Career Explorer Office and admin
Changing shape
Data entry keyers
Operate data entry device, such as keyboard or photo composing perforator. Duties may include verifying data and preparing materials for printing.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 1% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by -25.5% by 2035, expected to shrink.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $41,340
- Job growth to 2035
- -25.5%
- Openings a year
- 7,700
- People doing it (2025)
- 132,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Evaluate the quality or accuracy of data
- Process digital or online data
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Stock supplies or products
- Maintain operational records
What the work looks like
- Locate and correct data entry errors, or report them to supervisors.
- Compile, sort, and verify the accuracy of data before it is entered.
- Compare data with source documents, or re-enter data in verification format to detect errors.
- Read source documents such as canceled checks, sales reports, or bills, and enter data in specific data fields or onto tapes or disks for subsequent entry, using keyboards or scanners.
- Store completed documents in appropriate locations.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as organizations increasingly manage, store, and analyze large quantities of data, requiring traditional data entry methods to be replaced by automated processes through use of expanded technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), mobile data capture, and optical character recognition (OCR).
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Meter readers, utilitiesHuman edge, steady, Index 10, -10.5%
- Postal service mail carriersHuman edge, steady, Index 22, -0.3%
- Couriers and messengersHuman edge, growing, Index 66, +8.0%
- Animal breedersHuman edge, steady, Index 60, +3.0%
Also known as: Data Capture Specialist, Data Entry Clerk, Data Entry Operator, Data Transcriber, Data Entry Machine Operator, Data Entry Specialist, Records Clerk, Underwriting Support Specialist.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.