AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 47-2171.00
Will AI replace Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers?
Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers: AI does not yet handle any of the role's 7 tasks; the work is mostly hands-on, so no AI model tier applies.
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample: send this role and up to nine others, and a founder sends a board-pack PDF within two business days.
Every task, scored
The 7 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers, from most to least exposed. None reaches 60, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Determine quantities, sizes, shapes, and locations of reinforcing rods from blueprints, sketches, or oral instructions. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Space and fasten together rods in forms according to blueprints, using wire and pliers. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Position and secure steel bars, rods, cables, or mesh in concrete forms, using fasteners, rod-bending machines, blowtorches, or hand tools. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Place blocks under rebar to hold the bars off the deck when reinforcing floors. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Cut rods to required lengths, using metal shears, hacksaws, bar cutters, or acetylene torches. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Cut and fit wire mesh or fabric, using hooked rods, and position fabric or mesh in concrete to reinforce concrete. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Bend steel rods with hand tools or rod-bending machines and weld them with arc-welding equipment. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 7 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 7 of 7. 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
Most of this role's task work is hands-on, so no model tier applies.
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
- 13,800
- Median annual wage
- $58,970
- Middle half of earners
- $47,990 to $77,320
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +4.6%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
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.
- Structural Iron and Steel Workers 71% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure18
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers 58% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure16
- Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons 57% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure15
- Construction Laborers 57% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure19
- Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters 56% skill overlap, about 16 months to move Exposure19
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers and AI
Will AI replace Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers?
Not on current evidence. None of the 7 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation reaches a task exposure of 60, the level at which JobRoute counts a task as handled by AI, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 15 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.
What is the AI exposure of Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers?
15 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. 0 of the 7 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 7 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers tasks can AI already do?
None reaches 60 yet. The most exposed task is: Determine quantities, sizes, shapes, and locations of reinforcing rods from blueprints, sketches, or oral instructions, at 15 out of 100.
What AI model tier does this role need?
No AI model tier applies, because the role's tasks are hands-on work that no model tier covers under JobRoute's published rubric.
How many people work as Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers, and what do they earn?
13,800 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $58,970 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +4.6% 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: Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers. 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/reinforcing-iron-and-rebar-workers
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample. Send this role and up to nine others, with no employee data, and a founder sends a PDF in board-pack format within two business days.
A founder replies within one business day.