Psychiatric technicians
SOC Code: 29-2053
Psychiatric technicians carries a 23% AI exposure score (Medium automation risk), with a median annual wage of $42,590 and +20.0% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 144,500 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 23% AI exposure, Psychiatric technicians sits 14 points below the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 9% of them. It ranks among the more AI-resilient roles in the dataset.
Career outlook score
69/100
Psychiatric technicians, 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 F $42,590
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth A+ +20.0%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) A+ 23% 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 Psychiatric technicians 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 Much faster (31/832). Mid-credential standing - thicker than graduate shelves, thinner than HS-dominated mass.
Where Psychiatric technicians sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Psychiatric technicians sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
23% Among the lowest lower than 91% 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.
Psychiatric technicians vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Psychiatric technicians 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
Psychiatric technicians'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 29-2053) 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 Psychiatric technicians 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 Psychiatric technicians. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Provide nursing, psychiatric, or personal care to patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.
- 2. Administer oral medications or hypodermic injections, following physician's prescriptions and hospital procedures.
- 3. Encourage patients to develop work skills and to participate in social, recreational, or other therapeutic activities that enhance interpersonal skills or develop social relationships.
- 4. Restrain violent, potentially violent, or suicidal patients by verbal or physical means as required.
- 5. Lead prescribed individual or group therapy sessions as part of specific therapeutic procedures.
- 6. Issue medications from dispensary and maintain records in accordance with specified procedures.
- 7. Monitor patients' physical and emotional well-being and report unusual behavior or physical ailments to medical staff.
- 8. Take and record measures of patients' physical condition, using devices such as thermometers or blood pressure gauges.
- 9. Observe and influence patients' behavior, communicating and interacting with them and teaching, counseling, or befriending them.
- 10. Aid patients in performing tasks, such as bathing or keeping beds, clothing, or living areas clean.
Key Skills Required
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Service Orientation
- Writing
- Instructing
Knowledge Areas
- Psychology
- Therapy and Counseling
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Education and Training
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
- Sociology and Anthropology
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Psychiatric technicians?
Psychiatric technicians has an AI exposure score of 23%, 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 Psychiatric technicians?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Psychiatric technicians is projected to grow by 20.0% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 144,500 workers.
What skills are needed for Psychiatric technicians?
Key skills for Psychiatric technicians include Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Monitoring, and others. Typical entry-level education is Postsecondary nondegree award.
How much do Psychiatric technicians earn?
The median annual wage for Psychiatric technicians is $42,590, 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 Psychiatric technicians?
The typical entry-level education for Psychiatric technicians is Postsecondary nondegree award. Employers generally expect Less than 5 years of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Short-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Psychiatric technicians?
Psychiatric technicians 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 Psychiatric technicians: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (23% here).
- Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists · AI exposure 23%
- Dietitians and nutritionists · AI exposure 23%
- Home appliance repairers · AI exposure 23%
- Respiratory therapists · AI exposure 23%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (+20.0% here).
- Ophthalmic medical technicians · growth +19.8%
- Computer and information research scientists · growth +19.7%
- Physician assistants · growth +20.4%
- Occupational therapy assistants · growth +19.2%
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 Psychiatric technicians' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Psychiatric technicians 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).