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Mathematical Reasoning

Ability · O*NET work requirement

The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.

In the O*NET occupational database, Mathematical Reasoning 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 261 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 Mathematical Reasoning

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
Mathematicians 5.0 6.0
Physicists 4.8 5.9
Statisticians 4.8 5.0
Actuaries 4.6 5.0
Statistical Assistants 4.6 4.9
Operations Research Analysts 4.5 4.8
Financial Quantitative Analysts 4.4 5.0
Biostatisticians 4.3 5.0
Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.3 4.8
Economists 4.1 4.4
Environmental Economists 4.1 4.8
Logistics Engineers 4.1 4.3
Astronomers 4.0 4.9
Biochemists and Biophysicists 4.0 4.8
Cost Estimators 4.0 4.1
Geodetic Surveyors 4.0 4.8
Nuclear Engineers 4.0 4.1
Survey Researchers 4.0 4.3
Surveyors 4.0 4.1
Aerospace Engineers 3.9 4.8
Architectural and Engineering Managers 3.9 4.1
Automotive Engineers 3.9 4.8
Bioinformatics Scientists 3.9 4.4
Biologists 3.9 4.3
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks 3.9 3.9
Budget Analysts 3.9 4.3
Chemical Engineers 3.9 4.0
Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians 3.9 3.8
Civil Engineers 3.9 4.8
Energy Engineers, Except Wind and Solar 3.9 4.0
Fuel Cell Engineers 3.9 4.1
Geneticists 3.9 4.0
Hydrologists 3.9 4.4
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists 3.9 3.9
Investment Fund Managers 3.9 4.3
Mechanical Engineers 3.9 4.5
Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers 3.9 4.4
Molecular and Cellular Biologists 3.9 4.5
Photonics Engineers 3.9 4.9
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary 3.9 4.0

Showing the top 40 of 261 occupations where this is important.

How AI is used by roles that need Mathematical Reasoning

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). 70.9% of the 261 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (185 roles).

Across those roles, 49.5% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 31.3% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.64 / 5.

Collaboration pattern Share What it means
directive 29.0% AI does it; you give the instruction
task iteration 24.9% you and AI go back and forth
learning 21.4% you ask AI to explain or teach
validation 3.1% you do it; AI checks your work
feedback loop 2.3% AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback

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
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary 3.1 63.2% 4.0/5
Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.3 65.0% 3.0/5
Economics Teachers, Postsecondary 3.4 65.7% 3.3/5
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 3.4 66.3% 4.0/5
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary 3.9 65.9% 4.0/5
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 3.8 67.0% 4.0/5
Instructional Coordinators 3.0 53.1% 4.0/5
Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary 3.3 65.3% 4.0/5
Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary 3.1 66.3% 4.0/5
Business Teachers, Postsecondary 3.1 61.5% 3.0/5
Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary 3.0 66.0% 4.0/5
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary 3.0 65.8% 3.8/5

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 Mathematical Reasoning matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Mathematical Reasoning (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 16.0% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Mathematical Reasoning (measured across 67 industries).

Sectors with the most such workers

Sector Workers Employment reach
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 4,264,580 39.6%
Educational Services 4,120,580 30.2%
Finance and Insurance 3,448,490 55.4%
Manufacturing 2,436,050 19.1%
Construction 1,517,370 18.7%
Health Care and Social Assistance 1,336,770 5.8%
Management of Companies and Enterprises 1,069,360 38.1%
Wholesale Trade 774,550 12.8%
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 705,610 7.8%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 624,490 26.4%
Information 613,600 21.1%
Retail Trade 568,330 3.6%

Industries where it is most concentrated

Industry Level Concentration Employment reach
Engineering Services National industry 3.98× 63.7%
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors National industry 3.6× 57.6%
Finance and Insurance Sector 3.46× 55.4%
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages National industry 3.33× 53.3%
Nuclear Electric Power Generation National industry 3.23× 51.6%
Testing Laboratories and Services National industry 2.96× 47.3%
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities National industry 2.54× 40.7%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Sector 2.48× 39.6%
Management of Companies and Enterprises Sector 2.38× 38.1%
Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers National industry 2.02× 32.3%
Educational Services Sector 1.89× 30.2%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Sector 1.65× 26.4%

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
Number Facility Ability 213
Mathematics Basic skill 214
Systems Evaluation Cross-functional skill 197
Mathematics Knowledge 247
Systems Analysis Cross-functional skill 205
Fluency of Ideas Ability 226
Writing Basic skill 252
Originality Ability 193
Active Learning Basic skill 244
Computers and Electronics Knowledge 216
Written Expression Ability 255
Science Basic skill 116

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. "Mathematical Reasoning." 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/mathematical-reasoning

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Mathematical Reasoning. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/abilities/mathematical-reasoning

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-mathematical-reasoning,
  title  = {Mathematical Reasoning},
  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/mathematical-reasoning}
}

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