Headline risk
12%
Low RiskPsychiatric aides
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
Assist mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed patients, working under direction of nursing and medical staff. May assist with daily living activities, lead patients in educational and recreational activities, or accompany patients to and from examinations and treatments. May restrain violent patients. Includes psychiatric orderlies.
Task evidence
88% weighted task match · 0% effective coverage
Scores combine AI task overlap, human advantages, and local demand. How it works
United States Now
Median Wage
USD 41,590
Employment 2024
38.5K
Projected Change (2024–34)
-0.4%
Openings (2024–34)
5.3K
Wage distribution
Demand outlook
Overall employment of psychiatric technicians and aides is projected to grow 16 percent from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations.
Role Profile
Tasks
- 1. Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients. AI use: 0%
- 2. Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff. AI use: 0%
- 3. Maintain patients' restrictions to assigned areas. AI use: 0%
- 4. Organize, supervise, or encourage patient participation in social, educational, or recreational activities. AI use: 0%
- 5. Restrain or aid patients as necessary to prevent injury. AI use: 0%
- 6. Provide patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities with routine physical, emotional, psychological, or rehabilitation care under the direction of nursing or medical staff.
Technologies
Requirements
Work context
Worker profile
Median age 34.0 · 60K employed
Under 25: 28% · 25–54: 52% · 55+: 20%
Related
No direct US role match is available yet for this occupation.
Source coverage
11/11 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
Psychiatric technicians and aides care for people who have mental conditions or developmental disabilities.
Psychiatric technicians and aides work primarily in healthcare settings, such as psychiatric hospitals and residential mental health facilities. The work may be physically demanding, and technicians and aides risk injury on the job. Most are full time, but part-time work is common; schedules may include nights, weekends, or holidays in facilities that are open 24 hours.
To enter the occupation, psychiatric technicians typically need a postsecondary certificate, and aides need at least a high school diploma or equivalent. Some states require technicians to be licensed. Both technicians and aides get on-the-job training.
The median annual wage for psychiatric aides was $41,590 in May 2024.
Overall employment of psychiatric technicians and aides is projected to grow 16 percent from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations.
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.