AI and robots can replace coders, but not nurses, labourers or teachers: Report finds jobs costliest to automate

Despite rapid advances in artificial intelligence and robotics, many physical and care-based jobs remain far too expensive to automate.

A June 2026 report by Planera found that replacing workers in professions such as nursing, construction and home care with AI and robots would cost employers several times more than paying wages to human workers.

The research covers the most common jobs in America, using government wage data and real-world pricing from automation vendors to estimate the annual cost of replacing one worker with a machine.

Healthcare and construction top the list

Nursing assistants emerged as the most expensive profession to automate. According to the report, replacing one nursing assistant with robotics would cost around $375,100 per year, compared with the profession’s median annual wage of $42,200.

That means automation would cost nearly nine times more than employing a human worker. “Hands-on patient care requires humanoid robotics that don’t yet exist as commercial products,” the report noted.

Home health and personal care aides ranked second. Automating the role would cost employers around $282,200 annually, nearly eight times the median salary of $35,800.

Construction labourers came in third. Replacing one worker would cost approximately $285,300 a year, compared with a median annual wage of $47,100.

General maintenance and repair workers ranked fourth on the list. Automating this profession would cost nearly $286,900 annually, compared with a median wage of $49,500.

Teaching assistants ranked at the fifth position, with automation estimated to cost around $194,300 per year, more than five times their median annual wage of $36,700.

Other jobs that remain costly to automate

In addition to the top five occupations, the report identified several other roles where automation remains expensive. They are:

• Registered nurses
• Elementary school teachers
• Security guards
• Assemblers and fabricators
• Restaurant cooks

In each case, the estimated cost of automation was at least double the median annual wage of a worker.

Cashiers are easiest to automate

Not every profession showed the same trend.

The report found that cashiers are the cheapest occupation to automate, with self-checkout systems costing about $24,220 per year, lower than the median annual salary of $32,880 earned by a cashier.

“For years, the assumption was that low-paid, low-skill jobs would be the first to go. But the data shows the opposite. The workers earning the least tend to be the ones doing the most physically demanding, human-facing work. And that turns out to be exactly what machines struggle with most,” a Planera spokesperson said.

“It is white-collar roles that are now more exposed. Software developers, once considered untouchable, are already feeling it. Major tech companies have been cutting engineering headcount precisely because AI coding tools are getting good enough,” the spokesperson added.