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Science

Basic skill · O*NET work requirement

Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

In the O*NET occupational database, Science 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 150 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 Science

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
Biochemists and Biophysicists 4.8 5.1
Molecular and Cellular Biologists 4.8 5.0
Biologists 4.6 5.0
Microbiologists 4.6 5.0
Physicists 4.6 5.8
Astronomers 4.3 5.1
Chemical Engineers 4.1 5.1
Chemical Technicians 4.1 4.1
Chemists 4.1 5.1
Epidemiologists 4.1 5.0
Geneticists 4.1 4.4
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 4.1 5.0
Natural Sciences Managers 4.1 4.9
Nuclear Engineers 4.1 4.4
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary 4.1 4.6
Aerospace Engineers 4.0 5.1
Anesthesiologists 4.0 3.9
Animal Scientists 4.0 4.0
Atmospheric and Space Scientists 4.0 4.9
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0 4.1
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0 4.0
Biostatisticians 4.0 4.6
Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0 4.3
Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0 4.5
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health 4.0 4.5
General Internal Medicine Physicians 4.0 4.0
Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers 4.0 4.6
Materials Engineers 4.0 4.8
Materials Scientists 4.0 4.9
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists 4.0 4.4
Nanosystems Engineers 4.0 4.8
Pediatricians, General 4.0 4.1
Physicians, Pathologists 4.0 4.0
Soil and Plant Scientists 4.0 4.9
Allergists and Immunologists 3.9 3.9
Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers 3.9 4.6
Family Medicine Physicians 3.9 4.0
Food Scientists and Technologists 3.9 3.9
Hydrologists 3.9 4.4
Nurse Anesthetists 3.9 3.9

Showing the top 40 of 150 occupations where this is important.

How AI is used by roles that need Science

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). 66.0% of the 150 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (99 roles).

Across those roles, 53.9% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 28.2% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.75 / 5.

Collaboration pattern Share What it means
learning 28.9% you ask AI to explain or teach
directive 25.5% AI does it; you give the instruction
task iteration 20.9% you and AI go back and forth
validation 4.0% you do it; AI checks your work
feedback loop 2.7% 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 4.0 63.2% 4.0/5
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0 66.3% 4.0/5
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary 4.1 65.9% 4.0/5
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary 3.3 66.2% 3.5/5
Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0 66.3% 4.0/5
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary 3.4 66.2% 4.0/5
Geography Teachers, Postsecondary 3.1 65.7% 3.3/5
Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0 66.0% 4.0/5
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 3.5 67.0% 4.0/5
Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary 3.3 65.3% 4.0/5
Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary 3.8 63.1% 4.0/5
Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 3.5 65.5% 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 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 Science matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Science (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 3.5% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Science (measured across 59 industries).

Sectors with the most such workers

Sector Workers Employment reach
Health Care and Social Assistance 1,901,450 8.2%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 1,039,780 9.7%
Manufacturing 728,550 5.7%
Educational Services 580,180 4.3%
Retail Trade 184,150 1.2%
Management of Companies and Enterprises 105,480 3.8%
Wholesale Trade 90,980 1.5%
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 70,730 0.8%
Construction 68,920 0.8%
Finance and Insurance 40,160 0.6%
Utilities 40,020 6.9%
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 27,860 4.9%

Industries where it is most concentrated

Industry Level Concentration Employment reach
Testing Laboratories and Services National industry 9.69× 33.9%
Engineering Services National industry 9.6× 33.6%
Offices of Chiropractors National industry 7.17× 25.1%
Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities National industry 6.43× 22.5%
Pharmacies and Drug Retailers National industry 5.09× 17.8%
Nuclear Electric Power Generation National industry 4.97× 17.4%
Offices of Optometrists National industry 4.94× 17.3%
Veterinary Services National industry 4.49× 15.7%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Sector 2.77× 9.7%
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation National industry 2.66× 9.3%
Health Care and Social Assistance Sector 2.34× 8.2%
Utilities Sector 1.97× 6.9%

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
Biology Knowledge 87
Chemistry Knowledge 81
Mathematical Reasoning Ability 116
Mathematics Basic skill 109
Number Facility Ability 105
Systems Evaluation Cross-functional skill 118
Physics Knowledge 64
Systems Analysis Cross-functional skill 126
Learning Strategies Basic skill 122
Originality Ability 126
Instructing Cross-functional skill 125
Fluency of Ideas Ability 138

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. "Science." 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/science

APA

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

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-science,
  title  = {Science},
  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/science}
}

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