Motion Picture Projectionists

Imminent Risk
86%

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Vote Comments (3)
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
100%
(Imminent Risk)
POLLING
73%
(High Risk, Based on 32 votes)
Average: 86%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
-5.0%
by year 2033
WAGES
$35,160
or $16.90 per hour
Volume
2,610
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
0.9/10
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

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Calculated automation risk

100% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): Occupations in this level have an extremely high likelihood of being automated in the near future. These jobs consist primarily of repetitive, predictable tasks with little need for human judgment.

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:

  • Manual Dexterity

  • Finger Dexterity

User poll

73% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 100% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Motion Picture Projectionists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Motion Picture Projectionists' job openings is expected to decline 5.0% 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

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Motion Picture Projectionists' was 35.160 $, or 17 $ per hour

'Motion Picture Projectionists' were paid 26.8% lower than the national median wage, which stood at 48.060 $

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 2,610 people employed as 'Motion Picture Projectionists' within the United States.

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

Put another way, around 1 in 58 thousand people are employed as 'Motion Picture Projectionists'.

Job description

Set up and operate motion picture projection and related sound reproduction equipment.

SOC Code: 39-3021.00

Comments (3)

Tyler
07 Aug 2025 01:15
This has been outsourced to digital since the early 2010 (like 2012), even before then, not many people made their actual living as a "film projectionist." The big chains (AMC, Regal, Cinemark, etc) just use it as a prestigious role for their regular employees. Last time I worked at a cinema (7 years ago) it was the Managers who looked after the digital projectors whenever issues arose, which wasn't super often. Sorry, but this role had its hey-day (even had a union) for a near 4 decades.
Aaron O'Gorman (Highly likely)
12 Apr 2021 00:26
I was replaced by a computer 10 years ago
Computer
21 Feb 2024 11:27
Yes
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