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Patent Examiners

SOC 23-1011

Review patent applications to determine whether inventions deserve protection.

Median pay

$160k

$103k to $221k typical range

Outlook

Growing fast

32k openings / yr

Education

Bachelor's in technical field

AI exposure

85%

modeled estimate · 64th pct in Microsoft's data

Future-proof

82/100

Key skills

Speaking
Reading Comprehension
Active Listening
Critical Thinking
Writing
Active Learning

Where this ranks

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Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2024-2034). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How we model AI exposure.