---
title: "Will AI Replace Cashiers? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates cashiers' exposure to AI as high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (-6.5% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-cashiers"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Cashiers? (2026)

**Short answer:** The job is exposed and shrinking. BLS rates the exposure as high and projects employment to fall, so expect fewer roles and more AI in the ones that remain.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places cashiers in its high AI exposure category, above the middle of the pack: a substantial share of the work overlaps with what AI can do. BLS projects employment to fall by 6.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 521,300 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | High | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 44/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | -6.5% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 521,300 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $32,880 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High (this job) | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Face-to-face discussions: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Time spent on your feet: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Dealing with the public: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work context)

## What AI reaches first

- Getting information: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits.
- Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies.
- Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers.
- Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints.
- Answer incoming phone calls.
- Greet customers entering establishments.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than cashiers

- [Gambling Change Person and Booth Cashier](https://nuecareer.com/careers/gambling-change-person-and-booth-cashier): BLS exposure Moderate, median $36,220

## FAQ

**Will AI replace cashiers?**

The job is exposed and shrinking. BLS rates the exposure as high and projects employment to fall, so expect fewer roles and more AI in the ones that remain. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to fall by 6.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 521,300 openings a year.

**How exposed are cashiers to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Cashiers are in the high category, alongside 189 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a cashier's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are getting information and being exact or highly accurate. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, performing for or working directly with the public and time spent on your feet. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a cashier a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, cashiers score 44 out of 100, higher than 49% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $32,880 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to cashiers are less exposed to AI?**

Gambling Change Person and Booth Cashier (moderate exposure, $36,220 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than cashiers, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/cashier.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology