---
title: "Will AI Replace Payroll Clerks? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates payroll clerks' exposure to AI as very high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (-15.9% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-payroll-clerks"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Payroll Clerks? (2026)

**Short answer:** This is one of the most exposed jobs, and BLS projects it to shrink. Exposure is not a forecast of job loss on its own, but here the two point the same way.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places payroll clerks in its very high AI exposure category, among the occupations most exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to fall by 15.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,400 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Very high | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 7/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | -15.9% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 11,400 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $58,260 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high (this job) | 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: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 3.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Making decisions and solving problems: 3.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Processing information: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing administrative activities: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Time spent sitting: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Keep track of leave time, such as vacation, personal, and sick leave, for employees.
- Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records.
- Record employee information, such as exemptions, transfers, and resignations, to maintain and update payroll records.
- Issue and record adjustments to pay related to previous errors or retroactive increases.
- Review time sheets, work charts, wage computation, and other information to detect and reconcile payroll discrepancies.
- Compile employee time, production, and payroll data from time sheets and other records.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than payroll clerks

- [Postal Service Mail Sorter, Processor, and Processing Machine Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-mail-sorter-processor-and-processing-machine-operator): BLS exposure Low, median $58,470; [Will AI replace postal service mail sorters?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-postal-service-mail-sorters)
- [Postal Service Mail Carrier](https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-mail-carrier): BLS exposure Moderate, median $60,550; [Will AI replace postal service mail carriers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-postal-service-mail-carriers)
- [Utility Meter Reader](https://nuecareer.com/careers/utility-meter-reader): BLS exposure Moderate, median $48,150
- [Administrative Services Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/administrative-services-manager): BLS exposure Moderate, median $114,130; [Will AI replace administrative services managers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-administrative-services-managers)
- [Postal Service Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/postal-service-clerk): BLS exposure High, median $62,130
- [New Accounts Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/new-accounts-clerk): BLS exposure High, median $47,670

## FAQ

**Will AI replace payroll clerks?**

This is one of the most exposed jobs, and BLS projects it to shrink. Exposure is not a forecast of job loss on its own, but here the two point the same way. 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 15.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,400 openings a year.

**How exposed are payroll clerks to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Payroll Clerks are in the very high category, alongside 198 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 payroll and timekeeping clerk's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are processing information, repeating the same tasks and performing administrative activities. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships and making decisions and solving problems. 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 payroll and timekeeping clerk a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, payroll clerks score 7 out of 100, higher than 2% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $58,260 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 payroll clerks are less exposed to AI?**

Postal Service Mail Sorter, Processor, and Processing Machine Operator (low exposure, $58,470 median), Postal Service Mail Carrier (moderate exposure, $60,550 median), Utility Meter Reader (moderate exposure, $48,150 median), Administrative Services Manager (moderate exposure, $114,130 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than payroll clerks, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/payroll-and-timekeeping-clerk.

---

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