Career Explorer Production
Human edge, growing
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers
Operate or tend washing or dry-cleaning machines to wash or dry-clean industrial or household articles, such as cloth garments, suede, leather, furs, blankets, draperies, linens, rugs, and carpets. Includes spotters and dyers of these articles.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 83% 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 +4.3% by 2035, faster than average.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $34,890
- Job growth to 2035
- +4.3%
- Openings a year
- 28,200
- People doing it (2025)
- 205,000
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then short on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Inspect characteristics or conditions of materials or products
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
- Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects
- Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures
- Sort materials or products
What the work looks like
- Operate extractors and driers, or direct their operation.
- Remove items from washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to do so.
- Load articles into washers or dry-cleaning machines, or direct other workers to perform loading.
- Sort and count articles removed from dryers, and fold, wrap, or hang them.
- Start washers, dry cleaners, driers, or extractors, and turn valves or levers to regulate machine processes and the volume of soap, detergent, water, bleach, starch, and other additives.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Fiberglass laminators and fabricatorsHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +4.6%
- Cleaners of vehicles and equipmentHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +3.9%
- Rock splitters, quarryHuman edge, growing, Index 92, +5.8%
- Food processing workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +5.5%
Also known as: Dry Cleaner, Laundry Aide, Laundry Attendant, Laundry Worker, Industrial Laundry Attendant, Laundry Assistant, Laundry Housekeeper, Laundry Technician (Laundry Tech).
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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.