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Acupuncturists

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · SOC 29-1291

0.0% AI Exposure — Low
$76,040
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
Proj. Annual Openings
7,830
Employment (OEWS 2025)
+1.9%/yr
Empl. growth (2021–2025)
100/100
AI Resiliency Score

AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.

Decision card

Career Evidence Passport

SOC 29-1291 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
0.0%
Low · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
43/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$76,040
H-1B offered wage $71,510; LCAs are filings.
Projected openings
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +6.8%.
Observed/proxy demand
61
FY2025 certified LCAs; 153 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingSocial PerceptivenessService OrientationSpeaking

Transition context

  • H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
  • Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
  • Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
  • This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure0.0%
AI Resiliency100/100
Exposure BandLow
Sector Avg. Exposure5.4%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

32.4%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic0%
AI capability · OpenAI16.7%
AI ability · AIOE80.5%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne2%

AI could do ~16.7% of this role but only ~0% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.

Top Skills

1.Active Listening
2.Critical Thinking
3.Social Perceptiveness
4.Service Orientation
5.Speaking

H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand

View full H-1B trends →

Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.

2,653
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
61
FY2025 Volume
0% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$71,510
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#110 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

Diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. May also use cups, nutritional supplements, therapeutic massage, acupressure, and other alternative health therapies.

Common titles: Acupuncture Doctor, Acupuncture Physician, Acupuncture Provider, Acupuncturist, Chinese Medical Doctor (Chinese MD), Chinese Medicine Doctor

Representative Tasks

  • Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.
  • Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.
  • Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.
  • Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding.
  • Develop individual treatment plans and strategies.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Follow protocols or regulations for healthcare activities.
  • Treat patients using alternative medical procedures.
  • Develop treatment plans that use non-medical therapies.
  • Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
  • Evaluate patient outcomes to determine effectiveness of treatments.

Tools & Technologies

Microsoft Excel · hotMicrosoft Office software · hotMicrosoft Outlook · hotMicrosoft Windows · hotElectronic health record EHR softwareMiridia Technology AcuGraphQPuncture IITrigram Software AcuBase Pro

Employment Projections & AI Exposure

15
Occupations Shown
2.6%
Avg AI Exposure
14
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.

Employment & Wage Trend

BLS OEWS, 2019–2025


Occupation Employment & Wage TrendMulti-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 29-1291: 2021 — employment: 7,250, median wage: $60,570; 2022 — employment: 7,800, median wage: $72,220; 2023 — employment: 9,370, median wage: $78,220; 2025 — employment: 7,830, median wage: $76,040.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure0.0%5.4%
OutlookAverage62% Bright
Median Salary$76,040N/A
AI Resiliency100/100N/A