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Cost Estimators vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Cost Estimators and Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Cost Estimators Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$77,070
—
Employment · BLS OEWS
219,530
—
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
81st pct
100th pct

At a glance

Dimension Cost Estimators Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products
Median pay $77,070 —
Employment 219,530 —
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-4.2%) —
Annual openings · BLS projection 16,900 —
Typical education · O*NET Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies High · 81st pct High · 100th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 82nd pct · 45% of tasks 76th pct · 39% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Augmentation-leaning (39.1%) Automation-leaning (50.2%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman Yes Yes

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Mathematics, Inductive Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Economics and Accounting, Speaking, Written Comprehension, Number Facility, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Written Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Near Vision, Judgment and Decision Making, Information Ordering, Writing, Computers and Electronics, Speech Clarity, Complex Problem Solving, Active Learning, Speech Recognition, Administration and Management, English Language, Social Perceptiveness, Management of Financial Resources, Problem Sensitivity, Category Flexibility, Monitoring, Persuasion, Negotiation, Time Management.

Specific to Cost Estimators

  • Mathematical Reasoning
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Building and Construction
  • Design
  • Coordination
  • Systems Analysis
  • Systems Evaluation

Specific to Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

  • Law and Government
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Administrative
  • Instructing
  • Management of Material Resources
  • Service Orientation
  • Management of Personnel Resources
  • Fluency of Ideas

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Document management software , Accounting software , Data base user interface and query software , Presentation software , Project management software , Process mapping and design software , Word processing software , Analytical or scientific software , Enterprise resource planning ERP software , Financial analysis software .

Specific to Cost Estimators

Specific to Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Cost Estimators or Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

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. "Cost Estimators vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/cost-estimators-vs-purchasing-agents-except-wholesale-retail-and-farm-products

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Cost Estimators vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/cost-estimators-vs-purchasing-agents-except-wholesale-retail-and-farm-products

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-cost-estimators-vs-purchasing-agents-except-wholesale-retail-and-farm-products,
  title  = {Cost Estimators vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/cost-estimators-vs-purchasing-agents-except-wholesale-retail-and-farm-products}
}

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