# Will pest control workers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Pest control workers score 30 of 100 for AI exposure. 62% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 11% today and speed up another 27%. - **11%** AI can do it - **27%** AI helps - **62%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Lower than 63% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 13 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 3 and leaves 9 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Record work activities performed. Routine digital logging AI can draft from notes. | 70% AI can do it | | Study preliminary reports or diagrams of infested area and determine treatment type required to eliminate and prevent recurrence of infestation. Reading reports and diagrams to pick a treatment is analytical. | 50% AI helps | | Recommend treatment and prevention methods for pest problems to clients. AI can draft treatment plans, but advice needs professional judgement. | 40% AI helps | | Measure area dimensions requiring treatment, calculate fumigant requirements, and estimate cost for service. AI can compute fumigant amounts, but measuring is physical. | 40% AI helps | | Direct, or assist other workers in, treatment or extermination processes to eliminate or control rodents, insects, or weeds. Supervising crews involves live judgement and people management. | 15% Needs a person | ## How pest control workers compare All occupations (923) Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (8) **Pest control workers score 30**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 21 for building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $45,250 a year, May 2025 People employed 102,620 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +5.5% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Record treatment details and photos in Marathon Data Systems PestPac - Walk premises to find infestation source and entry points - Calculate fumigant amounts and job costs in Microsoft Excel - Apply fumigants and spray chemicals in occupied buildings - Hold a state commercial pesticide applicator license - Direct crew treatment and extermination work on site ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Pesticide applicators15 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/pesticide-applicators/) - [Hazardous materials removal workers14 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/hazardous-materials-removal-workers/) - [Septic tank technicians17 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/septic-tank-technicians/) - [Landscapers11 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/landscapers/) - [Water treatment operators25 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/water-treatment-operators/) ## Questions about pest control workers and AI Will AI replace pest control workers? Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly recording work activities and studying reports to pick a treatment. What stays with people is the physical work of inspecting sites, applying chemicals, and setting traps in burrows and sewers. Which pest control worker tasks is AI taking over? Recording work activities has the highest exposure score at 70, since AI can draft digital logs from a technician's notes in PestPac. Studying preliminary reports and diagrams scores 50, because reading them to choose a treatment is analytical work AI can support. Recommending treatment methods to clients scores 40, since AI can draft plans, though the advice still needs professional judgement. Which pest control worker tasks stay human? Spraying chemicals into occupied rooms scores 5, because hands on application in homes and offices needs a worker on location. Inspecting premises scores 12, since a physical walkthrough is the only way to judge wall porosity, roof access and the infestation source. Setting traps and placing bait in burrows and sewers also scores 5 because it is physical work. How do pest control workers stay valuable? Keep the field skills that software still lacks, and log them where clients can see them. Record each job in Marathon Data Systems PestPac with photos and product amounts. Check the fumigant calculations and quotes in Microsoft Excel before you sign off on AI drafts. Hold a state commercial pesticide applicator license and stay current on label rules for each product. ## Related jobs - [Landscaping supervisors38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/landscaping-supervisors/) - [Farmworkers22 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/farmworkers/) - [Health and safety specialists38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/health-and-safety-specialists/) - [Highway maintenance workers8 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/highway-maintenance-workers/) ## Next steps for pest control workers - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.