Boston, MA
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area. 2,703,890 workers.
Cognitive exposure (generative AI)
Work like writing, sorting information, answering questions and handling records.
55
5 points above the US averageTop fifth of metros for cognitive exposure
Shaded: the middle 80% of metros (43 to 52); each tick above is one metro. The typical metro scores 47, not exactly 50, because 50 is the average US job, not the average metro.
30% of workers are in high-exposure jobs on this measure. US: about 25%.
Physical exposure (robotics and autonomy)
Work like driving, moving goods, running machines and repetitive handling.
46
4 points below the US averageBottom fifth of metros for physical exposure
Shaded: the middle 80% of metros (48 to 56); each tick above is one metro. The typical metro scores 51, not exactly 50, because 50 is the average US job, not the average metro.
19% of workers are in high-exposure jobs on this measure. US: about 25%.
- Workers in jobs high on either measure
- 49%
- US: about 49%. Counted once even when a job is high on both.
- Share of local pay earned in those jobs
- 52%
- About $120.3 billion a year, out of all pay in the jobs counted here.
Based on 98% of local jobs. The rest are in occupations where the government withholds small counts for privacy, or where no exposure score exists.
Federal wage data (OEWS) leaves out self-employed workers, private household workers, and most farms that hire directly, so farm-heavy metros are undercounted.
Jobs with the most exposed work
Ranked by how many people do the job here and how exposed the work is. Scores are 0 to 100 against all US jobs; 75 or higher counts as high exposure. Concentration compares the job's share of local work with its share nationally: 2.0x means twice as common here.
| Occupation | Mostly | Cognitive | Physical | Workers | Average pay | Concentration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General and Operations ManagersSOC 11-1021 | Cognitive | 63 | 45 | 70,950 | $163,800 | 1.2x |
| Fast Food and Counter WorkersSOC 35-3023 | Physical | 26 | 71 | 60,130 | $36,230 | 0.9x |
| Customer Service RepresentativesSOC 43-4051 | Cognitive | 97 | 62 | 37,780 | $53,740 | 0.8x |
| Registered NursesSOC 29-1141 | Cognitive | 55 | 6 | 64,240 | $121,820 | 1.1x |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping CleanersSOC 37-2011 | Physical | 6 | 81 | 43,160 | $45,900 | 1.1x |
| Retail SalespersonsSOC 41-2031 | Physical | 52 | 54 | 64,150 | $40,320 | 0.9x |
| Accountants and AuditorsSOC 13-2011 | Cognitive | 91 | 26 | 37,150 | $108,660 | 1.5x |
| Software DevelopersSOC 15-1252 | Cognitive | 76 | 33 | 42,310 | $162,440 | 1.4x |
| Market Research Analysts and Marketing SpecialistsSOC 13-1161 | Cognitive | 92 | 21 | 32,310 | $109,840 | 2.1x |
| Stockers and Order FillersSOC 53-7065 | Physical | 29 | 83 | 35,770 | $40,620 | 0.7x |
| CashiersSOC 41-2011 | Physical | 48 | 68 | 42,920 | $37,260 | 0.8x |
| Waiters and WaitressesSOC 35-3031 | Physical | 31 | 65 | 41,570 | $45,340 | 1.1x |
| Office Clerks, GeneralSOC 43-9061 | Cognitive | 78 | 57 | 34,480 | $52,880 | 0.8x |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and ExecutiveSOC 43-6014 | Cognitive | 88 | 51 | 28,540 | $59,390 | 1.0x |
| Home Health and Personal Care AidesSOC 31-1120 | Cognitive | 34 | 15 | 72,420 | $42,240 | 1.0x |
Exposure by occupation group
Average exposure of the work in each broad job family, shown separately for each measure. The same group can be high on one and low on the other.
| Occupation group | Share of workers | Exposure index, 0 to 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support | 10.0% of workers | Cognitive80 Physical48 |
| Management | 9.5% of workers | Cognitive74 Physical36 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 8.7% of workers | Cognitive86 Physical28 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 8.1% of workers | Cognitive26 Physical69 |
| Sales and Related | 8.0% of workers | Cognitive66 Physical49 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 6.8% of workers | Cognitive51 Physical18 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 6.8% of workers | Cognitive65 Physical30 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 6.1% of workers | Cognitive22 Physical85 |
| Healthcare Support | 4.9% of workers | Cognitive30 Physical27 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 4.8% of workers | Cognitive84 Physical41 |
| Production | 3.5% of workers | Cognitive22 Physical86 |
| Construction and Extraction | 3.3% of workers | Cognitive18 Physical63 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 2.9% of workers | Cognitive8 Physical78 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 2.8% of workers | Cognitive20 Physical37 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 2.5% of workers | Cognitive73 Physical62 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 2.4% of workers | Cognitive77 Physical57 |
| Personal Care and Service | 2.3% of workers | Cognitive35 Physical38 |
| Protective Service | 2.3% of workers | Cognitive36 Physical35 |
| Community and Social Service | 2.0% of workers | Cognitive64 Physical11 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 1.3% of workers | Cognitive71 Physical44 |
| Legal | 1.0% of workers | Cognitive81 Physical25 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 0.1% of workers | Cognitive14 Physical93 |
What's happening here
Local developments tied to AI and automation, gathered from public reporting. Each one links to its source and shows when it was last checked.
No local signals have been collected for this metro yet. Signals are researched by hand and added for full-profile metros first. If you know of a data center proposal, an employer AI rollout or a local policy, it belongs here once it has a public source.
Sources
Where every number on this page comes from, and how current it is.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), metropolitan areas, May 2025, Public domain (US government work)
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates, May 2025 (released 2026), US federal government work, public domain
- Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure, 2023 paper (Science 2024); repo commit dated 2025-10-04, MIT
- Felten, Raj, Seamans (2021), AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE), Data Appendix A, 2021 (Strategic Management Journal 42(12)); repo commit dated 2024-06-03, No license file in repo; published research data, cite Felten, Raj, Seamans (2021)
- BLS SOC 2010 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, November 2017, US federal government work, public domain
- O*NET Occupational Listings (taxonomy crosswalks, incl. O*NET-SOC 2010 to 2019), O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy (file dated 2019-12-04), CC BY 4.0, O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA)
- O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Activities, O*NET 31.0, CC BY 4.0, O*NET 31.0 Database by USDOL/ETA
- O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context, O*NET 31.0, CC BY 4.0, O*NET 31.0 Database by USDOL/ETA
- Webb (2020), "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Labor Market", raw occupation exposure scores (final_df_out.dta), Data page "Version 0.1" raw scores (964 O*NET-SOC 2010 occupations, O*NET 22.0); paper working draft January 2020, No license stated. Published by the author for research use on his data page (linked from michaelwebb.co); cite Webb (2020). The page warns the numbers are a work in progress.
- Webb (2020), exposure percentiles by occ1990dd, v0.2 (exposure_by_occ1990dd_lswt2010.csv), Data page "Version 0.2", No license stated; cite Webb (2020)
- Webb (2020), O*NET-SOC to occ1990dd crosswalk (onet_to_occ1990dd.dta), Data page "Version 0.1" crosswalks (Dorn occ1990dd as augmented by Deming), No license stated; cite Webb (2020)
- Anthropic Economic Index, release 2026-06-26 (Claude.ai, global, soc_occupation), Claude.ai conversations, April and May 2026 (release 2026-06-26), CC BY (data)
- Employment and wages
- May 2025
- Exposure measures
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates: May 2025 (released 2026); Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure: 2023 paper (Science 2024); repo commit dated 2025-10-04; Felten, Raj, Seamans (2021), AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE), Data Appendix A: 2021 (Strategic Management Journal 42(12)); repo commit dated 2024-06-03; BLS SOC 2010 to SOC 2018 crosswalk: November 2017; O*NET Occupational Listings (taxonomy crosswalks, incl. O*NET-SOC 2010 to 2019): O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy (file dated 2019-12-04); O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Activities: O*NET 31.0; O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context: O*NET 31.0; Webb (2020), "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Labor Market", raw occupation exposure scores (final_df_out.dta): Data page "Version 0.1" raw scores (964 O*NET-SOC 2010 occupations, O*NET 22.0); paper working draft January 2020; Webb (2020), exposure percentiles by occ1990dd, v0.2 (exposure_by_occ1990dd_lswt2010.csv): Data page "Version 0.2"; Webb (2020), O*NET-SOC to occ1990dd crosswalk (onet_to_occ1990dd.dta): Data page "Version 0.1" crosswalks (Dorn occ1990dd as augmented by Deming); Anthropic Economic Index, release 2026-06-26 (Claude.ai, global, soc_occupation): Claude.ai conversations, April and May 2026 (release 2026-06-26)
- Census survey
- Not used for this metro
- Profile generated
- Nov 5, 2026