Will AI replace cost estimators?

Not on current evidence. Less than 30 minutes of a typical shift goes to tasks that AI or robots are doing today. The other 7h 43m (96%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 3.1% fewer of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

None of this job's tasks show regular AI use yet. That can mean the work is hands-on or in person, or simply that it rarely comes up in AI usage data.

For some tasks, yes. Robots have done 1 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 17m of a typical shift.

• Visit site and record information about access, drainage and topography, and availability of utility services. (17m a shift; e.g. Spot + FieldAI Field Foundation Models, in use)

7h 43m of a typical shift, or 96%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Analyze blueprints and other documentation to prepare time, cost, materials, and labor estimates. (1h 56m a shift)
• Consult with clients, vendors, personnel in other departments, or construction foremen to discuss and formulate estimates and resolve issues. (52m a shift)
• Confer with engineers, architects, owners, contractors, and subcontractors on changes and adjustments to cost estimates. (46m a shift)
• Assess cost effectiveness of products, projects or services, tracking actual costs relative to bids as the project develops. (40m a shift)
• Prepare estimates used by management for purposes such as planning, organizing, and scheduling work. (40m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 50% talk face to face with others every day

We track 1 sourced company move that affects this job. Most recent:

• Aug 11, 2026: Philadelphia-area contractors use AI to measure plans for bids (Rolling out)

On Indeed, job postings in the Management sector are at 104% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 8.3% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 18,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $78,740 a year ($37.86 an hour), 54% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $48,530 and $130,820 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects a decline of 3.1% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 220,000 jobs in 2035. Even so, it expects about 18,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 224,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.14% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 159th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 220,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a bachelor's degree: about 82% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 4 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: bachelor's degree. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Management of Financial Resources, Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Judgment and Decision Making
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 43m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Acrobat, Autodesk AutoCAD

Yes. Occupational experts recently added these to the official task list, a sign of how the work itself is shifting. New tasks aren't rated for AI or robots yet:

• Use remote sensing technologies or drones to evaluate site conditions when in-person visits are not feasible.

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Logistics Engineers (2h 8m touched, $82k median pay)
• Architectural and Engineering Managers (27m touched, $171k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 1 with robots in real deployments, 13 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.