assign or schedule tasks to meet work priorities and goals. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Design computers and the software that runs them. | Not published |
See all 15 tasks
| AI alone | Evaluate project plans and proposals to assess feasibility issues. | 0.01% |
| AI + software | Consult with users, management, vendors, and technicians to determine computing needs and system requirements. | Not published |
| AI + software | Develop performance standards, and evaluate work in light of established standards. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Participate in multidisciplinary projects in areas such as virtual reality, human-computer interaction, or robotics. | Not published |
| AI alone | Develop and interpret organizational goals, policies, and procedures. | 0.01% |
| AI + software | Participate in staffing decisions and direct training of subordinates. | Not published |
| AI + software | Direct daily operations of departments, coordinating project activities with other departments. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Maintain network hardware and software, direct network security measures, and monitor networks to ensure availability to system users. | Not published |
| AI + software | Approve, prepare, monitor, and adjust operational budgets. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 8 of the 15 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 15 tasks fall under 17 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #25 Communicate with others about specifications or project details
- #28 Analyze scientific or applied data using mathematical principles
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design computer or information systems or applications | |||
| Communicate with others about specifications or project details | |||
| Analyze scientific or applied data using mathematical principles | |||
| Assist scientists, scholars, or technical specialists with projects or research | |||
| Coordinate with others to resolve problems | |||
| Develop technical specifications for products or operations | |||
| Monitor operation of computer or information technologies | |||
| Maintain electronic, computer, or other technical equipment |
Show all 17 activities
| Manage budgets or finances | |||
| Develop organizational or program goals or objectives | |||
| Analyze data to improve operations | |||
| Evaluate project feasibility | |||
| Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures | |||
| Assign work to others | |||
| Train others to use equipment or products | |||
| Direct scientific or technical activities | |||
| Perform recruiting or hiring activities |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- A document or report19%
- A plan or strategy11%
- An analysis or summary11%
- A script or snippet9%
- Code fixes or debugging9%
How they worked with Claude
76% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for computer and information research scientists specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 18,183 moves out
- 1 Operations Research Analysts Very high +11.9% 12%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 8%
- 3 Software Developers, Applications (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 7%
- 4 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other Very high +2.0% 5%
- 5 Computer Occupations, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
Where people moved in from
of 24,014 moves in
- 1 Operations Research Analysts Very high +11.9% 17%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 9%
- 3 Software Developers, Applications (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 7%
- 4 Computer Occupations, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 6%
- 5 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other Very high +2.0% 4%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 8% some college
- 20% master's
- 3% professional doctorate
- 28% research doctorate
- 4% post-doctoral training
- 36% not published
O*NET marks 36% of the answers as too uncertain to publish, so the parts shown don't add up to 100%.
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 16 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 1% less than high school
- 1% high school
- 5% some college
- 2% associate's
- 47% bachelor's
- 26% master's
- 1% professional degree
- 17% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 361 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation
15 programs, such as Computer and Information Sciences, General, Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology.
See all
- Computer and Information Sciences, General
- Artificial Intelligence
- Information Technology
- Informatics
- Computer and Information Sciences, Other
- Information Science/Studies
- Computer Science
- Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- Cloud Computing
- Bioinformatics
- Human Computer Interaction
- Data Science, General
- Data Science, Other
- Cheminformatics/Chemistry Informatics
- Medical Informatics
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS · Brynjolfsson, Chandar and Chen, Stanford (Aug 2026)
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/15-1221.00