The best-paid UK jobs with below-average AI exposure

Occupations in the bottom half of our index for AI exposure (exposure score of 50/100 or below), ranked by median full-time pay. Pay figures are from 2020, so treat them as a comparison between jobs rather than today’s salaries.

#	Occupation	AI exposure	Index rank	SOC skill level	Median FT pay (2020)	Employee jobs
1	Train and tram drivers	29/100 (Low)	#221 of 293	Level 2	£55,882	28,000
2	Senior police officers	42/100 (Medium)	#184 of 293	Level 4	£55,518	12,000
3	Rail transport operatives	24/100 (Low)	#235 of 293	Level 2	£47,380	9,000
4	Paramedics	43/100 (Medium)	#181 of 293	Level 3	£43,159	28,000
5	Police officers (sergeant and below)	30/100 (Low)	#219 of 293	Level 3	£41,641	221,000
6	Crane drivers	26/100 (Low)	#229 of 293	Level 2	£40,002	6,000
7	Veterinarians	48/100 (Medium)	#167 of 293	Level 4	£39,221	16,000
8	Construction and building trades supervisors	45/100 (Medium)	#173 of 293	Level 3	£38,569	39,000
9	Medical radiographers	46/100 (Medium)	#171 of 293	Level 4	£37,324	30,000
10	Energy plant operatives	43/100 (Medium)	#180 of 293	Level 2	£37,187	6,000
11	Rail travel assistants	27/100 (Low)	#227 of 293	Level 2	£36,547	18,000
12	Skilled metal, electrical and electronic trades supervisors	46/100 (Medium)	#172 of 293	Level 3	£36,370	39,000
13	Fire service officers (watch manager and below)	22/100 (Low)	#241 of 293	Level 3	£35,885	69,000
14	Air-conditioning and refrigeration engineers	31/100 (Low)	#214 of 293	Level 3	£35,663	7,000
15	Rail construction and maintenance operatives	12/100 (Very low)	#262 of 293	Level 2	£35,333	7,000
16	Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c.	27/100 (Low)	#228 of 293	Level 3	£34,941	115,000
17	Telecommunications engineers	41/100 (Medium)	#186 of 293	Level 3	£34,420	17,000
18	Scaffolders, stagers and riggers	8/100 (Very low)	#273 of 293	Level 2	£34,176	14,000
19	Electricians and electrical fitters	33/100 (Low)	#209 of 293	Level 3	£33,657	134,000
20	Physiotherapists	42/100 (Medium)	#183 of 293	Level 4	£33,479	56,000
21	Metal working production and maintenance fitters	14/100 (Very low)	#257 of 293	Level 3	£32,934	293,000
22	Plumbers and heating and ventilating engineers	18/100 (Very low)	#251 of 293	Level 3	£32,344	57,000
23	Water and sewerage plant operatives	28/100 (Low)	#224 of 293	Level 2	£32,084	12,000
24	Assemblers (vehicles and metal goods)	24/100 (Low)	#233 of 293	Level 2	£31,697	30,000
25	Tool makers, tool fitters and markers-out	30/100 (Low)	#217 of 293	Level 3	£31,579	8,000

How this ranking was made

Filtered to occupations with an exposure percentile of 50 or below (DfE 2023 AIOE, percentile across 365 UK occupations), then sorted by ONS ASHE 2020 Table 14 median gross annual pay for full-time employees, highest first.

Index rank: 1 = most exposed of the 293 occupations. Exposure measures how much a job's abilities overlap with current AI applications; it is not a forecast of job losses. Sources: Department for Education (2023), The impact of AI on UK jobs and training; ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2020, Table 14. Full methodology · Compare jobs

More rankings: The 25 UK jobs least exposed to AI · The 25 UK jobs most exposed to AI · Lower AI-exposure UK jobs that don’t usually need a degree