Community & Social Service
Human Rights Workers
SOC 21-1099
Monitor, document, and advocate against human rights violations globally.
The job
Median pay
$57k
$46k to $70k typical range
Outlook, 2025 to 2035
Growing fast
+5.5% projected
Openings a year
12k
BLS projection
Typical education
Bachelor's
Our model
AI displacement risk
Moderate
How much of this job AI may do instead of the person
Works with AI
8/100
AI alongside the person rather than instead of them
AI exposure
28th pct
More exposed than 28% of occupations · modeled estimate
Future-proof
58/100
Key skills
- Advocacy
- Documentation
- Report writing
- Cultural awareness
- Resilience
Pay and jobs by state
BLS OEWS May 2025, 51 states. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 16,250 | 0.9 | 1.3× | $59k |
| New York | 15,300 | 1.6 | 2.3× | $67k |
| Colorado | 6,540 | 2.3 | 3.3× | $55k |
| Texas | 6,080 | 0.4 | 0.6× | $48k |
| Louisiana | 5,730 | 3.0 | 4.3× | $49k |
| Washington | 4,800 | 1.4 | 1.9× | $64k |
| Minnesota | 4,010 | 1.4 | 2.0× | $54k |
| New Jersey | 3,860 | 0.9 | 1.3× | $62k |
| Florida | 3,750 | 0.4 | 0.6× | $50k |
| Georgia | 3,740 | 0.8 | 1.1× | $45k |
All 51 states
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 3,460 | 0.7 | 1.0× | $55k |
| Vermont | 2,850 | 9.4 | 13.5× | $53k |
| Illinois | 2,750 | 0.5 | 0.7× | $41k |
| Maryland | 2,640 | 1.0 | 1.4× | $51k |
| Michigan | 2,360 | 0.5 | 0.8× | $50k |
| Virginia | 2,190 | 0.5 | 0.8× | $70k |
| Pennsylvania | 2,040 | 0.3 | 0.5× | $55k |
| Oregon | 1,980 | 1.0 | 1.4× | $57k |
| Tennessee | 1,940 | 0.6 | 0.8× | $54k |
| Connecticut | 1,520 | 0.9 | 1.3× | $54k |
| New Hampshire | 1,520 | 2.2 | 3.2× | $57k |
| Massachusetts | 1,480 | 0.4 | 0.6× | $57k |
| Mississippi | 1,040 | 0.9 | 1.3× | $44k |
| Missouri | 930 | 0.3 | 0.5× | $50k |
| Wisconsin | 830 | 0.3 | 0.4× | $55k |
| Ohio | 820 | 0.1 | 0.2× | $46k |
| Hawaii | 760 | 1.2 | 1.8× | $61k |
| Kansas | 730 | 0.5 | 0.7× | $48k |
| West Virginia | 510 | 0.7 | 1.1× | $41k |
| Montana | 480 | 0.9 | 1.4× | $42k |
| Utah | 480 | 0.3 | 0.4× | $46k |
| Arkansas | 450 | 0.3 | 0.5× | $41k |
| Washington DC | 440 | 0.6 | 0.9× | $69k |
| Arizona | 380 | 0.1 | 0.2× | $52k |
| South Dakota | 329 | 0.7 | 1.0× | $50k~ |
| Delaware | 320 | 0.7 | 0.9× | $54k |
| Kentucky | 280 | 0.1 | 0.2× | $58k |
| Nevada | 280 | 0.2 | 0.3× | $50k |
| Alaska | 270 | 0.8 | 1.2× | $57k |
| New Mexico | 270 | 0.3 | 0.5× | $49k |
| Iowa | 250 | 0.2 | 0.2× | $46k |
| Rhode Island | 250 | 0.5 | 0.7× | $64k |
| South Carolina | 220 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $52k |
| Indiana | 190 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $49k |
| North Dakota | 170 | 0.4 | 0.6× | $63k |
| Nebraska | 160 | 0.2 | 0.2× | $53k |
| Idaho | 130 | 0.2 | 0.2× | $50k |
| Maine | 80 | 0.1 | 0.2× | $44k |
| Wyoming | 80 | 0.3 | 0.4× | $73k |
| Oklahoma | 70 | 0.0 | 0.1× | $54k |
| Alabama | 60 | 0.0 | 0.0× | $48k~ |
Top metro areas
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ14,030 jobs · $67k median
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA5,480 jobs · $57k median
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO3,620 jobs · $58k median
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA2,800 jobs · $71k median
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA2,560 jobs · $68k median
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI2,490 jobs · $57k median
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN2,260 jobs · $41k median
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA2,090 jobs · $47k median
Explore the rankings
Explore Human Rights Workers interactively →Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.