Clergy
SOC Code: 21-2011
Clergy carries a 19% AI exposure score (Low automation risk), with a median annual wage of $60,820 and +1.0% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 262,000 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 19% AI exposure, Clergy sits 18 points below the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 5% of them. It ranks among the more AI-resilient roles in the dataset.
Career outlook score
60/100
Clergy, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage C- $60,820
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth F +1.0%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) A+ 19% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Clergy in the Low band.
Credential × growth standing
Bachelor's band with mid-pack BLS pace
Clergy shares the Bachelor's gate with 178 peer occupations and lands in Slow growth (245 of 832). Neither the rarest nor the most crowded growth shelf - use wage and AI desks on this page for the differentiator.
Where Clergy sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Clergy sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
19% Among the lowest lower than 95% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Clergy vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Clergy is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Clergy's Low automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score below 40% reflects tasks anchored in physical dexterity, unstructured environments, or high-touch human interaction that current AI cannot reliably replicate.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 21-2011) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Clergy be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Clergy. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Pray and promote spirituality.
- 2. Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
- 3. Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
- 4. Organize and lead regular religious services.
- 5. Instruct people who seek conversion to a particular faith.
- 6. Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
- 7. Counsel individuals or groups concerning their spiritual, emotional, or personal needs.
- 8. Administer religious rites or ordinances.
- 9. Prepare people for participation in religious ceremonies.
- 10. Visit people in homes, hospitals, or prisons to provide them with comfort and support.
Key Skills Required
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Instructing
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Persuasion
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Time Management
Knowledge Areas
- Philosophy and Theology
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Therapy and Counseling
- Communications and Media
- Psychology
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Personnel and Human Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Clergy?
Clergy has an AI exposure score of 19%, indicating a low level of automation risk. The majority of tasks in this role require human judgment, creativity, or physical presence that AI cannot easily replicate.
What is the job outlook for Clergy?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Clergy is projected to grow by 1.0% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 262,000 workers.
What skills are needed for Clergy?
Key skills for Clergy include Speaking, Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, and others. Typical entry-level education is Bachelor's degree.
How much do Clergy earn?
The median annual wage for Clergy is $60,820, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Clergy?
The typical entry-level education for Clergy is Bachelor's degree. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Moderate-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Clergy?
Clergy roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
Low automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. Most tasks require human judgment and are resistant to automation.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Clergy: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (19% here).
- Farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals · AI exposure 19%
- General internal medicine physicians · AI exposure 19%
- Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric · AI exposure 19%
- Animal caretakers · AI exposure 19%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (+1.0% here).
- Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders · growth +1.0%
- Budget analysts · growth +1.0%
- Butchers and meat cutters · growth +1.0%
- Eligibility interviewers, government programs · growth +1.0%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
Showing 6 of 43 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Clergy's numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Clergy side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).