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Mathematics

Basic skill · O*NET work requirement

Using mathematics to solve problems.

In the O*NET occupational database, Mathematics is a skill 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 237 of 894 occupations.

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

Occupations that rely most on Mathematics

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 skill the job needs (0–7).

Occupation Importance Score Level
Mathematicians 5.0 6.0
Statisticians 4.9 5.4
Biostatisticians 4.6 5.1
Operations Research Analysts 4.5 4.9
Financial Quantitative Analysts 4.4 5.0
Statistical Assistants 4.4 4.9
Actuaries 4.3 5.0
Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.3 4.9
Physicists 4.3 5.5
Astronomers 4.1 5.0
Economists 4.1 4.3
Geodetic Surveyors 4.1 4.9
Cost Estimators 4.0 4.1
Environmental Economists 4.0 4.8
Logistics Engineers 4.0 4.1
Manufacturing Engineers 4.0 4.5
Nuclear Engineers 4.0 4.4
Survey Researchers 4.0 4.6
Surveyors 4.0 4.1
Aerospace Engineers 3.9 4.8
Architectural and Engineering Managers 3.9 4.3
Automotive Engineers 3.9 4.9
Biochemists and Biophysicists 3.9 4.8
Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers 3.9 4.5
Biologists 3.9 4.3
Budget Analysts 3.9 3.9
Civil Engineers 3.9 4.8
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 3.9 4.5
Geneticists 3.9 4.0
Nanosystems Engineers 3.9 4.8
Transportation Engineers 3.9 4.6
Water/Wastewater Engineers 3.9 4.5
Agricultural Engineers 3.8 4.1
Chemical Engineers 3.8 4.8
Chemists 3.8 4.5
Energy Engineers, Except Wind and Solar 3.8 4.1
Epidemiologists 3.8 4.1
Hydrologists 3.8 4.4
Materials Engineers 3.8 4.0
Mechanical Engineers 3.8 4.5

Showing the top 40 of 237 occupations where this is important.

How AI is used by roles that need Mathematics

This skill 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). 72.6% of the 237 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (172 roles).

Across those roles, 49.8% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 30.3% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.67 / 5.

Collaboration pattern Share What it means
directive 27.8% AI does it; you give the instruction
task iteration 25.2% you and AI go back and forth
learning 21.4% you ask AI to explain or teach
validation 3.2% you do it; AI checks your work
feedback loop 2.5% AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback

Roles behind this signal

The roles where this skill 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
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 3.4 66.3% 4.0/5
Economics Teachers, Postsecondary 3.3 65.7% 3.3/5
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 3.9 67.0% 4.0/5
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary 3.0 66.2% 3.5/5
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary 3.6 65.9% 4.0/5
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary 3.0 66.2% 4.0/5
Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary 3.0 65.3% 4.0/5
Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary 3.3 66.0% 4.0/5
Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary 3.0 66.3% 4.0/5
Business Teachers, Postsecondary 3.0 61.5% 3.0/5

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 skill 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 Mathematics matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Mathematics (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 15.5% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Mathematics (measured across 67 industries).

Sectors with the most such workers

Sector Workers Employment reach
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 4,278,900 39.7%
Finance and Insurance 3,233,750 51.9%
Construction 2,165,600 26.7%
Manufacturing 1,964,770 15.4%
Educational Services 1,707,660 12.5%
Health Care and Social Assistance 1,575,980 6.8%
Accommodation and Food Services 1,280,860 9.0%
Management of Companies and Enterprises 1,074,980 38.3%
Retail Trade 1,047,940 6.7%
Wholesale Trade 867,910 14.4%
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 735,900 8.1%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 631,920 26.7%

Industries where it is most concentrated

Industry Level Concentration Employment reach
Engineering Services National industry 4.13× 64.0%
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors National industry 3.72× 57.7%
Pharmacies and Drug Retailers National industry 3.63× 56.2%
Finance and Insurance Sector 3.35× 51.9%
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages National industry 3.24× 50.2%
Testing Laboratories and Services National industry 46.5%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Sector 2.56× 39.7%
Management of Companies and Enterprises Sector 2.47× 38.3%
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities National industry 2.45× 37.9%
Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers National industry 1.9× 29.5%
Construction Sector 1.72× 26.7%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Sector 1.72× 26.7%

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
Mathematical Reasoning Ability 214
Number Facility Ability 192
Systems Evaluation Cross-functional skill 179
Systems Analysis Cross-functional skill 188
Mathematics Knowledge 227
Fluency of Ideas Ability 208
Science Basic skill 109
Computers and Electronics Knowledge 201
Writing Basic skill 228
Originality Ability 174
Active Learning Basic skill 222
Written Expression Ability 230

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. "Mathematics." 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/skills/mathematics

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Mathematics. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/skills/mathematics

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-mathematics,
  title  = {Mathematics},
  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/skills/mathematics}
}

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