Career Explorer Construction and trades
Human edge, steady
Floor sanders and finishers
Scrape and sand wooden floors to smooth surfaces using floor scraper and floor sanding machine, and apply coats of finish.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 73% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +1.4% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $50,440
- Job growth to 2035
- +1.4%
- Openings a year
- 300
- People doing it (2025)
- 4,700
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Smooth surfaces of objects or equipment
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Inspect completed work or finished products
What the work looks like
- Buff and vacuum floors to ensure their cleanliness prior to the application of finish.
- Scrape and sand floor edges and areas inaccessible to floor sanders, using scrapers, disk-type sanders, and sandpaper.
- Inspect floors for smoothness.
- Attach sandpaper to rollers of sanding machines.
- Guide sanding machines over surfaces of floors until surfaces are smooth.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Construction laborersHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +7.3%
- Extraction workers, all otherHuman edge, steady, Index 89, +3.4%
- Structural iron and steel workersHuman edge, steady, Index 75, +3.1%
- Cement masons and concrete finishersHuman edge, steady, Index 78, +1.6%
Also known as: Floor Finisher, Floor Mechanic, Floor Sander, Hardwood Floor Sander, Finisher, Floor Refinisher, Floor Sander and Finisher, Hardwood Floor Finisher and Sander.
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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.