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Biostatisticians

Occupation · SOC 15-2041.01

Develop and apply biostatistical theory and methods to the study of life sciences.

Also called: Biometrician · Biostatistician · Research Scientist · Statistical Scientist · Biostatistical Consultant · Bioinformatics Scientist · Biomathematician · Clinical Biostatistician · NGS Biostatistician (Next-Generation Sequencing) · Postdoctoral Fellow · Research Biostatistician · Statistical Programmer

Job family: Computer and Mathematical Occupations

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AI work map

A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.

Often handed to AI

Task areas most often handled directively in observed AI conversations — candidates to delegate with light review.

  • Write detailed analysis plans and descriptions of analyses and findings for research protocols or reports. · 2.9%
  • Write program code to analyze data using statistical analysis software. · 2.6%
  • Draw conclusions or make predictions based on data summaries or statistical analyses. · 1.0%
See how AI is used here →

Use as a copilot

Task areas where people work with AI — iterating, learning, or checking — staying in the loop rather than handing the task off.

  • Prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences. · 3.0%
  • Read current literature, attend meetings or conferences, and talk with colleagues to keep abreast of methodological or conceptual developments in fields such as biostatistics, pharmacology, life sciences, and social sciences. · 0.9%
See collaboration patterns →

Keep a human in the loop

Task areas where a human was still judged necessary in a large share of observed conversations — not a safety ruling, an observed-need signal.

  • Collect data through surveys or experimentation. · 100.0% need a human
  • Read current literature, attend meetings or conferences, and talk with colleagues to keep abreast of methodological or conceptual developments in fields such as biostatistics, pharmacology, life sciences, and social sciences. · 97.8% need a human
  • Prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences. · 92.7% need a human
See the boundary tasks →

99th-percentile task overlap — yet about 2,000 openings a year (+8.5% projected, BLS), and observed AI use leans 4630% copilot, not hand-off (AEI) . What exposure means →

AI & job outlook

What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.

Exposure to current AI

Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.

Measure Rank vs all occupations Percentile Score
Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) High 95th 1.4
LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) High 95th 1.0
AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) High 92nd 0.3

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.3), with simple added tooling (β 0.7), and including AI-powered software (γ 1.0). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.

Most of this job's tasks can be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman), which tends to track with higher digital and AI exposure.

Historical automation estimate (2013)

A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.

Frey–Osborne probability 0.2 · 34th percentile among occupations · Moderate

How AI is actually used in this job

Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.

Read current literature, attend meetings or conferences, and talk with colleagues to keep abreast of methodological or conceptual developments in fields such as biostatistics, pharmacology, life sciences, and social sciences. 3.5%
Write detailed analysis plans and descriptions of analyses and findings for research protocols or reports. 3.0%
Prepare tables and graphs to present clinical data or results. 2.1%
Write research proposals or grant applications for submission to external bodies. 1.3%
Develop or implement data analysis algorithms. 0.7%
Design research studies in collaboration with physicians, life scientists, or other professionals. 0.7%

Job outlook

Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.

Outlook Growing fast · +8.5% by 2034
Projected annual openings 2,000
Employment 2024 → 2034 32,200 → 34,900

“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.

Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient

The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.

56% mean task exposure (2025)
94th percentile of 427 placed occupations
+6 pts shift 2023 → 2025
International occupation (ISCO-08) Task exposure (2025) Most tasks fall in
Mathematicians, Actuaries and Statisticians · 2120 56% Gradient 3

Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.

Working with AI in this job

How people actually apply AI to this occupation's tasks, from Claude.ai (Free and Pro) conversations in the Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15. This is one AI assistant's consumer sample — not all AI, not the whole workforce. Autonomy and the collaboration mix are model-rated estimates; figures below the sample floor are hidden.

Augmentation vs. automation 46.3% working with AI · 44.5% handed to AI
Most common way people use AI here Directive · AI does it; you give the instruction
Typical AI autonomy 3.0 / 5 · higher = AI acts more independently
Used for work (vs. personal / coursework) 41.0%

What people delegate to AI

The role's most common tasks in AI conversations, each tagged with how people work with the AI on it. “Usage” is the share of observed conversations, not of the job.

Task How Usage
Prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences. Iteration 3.0%
Write detailed analysis plans and descriptions of analyses and findings for research protocols or reports. Directive 2.9%
Write program code to analyze data using statistical analysis software. Directive 2.6%
Draw conclusions or make predictions based on data summaries or statistical analyses. Directive 1.0%
Read current literature, attend meetings or conferences, and talk with colleagues to keep abreast of methodological or conceptual developments in fields such as biostatistics, pharmacology, life sciences, and social sciences. Learning 0.9%
Collect data through surveys or experimentation. Directive 0.4%

Where a human is still needed

Tasks where the model most often judged that a person remained necessary — a useful read on the current boundary, not a guarantee.

Collect data through surveys or experimentation. 100.0%
Read current literature, attend meetings or conferences, and talk with colleagues to keep abreast of methodological or conceptual developments in fields such as biostatistics, pharmacology, life sciences, and social sciences. 97.8%
Prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences. 92.7%
Write detailed analysis plans and descriptions of analyses and findings for research protocols or reports. 91.3%
Draw conclusions or make predictions based on data summaries or statistical analyses. 88.2%
Write program code to analyze data using statistical analysis software. 79.5%

What people most often hand AI here

Example prompts phrased from the tasks people most often delegate to AI in this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index). Each shows the underlying measured task and its share of observed AI use. They are suggested phrasings of real tasks — starting points, not endorsed instructions.

  • Help me prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences.

    From: Prepare articles for publication or presentation at professional conferences. · 3.0% of measured AI use · task iteration

  • Help me write detailed analysis plans and descriptions of analyses and findings for research protocols or reports.

    From: Write detailed analysis plans and descriptions of analyses and findings for research protocols or reports. · 2.9% of measured AI use · directive

  • Help me write program code to analyze data using statistical analysis software.

    From: Write program code to analyze data using statistical analysis software. · 2.6% of measured AI use · directive

  • Help me draw conclusions or make predictions based on data summaries or statistical analyses.

    From: Draw conclusions or make predictions based on data summaries or statistical analyses. · 1.0% of measured AI use · directive

Tasks

All 25 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

Work activities

Knowledge, skills & abilities

O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).

Knowledge

Mathematics 4.7
English Language 3.9
Computers and Electronics 3.7
Medicine and Dentistry 3.0

Essential skills

Mathematics 4.6
Reading Comprehension 4.0
Speaking 4.0
Science 4.0
Critical Thinking 4.0
Active Learning 4.0
Active Listening 3.9
Writing 3.9
Learning Strategies 3.4
Monitoring 3.0

Abilities

Inductive Reasoning 4.3
Mathematical Reasoning 4.3
Written Comprehension 4.1
Oral Expression 4.1
Deductive Reasoning 4.1
Oral Comprehension 4.0
Written Expression 3.9
Problem Sensitivity 3.9
Information Ordering 3.9
Speech Clarity 3.9
Number Facility 3.8
Speech Recognition 3.8
Fluency of Ideas 3.6
Category Flexibility 3.6
Near Vision 3.6
Originality 3.3
Speed of Closure 3.0

Transferable skills

Complex Problem Solving 4.0
Judgment and Decision Making 4.0
Programming 3.4
Instructing 3.1
Systems Analysis 3.1
Systems Evaluation 3.1
Coordination 3.0
Operations Analysis 3.0
Time Management 3.0

Skills in demand

Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.

Showing the top 40 of 50.

Tools & technology

Example Category
IBM SPSS Statistics Analytical or scientific software Hot technology In demand
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet software Hot technology In demand
Microsoft Office software Office suite software Hot technology In demand
Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation software Hot technology In demand
Python Object or component oriented development software Hot technology In demand
R Object or component oriented development software Hot technology In demand
SAP software Enterprise resource planning ERP software Hot technology In demand
SAS Analytical or scientific software Hot technology In demand
Structured query language SQL Data base user interface and query software Hot technology In demand
Bash Operating system software Hot technology
C# Object or component oriented development software Hot technology
C++ Object or component oriented development software Hot technology
Extensible markup language XML Enterprise application integration software Hot technology
Git File versioning software Hot technology
JavaScript Web platform development software Hot technology
Linux Operating system software Hot technology
Microsoft Access Data base user interface and query software Hot technology
Microsoft SQL Server Data base user interface and query software Hot technology
Microsoft Visual Studio Development environment software Hot technology
Microsoft Windows Operating system software Hot technology
Microsoft Word Word processing software Hot technology
MySQL Data base management system software Hot technology
Oracle Database Data base user interface and query software Hot technology
Oracle Java Object or component oriented development software Hot technology
Perl Object or component oriented development software Hot technology
PHP Web platform development software Hot technology
Shell script Operating system software Hot technology
The MathWorks MATLAB Analytical or scientific software Hot technology
UNIX Operating system software Hot technology
StataCorp Stata Analytical or scientific software In demand
Statistical software Analytical or scientific software In demand
Clinical trials database software Data base user interface and query software
Data visualization software Analytical or scientific software
Database software Data base user interface and query software
Graphics software Graphics or photo imaging software
Insightful S-PLUS Analytical or scientific software
Minitab Analytical or scientific software
Patient monitoring systems Data base user interface and query software
S-Plus software Analytical or scientific software
SAS/STAT Analytical or scientific software

Showing the top 40 of 45.

Work context

How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.

E-Mail 4.7
Spend Time Sitting 4.5
Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team 4.4
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate 4.3
Freedom to Make Decisions 4.3
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams 4.3
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled 4.2
Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals 4.1
Telephone Conversations 3.9
Contact With Others 3.7
Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities 3.4
Time Pressure 3.4
Level of Competition 3.4
Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers 3.3
Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results 3.1
Written Letters and Memos 3.0
Frequency of Decision Making 2.9
Deal With External Customers or the Public in General 2.8
Importance of Repeating Same Tasks 2.7
Physical Proximity 2.6
Public Speaking 2.5
Conflict Situations 2.5
Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions 2.4
Consequence of Error 2.4
Exposed to Sounds, Noise Levels that are Distracting or Uncomfortable 2.3
Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls 2.2
Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People 2.1
Spend Time Standing 1.9
Degree of Automation 1.9
Health and Safety of Other Workers 1.9
Spend Time Walking or Running 1.5
Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment 1.3
Spend Time Bending or Twisting Your Body 1.2
Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures 1.1
In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment 1.1
Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions 1.1
Exposed to Disease or Infections 1.1
Outdoors, Under Cover 1.1
Spend Time Climbing Ladders, Scaffolds, or Poles 1.1
Spend Time Keeping or Regaining Balance 1.1

How to get in

Job zone
Zone 5 — Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Education
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Typical entry-level education
Master's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
Related experience
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Preparation level
SVP (8.0 and above) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.

What to study: Biological and Biomedical Sciences , Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services , Education , Mathematics and Statistics , Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies , Psychology , Social Sciences . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.

Education of current workers

Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.

Master's Degree 58.3%
Doctoral Degree 29.2%
Bachelor's Degree 12.5%

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Investigative 7.0
Conventional 4.4
Social 3.1
Artistic 2.8
Realistic 2.4

Work styles

Dependability 7.0
Attention to Detail 6.0
Integrity 5.0
Cautiousness 4.0
Intellectual Curiosity 3.0

Interest areas

Mathematics/Statistics 7.0
Medical Science 5.3
Life Science 4.9
Information Technology 4.1
Health Care Service 3.8
Social Science 2.5

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

$60k10th$79k25th$103kMedian$138k75th$171k90th
Annual wages by percentile — U.S. (BLS OEWS). The light band spans the 10th–90th percentile; the darker band is the middle half (25th–75th); the line is the median.
32k202435k2034 (proj.)+8.5% · Growing fast
Projected U.S. employment, 2024–2034 (BLS Employment Projections). A labor-market forecast for the occupation, not an AI-impact forecast.
10th percentile $60,390
25th percentile $79,210
Median (50th) $103,300
75th percentile $137,610
90th percentile $170,700
People employed 29,800

Wages and employment are reported by BLS for the broader occupation group this specialty belongs to (SOC 15-2041), not for the specialty alone.

Industries that employ this occupation

Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.

Industry Workers National median pay
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector 9,920 $106,470
Educational Services · Sector 3,790 $81,810
Health Care and Social Assistance · Sector 2,530 $99,540
Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector 1,430 $117,400
Finance and Insurance · Sector 1,270 $100,720
Information · Sector 750 $99,380
Manufacturing · Sector 730 $140,490
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector 580 $104,000
Wholesale Trade · Sector 530 $155,640
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities · National industry 400 $94,100
Temporary Help Services · National industry 350 $102,870
Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector 320 $87,550

Where this work is most concentrated

Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).

Industry Concentration Workers
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities · National industry 34.05× 400
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector 4.77× 9,920
Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers · National industry 3.34× 290
Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector 2.63× 1,430
Educational Services · Sector 1.44× 3,790
Information · Sector 1.33× 750
Finance and Insurance · Sector 1.06× 1,270
Temporary Help Services · National industry 0.68× 350

Part of the Advanced Manufacturing , Digital Technology , Education , Financial Services , Healthcare & Human Services , Management & Entrepreneurship , Marketing & Sales and Public Service & Safety career clusters.

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay Biostatisticians sits at the 99th percentile of AI task-overlap and the 85th percentile of median pay, placed here against 12 adjacent occupations on the same two axes. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Biostatisticians Clinical Research Coordinators Geneticists Social Science Research Assistants Statistical Assistants Bioinformatics Technicians Clinical Data Managers AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
AI task-overlap percentile (horizontal) vs. median-pay percentile (vertical), across all scored occupations. This occupation is highlighted; related occupations are plotted alongside it. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation.

Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.

What you can do with this

Options the data surfaces for Biostatisticians — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.

Skills that travel

Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.

Paths in

How people typically prepare for this work.

Zoom out

On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 94th percentile of 427 international occupations.

Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation

Biostatisticians show 99th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 2,000 annual U.S. openings

  • Biostatisticians rank in the 99th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
  • The occupation is projected to see about 2,000 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
  • BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+8.5%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
  • Median annual pay is $103,300, across about 29,800 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
  • Of the AI use actually observed for this work, 46% looks like augmentation (drafting, iterating, checking) rather than hands-off automation — from a Claude.ai usage sample, not a census.2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2
Copy the whole kit
Biostatisticians show 99th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 2,000 annual U.S. openings

• Biostatisticians rank in the 99th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE)
• The occupation is projected to see about 2,000 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34)
• BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+8.5%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34)
• Median annual pay is $103,300, across about 29,800 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024))
• Of the AI use actually observed for this work, 46% looks like augmentation (drafting, iterating, checking) rather than hands-off automation — from a Claude.ai usage sample, not a census. (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2)

Source: Singulariki — "Biostatisticians". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-15-2041-01
Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.

AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom

Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.

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. "Biostatisticians." 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/roles/role-15-2041-01

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Biostatisticians. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-15-2041-01

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-15-2041-01,
  title  = {Biostatisticians},
  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/roles/role-15-2041-01}
}

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

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