Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers
Also called: Direct Sales Coach, Door-to-Door Sales Trainer, Independent Sales Associate, Independent Sales RepresentativeSell goods or services door-to-door or on the street.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 6 of its 12 tasks, and jobs are projected to shrink 10.4% 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, 4.5% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 12.8 hires for every 10 job openings in construction, which employs about 68% 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.12.8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $39,520 | $35,090 to $46,050 | 560 |
| Colorado | $38,590 | $35,990 to $45,380 | not published |
| Connecticut | $37,440 | $37,210 to $39,520 | not published |
| Indiana | $39,870 | $25,980 to $44,100 | 200 |
| Kansas | $32,970 | $17,190 to $42,880 | not published |
| Maryland | $34,290 | $32,180 to $36,470 | not published |
| Michigan | $36,700 | $35,520 to $36,720 | not published |
| Missouri | $46,380 | $46,040 to $82,270 | not published |
| New Jersey | $44,370 | $36,730 to $44,370 | not published |
| North Carolina | $37,370 | $37,370 to $39,830 | 140 |
| Ohio | $36,210 | $35,400 to $37,500 | 60 |
| Texas | $46,040 | $35,670 to $59,030 | 160 |
| Utah | $38,990 | $37,770 to $38,990 | 90 |
| Virginia | $32,320 | $30,880 to $36,640 | 100 |
Nationally: $41,380. 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 6 of its 12 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI alone | Explain products or services and prices and demonstrate use of products. | under 0.01% |
| AI alone | Answer questions about product features and benefits. | 0.35% |
| AI alone | Develop prospect lists. | 0.01% |
| Not much | Deliver merchandise and collect payment. | Not published |
| AI alone | Write and record orders for merchandise or enter orders into computers. | Not published |
| AI alone | Distribute product samples or literature that details products or services. | Not published |
See all 12 tasks
| Not much | Order or purchase supplies. | Not published |
| Not much | Circulate among potential customers or travel by foot, truck, automobile, or bicycle to deliver or sell merchandise or services. | Not published |
| Not much | Persuade customers to purchase merchandise or services. | Not published |
| Not much | Set up and display sample merchandise at parties or stands. | Not published |
| AI alone | Arrange buying parties and solicit sponsorship of such parties to sell merchandise. | Not published |
| Not much | Stock carts or stands. | 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. 3 of the 12 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 12 tasks fall under 10 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.
- #3 Respond to customer problems or inquiries
- #7 Explain technical details of products or services
- #36 Purchase goods or services
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promote products, services, or programs | |||
| Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures | |||
| Execute financial transactions | |||
| Sell products or services | |||
| Respond to customer problems or inquiries | |||
| Explain technical details of products or services | |||
| Purchase goods or services | |||
| Arrange displays or decorations |
Show all 10 activities
| Identify business or organizational opportunities | |||
| Stock supplies or products |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- An explanation or answer66%
- Advice or a recommendation19%
- An analysis or summary2%
- Data or a spreadsheet1%
- An email or message1%
How they worked with Claude
14% 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 door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers 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 7,317 moves out
- 1 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 4%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
- 3 Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products Very high -0.9% 3%
- 4 Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers Moderate +3.8% 3%
- 5 Construction and Building Inspectors High +0.0% 2%
Where people moved in from
of 7,072 moves in
- 1 Cashiers High -6.5% 6%
- 2 Office Clerks, General Very high -6.0% 5%
- 3 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 5%
- 4 Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products Very high -0.9% 4%
- 5 Retail Salespersons Very high -0.3% 3%
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
- 57% less than high school
- 43% high school
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 23 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 10% less than high school
- 28% high school
- 27% some college
- 12% associate's
- 17% bachelor's
- 5% master's
- 1% professional degree
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 635 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
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)
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