← All 785 jobsFile 51-6011
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 4.3% more of these jobs by 2035, faster than the 3.5% average.
- Rank
- Joint #679 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +4.3% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $34,890 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 204,900 in the US, with about 28,200 openings a year
The work, 15 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
Still yours: Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects27%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures16%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Sort materials or products10%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Inspect characteristics or conditions of materials or products9%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 1,462 conversations, and it got them there 90% of the time.
Still yours: Remove workpieces from production equipment6%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Inspect completed work or finished products5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Maintain tools or equipment5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Mark materials or objects for identification4%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Prepare mixtures or solutions4%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 714 conversations, and it got them there 93% of the time.
Still yours: Position workpieces or materials on equipment3%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI does this: Select materials or equipment for operations or projects2%
AI performed this in about 1 in 529 Copilot conversations and completed it 94% of the time.
Still yours: Operate industrial processing or production equipment2%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Test characteristics of materials or products1%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Prepare industrial materials for processing or use1%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 104 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
About 28,200 openings a year, from growth and from people who retire or move on.
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
The jobs closest to this one. None of them is much less exposed.
- Shares 36% of the workPackaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders0% AI does, against 2% here+4.1% by 2035 · $43,220 · High school diploma
- Shares 34% of the workPainting, Coating, and Decorating Workers8% AI does, against 2% here+1.3% by 2035 · $41,600 · No formal credential
- Shares 33% of the workGrinding and Polishing Workers, Hand5% AI does, against 2% here-19.2% by 2035 · $42,660 · No formal credential
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Work front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.04, higher than 10% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 51-6011 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
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