Headline risk
4%
Very Low RiskGeographers
United States AI Work Index tracks this occupation on the shared structural baseline and then layers on local demand resilience, wages, and confidence.
Why This Score
Share of job tasks that overlap with current AI capabilities
Median annual wage
Projected employment change over 10 years
Typical preparation needed for this occupation
Occupation profile
Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena. Conduct research on physical aspects of a region, including land forms, climates, soils, plants, and animals, and conduct research on the spatial implications of human activities within a given area, including social characteristics, economic activities, and political organization, as well as researching interdependence between regions at scales ranging from local to global.
Task evidence
100% weighted task match · 9% effective coverage
Scores combine AI task overlap, human advantages, and local demand. How it works
United States Now
Median Wage
USD 97,200
Employment 2024
1.5K
Projected Change (2024–34)
-3.1%
Openings (2024–34)
0.1K
Wage distribution
Demand outlook
Employment of geographers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, decline.
Role Profile
Tasks
- 1. Create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales. AI use: 0%
- 2. Teach geography. AI use: 0%
- 3. Gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps. AI use: 0%
- 4. Write and present reports of research findings. AI use: 94%
- 5. Analyze geographic distributions of physical and cultural phenomena on local, regional, continental, or global scales. AI use: 0%
- 6. Study the economic, political, and cultural characteristics of a specific region's population. AI use: 0%
Technologies
Requirements
Work context
Related
Source coverage
10/11 source families · O*NET 30.2 / OEWS 2024 / ORS 2025 / OOH 2025-08-28 / Projections 2024-34 / CPS 2025 / Anthropic task penetration
Mapping quality
major_group_fallback · employment series present
Narrative & sources
Geographers study the Earth and the distribution of its land, features, and inhabitants.
Most geographers work full time. Geographers who do fieldwork may travel to foreign countries or remote locations.
Geographers typically need at least a bachelor’s degree to enter the occupation. Some jobs require a master’s or doctoral degree.
The median annual wage for geographers was $97,200 in May 2024.
Employment of geographers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, decline.
Published limitations
This page shows the local country layer, not realised individual job outcomes. The global structural baseline is shared across countries; only the local demand and wage layer changes here.
Built from O*NET occupation descriptions, task statements, technology skills, work context, Job Zones, Anthropic task penetration, BLS OEWS wages, BLS projection tables, BLS ORS requirements, BLS OOH narrative content, BLS skills data, and BLS CPS occupation age tables.