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PlotFuture / Careers / Economists

Economists

Also known as: Economic Advisor, Economic Analyst, Economic Consultant, Economic Development Specialist, Economist
median $124,72010-yr demand +1.2%AI exposure 24/100typical entry Master's degree
Economists is well paid, AI barely touches it so far, and demand is steady.

The full pay distribution

Not one number — the spread from the bottom 10% to the top 10% of filed salaries.

Where it pays the most

Median salary by metro — the bar in amber is the U.S. median for comparison.

How pay grows with experience

From entry to expert, by reported wage level.

How exposed is it to AI?

Two things matter: how much AI is actually used in the role today (right), and how much it could automate in theory (up). AI is already widely used here.
Each faint dot is another occupation. The amber dot is Economists — its position tells you whether the disruption is here yet or still over the horizon.
used today 24/100 automatable in theory 50/100 archetype The Epicenter

If AI does come for this job — where could you go?

Adjacent careers ranked by how much safer + how much more they pay, and the skill gap to get there. Click any to see its full breakdown.

Which majors lead here

College paths that commonly feed this career — see each one's full outcomes.
Agricultural Business And Management
CIP 01.01
see major →
Environmental/Natural Resources Management And Policy
CIP 03.02
see major →
Applied Mathematics
CIP 27.03
see major →
Economics And Computer Science
CIP 30.39
see major →
Economics And Foreign Language/Literature
CIP 30.40
see major →
Mathematical Economics
CIP 30.49
see major →
Philosophy, Politics, And Economics
CIP 30.51
see major →
Economics
CIP 45.06
see major →
Political Science And Government
CIP 45.10
see major →
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, And Administration
CIP 51.20
see major →
Business/Managerial Economics
CIP 52.06
see major →
How this is built. Median pay and the full distribution come from filed U.S. wage data (BLS OEWS + DOL/LCA filings); AI exposure blends O*NET task content with model-based automation potential; escape routes are computed from skill overlap between occupations, then ranked by how much safer + better-paid the move is. This joins real distributions and projects them forward — it needs the real distributions and the skill graph, not a guess. Figures describe group medians and trends, not any one person's outcome.