Epidemiologists

Future-proof High pay & lowrisk Lowest risk
Minimal Risk
Low High

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
7.5/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

9% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): This occupation appears difficult to replace end-to-end with current or near-future automation, including AI software and robotics. Roles in this range usually depend on human judgement, creativity, care, leadership, specialist expertise, or adapting to messy real-world situations. AI and machines may still change parts of the work, but the occupation is likely to remain a distinct human role.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Thinking creatively

Very important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
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Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Communicating with people outside the organization

Very important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
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Active learning

Very important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Show 5 more strengths

Persuasion

Quite important
Why this matters
Influencing people to change their minds or behavior through conversation, trust, and negotiation.
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Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Developing objectives and strategies

Quite important
Why this matters
Sets long-term goals and chooses strategies and actions to reach them, weighing tradeoffs and adapting plans as conditions change.
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Operations analysis

Quite important
Why this matters
Figure out what people need and what a product must do, then translate those requirements into a workable design.
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What users think

Based on 105 votes

31% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 9% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Epidemiologists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

High paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Epidemiologists was $83,980 ($40 per hour).

The median annual wage for Epidemiologists was 69.7% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Epidemiologists' job openings is expected to rise 16.2% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 11,460 people employed as 'Epidemiologists' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 13 thousand people are employed as 'Epidemiologists'.

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What people are saying (5)

Leave a comment
BCMJ (Low)
25 Jul 2020 02:54
The tools will continue to be automated, but until AI can develop their own tools, interpret them, and then appropriately convey them to stakeholders and the public - this is a long shot.
Tino (Low)
08 Feb 2020 22:33
There are some job functions that could be easily automated like community mapping and analysis of disease and outbreak patterns as well as many of the statistical models that are used, especially considering that a number of the models are already done by computer software (SAS). However, data interpretation and human impact those require more organic minds that process emotion a little bit better. I will say that AI will augment many of the functions of the job and make us better able to contain and even prevent epidemics and that is ultimately what we exist to do. There are however many roles within this profession that are not so easily automated because again they have to do with human care and concern.
Miche (No chance)
12 May 2020 03:34
People seem to think that epi is just data crunching, but it's fairly nuanced and has to evolve with current information. Case definitions, contact tracing, and designing studies are all things that currently have no automation whatsoever. Biostats is important, but the more subjective parts of epidemiology are both the hardest and most impactful parts of the profession.
alec (No chance)
01 Jan 2025 02:27
humans are the main testing point of diseases and biotech technology
Dr Nathaniel Kovacs (Low)
30 Sep 2022 06:05
The job of an epidemiologist is too dependent on analytical thinking that I believe we are quite safe from automation today, but I am not denying the fact that technology is ever growing and may someday have the ability to do the job of an epidemiologist.
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Job description

Investigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability, or health outcomes. May develop the means for prevention and control.

O*NET-SOC code: 19-1041.00