San Jose, CA
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area. 1,134,970 workers.
Cognitive exposure (generative AI)
Work like writing, sorting information, answering questions and handling records.
57
7 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.
37% 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.
45
5 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.
17% of workers are in high-exposure jobs on this measure. US: about 25%.
- Workers in jobs high on either measure
- 54%
- US: about 49%. Counted once even when a job is high on both.
- Share of local pay earned in those jobs
- 61%
- About $80.5 billion a year, out of all pay in the jobs counted here.
Based on 99% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software DevelopersSOC 15-1252 | Cognitive | 76 | 33 | 87,350 | $221,710 | 7.1x |
| Home Health and Personal Care AidesSOC 31-1120 | Cognitive | 34 | 15 | 49,610 | $39,360 | 1.6x |
| Computer and Information Systems ManagersSOC 11-3021 | Cognitive | 86 | 32 | 19,070 | $319,670 | 3.9x |
| Fast Food and Counter WorkersSOC 35-3023 | Physical | 26 | 71 | 23,060 | $44,980 | 0.8x |
| Computer Occupations, All OtherSOC 15-1299 | Cognitive | 89 | 52 | 16,680 | $195,680 | 5.3x |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping CleanersSOC 37-2011 | Physical | 6 | 81 | 15,780 | $46,900 | 1.0x |
| Registered NursesSOC 29-1141 | Cognitive | 55 | 6 | 22,930 | $194,950 | 0.9x |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and TravelSOC 41-3091 | Cognitive | 92 | 28 | 13,390 | $127,280 | 1.5x |
| Accountants and AuditorsSOC 13-2011 | Cognitive | 91 | 26 | 13,180 | $128,520 | 1.3x |
| Market Research Analysts and Marketing SpecialistsSOC 13-1161 | Cognitive | 92 | 21 | 12,710 | $154,130 | 1.9x |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, HandSOC 53-7062 | Physical | 3 | 99 | 11,830 | $50,920 | 0.6x |
| CashiersSOC 41-2011 | Physical | 48 | 68 | 16,530 | $45,090 | 0.7x |
| General and Operations ManagersSOC 11-1021 | Cognitive | 63 | 45 | 17,230 | $190,310 | 0.7x |
| Office Clerks, GeneralSOC 43-9061 | Cognitive | 78 | 57 | 13,470 | $61,400 | 0.8x |
| Business Operations Specialists, All OtherSOC 13-1199 | Cognitive | 84 | 34 | 11,970 | $129,690 | 1.5x |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Computer and Mathematical | 13.4% of workers | Cognitive81 Physical37 |
| Management | 10.3% of workers | Cognitive76 Physical34 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 8.4% of workers | Cognitive86 Physical28 |
| Office and Administrative Support | 8.2% of workers | Cognitive80 Physical47 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 7.4% of workers | Cognitive24 Physical70 |
| Sales and Related | 6.9% of workers | Cognitive69 Physical49 |
| Healthcare Support | 6.2% of workers | Cognitive33 Physical19 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 5.0% of workers | Cognitive51 Physical17 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 5.0% of workers | Cognitive63 Physical32 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 4.4% of workers | Cognitive19 Physical87 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 4.3% of workers | Cognitive71 Physical63 |
| Production | 3.8% of workers | Cognitive22 Physical87 |
| Construction and Extraction | 3.4% of workers | Cognitive15 Physical67 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 2.8% of workers | Cognitive8 Physical78 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 2.2% of workers | Cognitive21 Physical38 |
| Personal Care and Service | 1.9% of workers | Cognitive36 Physical44 |
| Protective Service | 1.9% of workers | Cognitive39 Physical40 |
| Community and Social Service | 1.5% of workers | Cognitive64 Physical11 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 1.3% of workers | Cognitive70 Physical46 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 0.9% of workers | Cognitive77 Physical57 |
| Legal | 0.8% of workers | Cognitive82 Physical25 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 0.1% of workers | Cognitive11 Physical95 |
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