---
title: "Will AI Replace Linemen? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates linemen' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+10.3% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-linemen"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Linemen? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates linemen among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places linemen in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +10.3% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 10,900 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 76/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +10.3% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 10,900 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $95,320 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low (this job) | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 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

- Performing general physical activities: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Operating vehicles, mechanized devices, or equipment: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Working outdoors in all weather: 5.0/5 (O\*NET work context)

## What AI reaches first

- Getting information: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Email: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Communicating with supervisors, peers, or subordinates: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas.
- Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites.
- Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs.
- Install, maintain, and repair electrical distribution and transmission systems, including conduits, cables, wires, and related equipment, such as transformers, circuit breakers, and switches.
- Coordinate work assignment preparation and completion with other workers.
- Replace or straighten damaged poles.

## FAQ

**Will AI replace linemen?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates linemen among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do. 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 change by +10.3% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 10,900 openings a year.

**How exposed are linemen to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Linemen are in the low category, alongside 202 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 an electrical power-line installer and repairer'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, being exact or highly accurate and email. The parts that hold up best are performing general physical activities, face-to-face discussions and operating vehicles, mechanized devices, or equipment. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being an electrical power-line installer and repairer a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, linemen score 76 out of 100, higher than 100% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $95,320 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.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-power-line-installer-and-repairer.

---

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