Mechanical Drafters
Also known as: CAD Designer (Computer Aided Design Designer), CAD Operator (Computer Aided Design Operator), Design Drafter, Drafter, Drafting Technician
median $71,55010-yr demand -6.5%AI exposure 0/100typical entry Associate's degree
Mechanical Drafters is mid-paying, AI barely touches it so far, and demand is shrinking.
The full pay distribution
Not one number — the spread from the bottom 10% to the top 10% of filed salaries.
How pay grows with experience
From entry to expert, by reported wage level.
How exposed is it to AI?
Two things matter: how much AI is actually used in the role today (right),
and how much it could automate in theory (up). High potential, little real use yet.
Each faint dot is another occupation. The amber dot is
Mechanical Drafters — its position tells you whether the disruption is here yet or still over the horizon.
used today 0/100
automatable in theory 50/100
archetype The Sleeping Giant
If AI does come for this job — where could you go?
Adjacent careers ranked by how much safer + how much more they pay, and the skill gap to get there. Click any to see its full breakdown.
Which majors lead here
College paths that commonly feed this career — see each one's full outcomes.
How this is built. Median pay and the full distribution come from filed U.S. wage data
(BLS OEWS + DOL/LCA filings); AI exposure blends O*NET task content with model-based automation potential;
escape routes are computed from skill overlap between occupations, then ranked by how much safer + better-paid the
move is. This joins real distributions and projects them forward — it needs the real distributions
and the skill graph, not a guess. Figures describe group medians and trends, not any one person's outcome.
