Food Science Technicians
Also known as: Central Laboratory Technician (CLT), Food Science Tech (Food Science Technician), Laboratory Assistant (Lab Assistant), Laboratory Technician (Lab Tech), QA Lab Tech (Quality Assurance Lab Technician)
median $52,13010-yr demand +4.8%AI exposure 20/100typical entry Associate's degree
Food Science Technicians is mid-paying, AI barely touches it so far, and demand is steady.
The pay range
Bottom 10% to top 10% of workers in this role (BLS).
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). Partially affected.
Each faint dot is another occupation. The amber dot is
Food Science Technicians — its position tells you whether the disruption is here yet or still over the horizon.
used today 20/100
automatable in theory 36/100
archetype The Hybrid Zone
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.
