Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other
All life, physical, and social science technicians not listed separately.
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What the data says: Jobs are projected to grow 4.4% by 2035. Its tasks haven't been rated for what AI could do. 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.”
BLS figures cover the broader occupation “Life, physical, and social science technicians, all other”, which includes this one and others.
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 3.2% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other life, physical, and social science technicians”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 7.8 hires for every 10 job openings in private educational services, which employs about 37% 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.7.8 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 | $59,500 | $46,660 to $73,360 | 350 |
| Alaska | $70,700 | $56,470 to $87,350 | 170 |
| Arizona | $58,240 | $50,000 to $74,880 | 420 |
| Arkansas | $59,310 | $49,360 to $62,310 | 350 |
| California | $78,350 | $62,620 to $97,540 | 10,090 |
| Colorado | $63,760 | $45,760 to $80,420 | 1,860 |
| Connecticut | $66,710 | $55,530 to $85,730 | 320 |
| Delaware | not published | not published | 90 |
| District of Columbia | $79,230 | $62,900 to $90,120 | 150 |
| Florida | $63,180 | $42,830 to $83,990 | 1,830 |
| Georgia | $69,320 | $49,760 to $105,820 | 2,230 |
| Hawaii | $50,880 | $40,800 to $64,250 | 1,050 |
| Idaho | $50,600 | $44,320 to $69,980 | 550 |
| Illinois | $59,410 | $46,450 to $72,950 | 750 |
| Indiana | $48,650 | $46,190 to $63,660 | 750 |
| Iowa | $50,480 | $39,790 to $65,020 | 420 |
| Kansas | $65,270 | $51,680 to $68,640 | 880 |
| Kentucky | $68,230 | $51,810 to $86,320 | 320 |
| Louisiana | $53,360 | $44,260 to $65,360 | 1,610 |
| Maine | $66,730 | $53,800 to $89,320 | 390 |
| Maryland | $68,390 | $59,710 to $97,240 | 3,510 |
| Massachusetts | $63,820 | $55,090 to $71,280 | 1,140 |
| Michigan | $59,100 | $48,420 to $73,830 | 1,040 |
| Minnesota | $49,410 | $45,760 to $62,110 | 1,350 |
| Mississippi | $59,490 | $46,970 to $68,320 | 330 |
| Missouri | $50,410 | $41,970 to $78,270 | 2,100 |
| Montana | $52,260 | $50,350 to $55,430 | 130 |
| Nebraska | $48,640 | $48,640 to $62,450 | 300 |
| Nevada | $54,070 | $44,820 to $75,060 | 350 |
| New Hampshire | $64,250 | $53,110 to $84,750 | 360 |
| New Jersey | $55,980 | $46,180 to $67,560 | 2,140 |
| New Mexico | $56,420 | $48,760 to $62,160 | 180 |
| New York | $63,810 | $53,910 to $80,150 | 7,390 |
| North Carolina | $49,200 | $49,030 to $70,820 | 2,310 |
| North Dakota | $69,350 | $51,020 to $76,040 | 180 |
| Ohio | $49,210 | $42,990 to $65,870 | 1,020 |
| Oklahoma | $86,260 | $56,990 to $115,090 | 460 |
| Oregon | $60,810 | $48,330 to $73,730 | 1,690 |
| Pennsylvania | $57,680 | $46,800 to $71,610 | 2,630 |
| Puerto Rico | $35,060 | $29,090 to $50,040 | 710 |
| Rhode Island | $69,630 | $56,950 to $83,670 | 210 |
| South Carolina | $58,960 | $45,760 to $81,530 | 1,290 |
| South Dakota | $51,630 | $44,920 to $71,690 | 60 |
| Tennessee | $62,050 | $51,620 to $76,250 | 2,150 |
| Texas | $48,960 | $35,420 to $64,770 | 9,170 |
| Utah | $59,290 | $38,420 to $79,570 | not published |
| Vermont | $63,460 | $51,760 to $79,660 | 160 |
| Virginia | $67,240 | $50,250 to $83,860 | 2,710 |
| Washington | $73,530 | $54,070 to $91,400 | 980 |
| West Virginia | $59,750 | $49,380 to $73,320 | 230 |
| Wisconsin | $47,210 | $44,070 to $56,660 | 1,070 |
| Wyoming | $64,510 | $51,130 to $82,530 | 220 |
Nationally: $62,280. 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.
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 life, physical, and social science technicians, all other 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 98,810 moves out
- 1 Computer Occupations, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 10%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 6%
- 3 Industrial Production Managers High +2.6% 5%
- 4 Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers Moderate +2.5% 4%
- 5 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 97,212 moves in
- 1 Computer Occupations, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 8%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
- 3 Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers Moderate +2.5% 4%
- 4 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 4%
- 5 Industrial Production Managers High +2.6% 3%
The resume data uses 2010 occupation codes. This occupation comes from “Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other”, which today also includes “Hydrologic Technicians”, so these figures cover it too. Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 3% less than high school
- 16% high school
- 22% some college
- 11% associate's
- 31% bachelor's
- 11% master's
- 1% professional degree
- 7% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other life, physical, and social science technicians” · 3,263 people surveyed.
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other life, physical, and social science technicians”
12 programs, such as Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, General, Materials Science and Materials Chemistry.
See all
- Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, General
- Materials Science
- Materials Chemistry
- Science Technologies/Technicians, General
- Chemical Process Technology
- Physical Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
- Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
- Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
- Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
- Criminalistics and Criminal Science
- Forensic Science and Technology
- Criminology
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
40.7% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a certification | 24.3% | 5.8% |
| a license | not published | |
| an educational certificate | not published |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
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
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 1 registered apprenticeship in this occupation (Weather Observer-Metero Tech). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other” there.
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/19-4099.00