Mechanical Drafters

High Risk
61%

Where Would You Like to Go Next?

Share your results with friends and family.
Get results for another job Compare to another job

Or, Explore This Profession in Greater Detail...

Vote Comments (9)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
63%
(High Risk)
POLLING
59%
(Moderate Risk, Based on 105 votes)
Average: 61%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
-4.9%
by year 2033
WAGES
$64,060
or $30.80 per hour
Volume
44,850
as of 2023
SUMMARY
What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.3/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

People also viewed

Mechanical Engineers Computer Programmers Accountants and Auditors Civil Engineers Graphic Designers

Calculated automation risk

63% (High Risk)

High Risk (61-80%): Jobs in this category face a significant threat from automation, as many of their tasks can be easily automated using current or near-future technologies.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Originality

  • Finger Dexterity

  • Social Perceptiveness

User poll

59% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. However, the automation risk level we have generated suggests a much higher chance of automation: 63% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Mechanical Drafters will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

The following graph is shown where there are enough votes to produce meaningful data. It displays user poll results over time, providing a clear indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Mechanical Drafters' job openings is expected to decline 4.9% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Mechanical Drafters' was $64,060, or $31 per hour

'Mechanical Drafters' were paid 33.3% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Moderate range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 44,850 people employed as 'Mechanical Drafters' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 3 thousand people are employed as 'Mechanical Drafters'.

Job description

Prepare detailed working diagrams of machinery and mechanical devices, including dimensions, fastening methods, and other engineering information.

SOC Code: 17-3013.00

Comments (9)

Leave a comment
ME (Highly likely)
07 Aug 2025 07:33
Text to cad and 2D to 3D Cad (AI intergrations)
Andro (Low)
12 Aug 2024 15:31
The manual input of measurements within the mining industry is not Robot capable
John Myers (Moderate)
16 Mar 2024 03:41
While there is already much that is currently automated (macros, .vb, etc.), there will always be a human element needed. I do think there will one day be a version of AI that is trained on all the major aspects of the human factor for this job, and it will be close enough to fool most people into thinking that it is human thought, but I don't think that will be within two decades.
S (Moderate)
29 Jul 2022 13:48
It is easy to program drafting and currently some softwares providing that service
Willis (Low)
10 Apr 2021 18:18
It is quite thought involved process. AI currently is set order of instructions.
Ryan (No chance)
09 Apr 2021 23:45
To much creativity involved in designing something completely bespoke but automations with drawings from models created by humans and CNC programs will become more and more automated by AI.
Jimmy
23 Apr 2020 01:54
The job of mechanical drafter won't be fully automated or replaced by IA ,but powerful software like driveworks ,are going to be the new standard on almost every company around the world and eventually those software will lowered the workforce and maybe the salary.
Joe (Highly likely)
18 Oct 2019 01:17
Criteria based
D (Uncertain)
08 Oct 2019 21:28
lots of inputs that aren't very machine compatible
Leave a reply about this occupation
0/8000