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Finger Dexterity

Ability · O*NET work requirement

The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

In the O*NET occupational database, Finger Dexterity is an ability that work requires. O*NET rates how important it is (1–5) and what level of it a job needs (0–7) for every U.S. occupation. It is rated as important (3 or higher) in 357 of 894 occupations.

Breadth here means how widely O*NET rates this ability as important across occupations — not that it is rare, high-paying, or currently in employer demand.

Occupations that rely most on Finger Dexterity

Ranked by O*NET importance to the occupation (1–5). Bars are sized against the 1–5 scale; the level column is what depth of the ability the job needs (0–7).

Occupation Importance Score Level
Dentists, General 4.3 4.8
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons 4.1 5.1
Sewers, Hand 4.1 4.1
Watch and Clock Repairers 4.1 4.9
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians 4.0 4.3
Dental Laboratory Technicians 4.0 4.0
Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers 4.0 4.0
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians 4.0 3.8
Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners 4.0 4.5
Orthodontists 4.0 4.0
Surgical Assistants 4.0 4.1
Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters 4.0 4.8
Upholsterers 4.0 4.0
Bicycle Repairers 3.9 3.8
Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists 3.9 3.6
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters 3.9 3.9
Craft Artists 3.9 4.1
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 3.9 3.6
Dental Hygienists 3.9 3.8
Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers, Motor Vehicles 3.9 3.8
Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators 3.9 3.1
Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists 3.9 3.8
Industrial Machinery Mechanics 3.9 3.9
Locksmiths and Safe Repairers 3.9 3.6
Manufactured Building and Mobile Home Installers 3.9 3.5
Millwrights 3.9 4.0
Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines 3.9 3.8
Motorcycle Mechanics 3.9 3.9
Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric 3.9 4.1
Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics 3.9 3.6
Potters, Manufacturing 3.9 3.8
Prosthodontists 3.9 4.1
Robotics Technicians 3.9 4.1
Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers 3.9 3.9
Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners 3.9 3.5
Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics 3.8 3.9
Boilermakers 3.8 3.0
Commercial Divers 3.8 3.5
Data Entry Keyers 3.8 3.0
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers 3.8 3.8

Showing the top 40 of 357 occupations where this is important.

How AI is used by roles that need Finger Dexterity

This ability is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the roles for which O*NET rates it important and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across those roles (importance-weighted). 43.7% of the 357 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (156 roles).

Across those roles, 34.4% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 32.3% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.48 / 5.

Collaboration pattern Share What it means
directive 27.3% AI does it; you give the instruction
learning 20.3% you ask AI to explain or teach
task iteration 12.8% you and AI go back and forth
feedback loop 5.0% AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback
validation 1.4% you do it; AI checks your work

Roles behind this signal

The roles where this ability is most important and that also have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.

Occupation Importance Works with AI Autonomy
Word Processors and Typists 3.0 38.4% 3.0/5
Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers 3.5 33.4% 4.0/5
Pharmacists 3.1 73.9% 3.5/5
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators 3.4 50.0% 4.0/5
Chemists 3.0 61.8% 4.0/5
Robotics Engineers 3.5 42.0% 4.0/5
Biological Technicians 3.0 55.5% 4.0/5
Chemical Technicians 3.1 53.9% 4.0/5
Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers 3.9 58.0% 4.0/5
Audio and Video Equipment Technicians 3.0 51.6% 4.0/5
Craft Artists 3.9 42.4% 4.0/5
Microbiologists 3.0 56.2% 4.0/5

Source: Anthropic Economic Index (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) over a sample of Claude.ai Free and Pro conversations — not all AI tools and not the whole workforce. Shares are of observed conversations, weighted by how important this ability is to each role; some conversations are left unclassified by Anthropic's taxonomy, so shares need not sum to 100.

Industries that concentrate this

Where Finger Dexterity matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Finger Dexterity (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5). Concentration compares that reach to the national average industry, so a value above 1× means the requirement is more pervasive here than across the economy as a whole.

Nationally, about 22.4% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Finger Dexterity (measured across 67 industries).

Sectors with the most such workers

Sector Workers Employment reach
Manufacturing 5,826,250 45.7%
Construction 4,730,930 58.3%
Health Care and Social Assistance 4,469,070 19.3%
Accommodation and Food Services 2,814,430 19.8%
Retail Trade 2,684,690 17.2%
Transportation and Warehousing 2,405,280 32.5%
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 1,826,620 20.2%
Other Services (except Public Administration) 1,737,780 39.3%
Wholesale Trade 1,548,850 25.7%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 1,053,050 9.8%
Educational Services 620,760 4.6%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 586,180 24.8%

Industries where it is most concentrated

Industry Level Concentration Employment reach
Masonry Contractors National industry 3.33× 74.6%
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting Sector 3.16× 70.8%
Poured Concrete Foundation and Structure Contractors National industry 3.14× 70.3%
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors National industry 3.03× 67.8%
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors National industry 3.01× 67.5%
Power and Communication Line and Related Structures Construction National industry 2.92× 65.5%
Drywall and Insulation Contractors National industry 2.91× 65.1%
Veterinary Services National industry 2.86× 64.1%
Other Building Equipment Contractors National industry 2.86× 64.0%
Machine Shops National industry 2.82× 63.1%
Offices of Optometrists National industry 2.78× 62.3%
Roofing Contractors National industry 2.7× 60.5%

Reach is a measure of how widespread a requirement is across an industry's workforce, not how intensively any individual uses it. Sector worker counts come from BLS OEWS employment; the significance threshold and tool use come from O*NET. Industries shown by concentration are filtered to a real worker base so a tiny specialty cannot top the list on rounding.

Capabilities required by many of the same occupations — a measure of which skills, knowledge and abilities tend to travel together, not a judgment of similarity.

Capability Type Shared occupations
Arm-Hand Steadiness Ability 336
Manual Dexterity Ability 316
Control Precision Ability 279
Multilimb Coordination Ability 211
Operations Monitoring Cross-functional skill 224
Visualization Ability 239
Mechanical Knowledge 198
Trunk Strength Ability 182
Operation and Control Cross-functional skill 171
Selective Attention Ability 298
Perceptual Speed Ability 216
Near Vision Ability 356

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Finger Dexterity." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/abilities/finger-dexterity

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Finger Dexterity. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/abilities/finger-dexterity

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-finger-dexterity,
  title  = {Finger Dexterity},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/abilities/finger-dexterity}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.