AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 19-3011.01
Will AI replace Environmental Economists?
Environmental Economists: AI can already handle 17 of 20 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 20 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Environmental Economists, from most to least exposed. 17 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor or analyze market and environmental trends. | Observed | Standard | |
| Collect and analyze data to compare the environmental implications of economic policy or practice alternatives. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Write technical documents or academic articles to communicate study results or economic forecasts. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Conduct research on economic and environmental topics, such as alternative fuel use, public and private land use, soil conservation, air and water pollution control, and endangered species protection. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Demonstrate or promote the economic benefits of sound environmental regulations. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Conduct research to study the relationships among environmental problems and patterns of economic production and consumption. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Perform complex, dynamic, and integrated mathematical modeling of ecological, environmental, or economic systems. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Write social, legal, or economic impact statements to inform decision makers for natural resource policies, standards, or programs. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Write research proposals and grant applications to obtain private or public funding for environmental and economic studies. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Examine the exhaustibility of natural resources or the long-term costs of environmental rehabilitation. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Assess the costs and benefits of various activities, policies, or regulations that affect the environment or natural resource stocks. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Develop systems for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting environmental and economic data. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Interpret indicators to ascertain the overall health of an environment. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Prepare and deliver presentations to communicate economic and environmental study results, to present policy recommendations, or to raise awareness of environmental consequences. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Develop programs or policy recommendations to achieve environmental goals in cost-effective ways. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Develop programs or policy recommendations to promote sustainability and sustainable development. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Identify and recommend environmentally friendly business practices. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Develop economic models, forecasts, or scenarios to predict future economic and environmental outcomes. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Develop environmental research project plans, including information on budgets, goals, deliverables, timelines, and resource requirements. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Teach courses in environmental economics. | Estimated | Efficient |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 20 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 19 of 20. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 17,790
- Median annual wage
- $124,720
- Middle half of earners
- $89,330 to $174,720
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +1.2%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Economists 82% skill overlap, about 6 months to move Exposure59
- Industrial Ecologists 72% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure63
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health 72% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure54
- Environmental Engineers 71% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure60
- Conservation Scientists 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure59
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Environmental Economists and AI
Will AI replace Environmental Economists?
AI already handles 17 of the 20 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 67 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +1.2% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Environmental Economists?
67 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 1 of the 20 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 19 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Environmental Economists tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Monitor or analyze market and environmental trends; Collect and analyze data to compare the environmental implications of economic policy or practice alternatives; Write technical documents or academic articles to communicate study results or economic forecasts. They are three of the 17 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Environmental Economists, and what do they earn?
17,790 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $124,720 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +1.2% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Environmental Economists. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/environmental-economists
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