Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses
SOC Code: 29-2061
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses carries a 21% AI exposure score (Medium automation risk), with a median annual wage of $62,340 and +2.6% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 651,400 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 21% AI exposure, Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses sits 16 points below the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 8% of them. It ranks among the more AI-resilient roles in the dataset.
Career outlook score
65/100
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, 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 $62,340
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth C- +2.6%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) A+ 21% 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 Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses in the Medium band.
Credential × growth standing
Associate / award entry with a named growth shelf
Entry credential Associate / award covers 99 of 832 occupations; BLS places this one in Average (378/832). Mid-credential standing - thicker than graduate shelves, thinner than HS-dominated mass.
Where Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
21% Among the lowest lower than 92% 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.
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses 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
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses's Medium 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 29-2061) 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 Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses 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 Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
- 2. Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.
- 3. Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts.
- 4. Provide basic patient care or treatments, such as taking temperatures or blood pressures, dressing wounds, treating bedsores, giving enemas or douches, rubbing with alcohol, massaging, or performing catheterizations.
- 5. Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.
- 6. Provide medical treatment or personal care to patients in private home settings, such as cooking, keeping rooms orderly, seeing that patients are comfortable and in good spirits, or instructing family members in simple nursing tasks.
- 7. Supervise nurses' aides or assistants.
- 8. Sterilize equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer, or autoclave.
- 9. Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.
- 10. Work as part of a healthcare team to assess patient needs, plan and modify care, and implement interventions.
Key Skills Required
- Service Orientation
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Time Management
Knowledge Areas
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Psychology
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Therapy and Counseling
- Mathematics
- Computers and Electronics
- Administrative
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses?
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses has an AI exposure score of 21%, indicating a medium 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 Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses is projected to grow by 2.6% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 651,400 workers.
What skills are needed for Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses?
Key skills for Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses include Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Coordination, and others. Typical entry-level education is Postsecondary nondegree award.
How much do Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses earn?
The median annual wage for Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses is $62,340, 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 Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses?
The typical entry-level education for Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses is Postsecondary nondegree award. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves None. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses?
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses 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
Medium 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 Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (21% here).
- Athletes and sports competitors · AI exposure 21%
- Automotive body and related repairers · AI exposure 21%
- Automotive glass installers and repairers · AI exposure 21%
- Boilermakers · AI exposure 21%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (+2.6% here).
- Atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary · growth +2.6%
- Chemical engineers · growth +2.6%
- Home appliance repairers · growth +2.6%
- Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists · growth +2.6%
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 45 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses 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).