What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Mathematicians in the U.S. earn more than $126,710 a year — the middle 80% land between $69,240 and $195,190. About 2,030 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Mathematicians”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$126,710typical pay / year
2,030people in this work
$195,190+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Keeping the record1
Perform actuarial computations
+Run the life-table and loss-distribution calculations for the pension cohort born 1960–1970, include…
Perform actuarial computations
+Run the life-table and loss-distribution calculations for the pension cohort born 1960–1970, include mortality improvement to 2030 at current best-estimate rates, produce a year-by-year reserve schedule and flag any cells where reserve increases exceed 3% year-over-year.
The tools that do the workC++job descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Learning1
Mentor others on mathematical techniques
+Prepare three worked examples explaining measure-theoretic probability, Bayesian updating, and asymptotic…
Mentor others on mathematical techniques
+Prepare three worked examples explaining measure-theoretic probability, Bayesian updating, and asymptotic estimation for the junior team, include stepwise solutions, common mistakes, and a one-page cheat sheet they can use in office consultations next Tuesday.
The tools that do the workLinuxjob descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Analysing2
Research and discover new mathematical ideas
+Carry out exploratory proofs and numeric experiments to test whether the proposed generalisation of the…
Research and discover new mathematical ideas
+Carry out exploratory proofs and numeric experiments to test whether the proposed generalisation of the spectral gap conjecture holds for sparse random graphs, log findings, identify promising lemmas, and draft a short preprint of methods and conjectured results for circulation within collaborators by Friday.
The tools that do the workBashESCOO*NETWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Design mathematical models to interpret data
+Build a parsimonious model linking daily traffic counts, temperature, and promotion spend to product demand,…
Design mathematical models to interpret data
+Build a parsimonious model linking daily traffic counts, temperature, and promotion spend to product demand, estimate parameters with regularisation, validate on the last six months, and deliver fitted equations plus residual diagnostics and a reproducible script for deployment.
The tools that do the workC#job descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
The daily work16
Disseminate research by writing reports, publishing papers, or presenting at professional conferences.
+Write a 1,200–1,500 word research report on the latest results from our stochastic differential equations…
Disseminate research by writing reports, publishing papers, or presenting at professional conferences.
+Write a 1,200–1,500 word research report on the latest results from our stochastic differential equations project, include theorem statements, proofs, two illustrative figures, an abstract and submission-ready references for the Journal of Applied Probability by next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workLinuxO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Assemble sets of assumptions, and explore the consequences of each set.
+Assemble three distinct assumption sets for the population dynamics model, derive the equilibrium conditions…
Assemble sets of assumptions, and explore the consequences of each set.
+Assemble three distinct assumption sets for the population dynamics model, derive the equilibrium conditions and stability for each, and produce a one-page comparison table with implications for parameter estimation by Friday afternoon.
The tools that do the workC++O*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Address the relationships of quantities, magnitudes, and forms through the use of numbers and symbols.
+Formalise the core relations in the draft paper: state the variable definitions, write the governing…
Address the relationships of quantities, magnitudes, and forms through the use of numbers and symbols.
+Formalise the core relations in the draft paper: state the variable definitions, write the governing equations linking magnitude and form, simplify to dimensionless form, and supply worked examples that validate the relations for the reviewers within two working days.
The tools that do the workJavaScriptO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Design, analyze, and decipher encryption systems designed to transmit military, political, financial, or law-enforcement-related information in code.
+Design and test an encryption scheme for secure laboratory communications: specify key space, provide…
Design, analyze, and decipher encryption systems designed to transmit military, political, financial, or law-enforcement-related information in code.
+Design and test an encryption scheme for secure laboratory communications: specify key space, provide pseudocode, prove basic confidentiality properties, and produce a short security assessment for the department meeting on Monday.
The tools that do the workC#O*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Compile charts and graphs for data presentation
+Create a set of publication-ready charts from the simulation output: include labeled axes, confidence bands,…
Compile charts and graphs for data presentation
+Create a set of publication-ready charts from the simulation output: include labeled axes, confidence bands, a table of summary statistics, and export high-resolution PNGs and a PDF figure sheet for the conference poster by Thursday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Identify problems through discussion with colleagues or clients
+Run a one-hour problem-finding session with the math group: gather issues on the numerical solver, record…
Identify problems through discussion with colleagues or clients
+Run a one-hour problem-finding session with the math group: gather issues on the numerical solver, record five candidate problem statements, prioritise them by impact and feasibility, and circulate the notes to Sarah, Miguel, and the lab director by end of day Friday.
The tools that do the workAtlassian JIRAjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Collect data from statistical or experimental sources
+Gather the latest raw trial results, census extracts and instrument logs, merge them into a single cleaned…
Collect data from statistical or experimental sources
+Gather the latest raw trial results, census extracts and instrument logs, merge them into a single cleaned dataset with variable labels and a data dictionary, then run basic descriptive statistics and flag missingness and outliers for review by Friday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Design experiments and research projects
+Draft the experimental protocol for the three-arm study: state hypotheses, primary and secondary endpoints,…
Design experiments and research projects
+Draft the experimental protocol for the three-arm study: state hypotheses, primary and secondary endpoints, sample size calculation with power 0.9, randomisation scheme, measurement schedule and inclusion criteria, then prepare a one-page summary for the ethics committee by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workLinuxjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Analyze results to provide insights in various fields
+Take the cleaned dataset, run hypothesis tests and regression diagnostics tailored to the domain, produce…
Analyze results to provide insights in various fields
+Take the cleaned dataset, run hypothesis tests and regression diagnostics tailored to the domain, produce effect sizes with confidence intervals, write a two-page interpretation linking results to theory and three actionable recommendations for the research team by Wednesday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS Statisticsjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Derive corollaries from theorems
+From the proven theorem, derive and write the next three nontrivial corollaries with full proofs, note any…
Derive corollaries from theorems
+From the proven theorem, derive and write the next three nontrivial corollaries with full proofs, note any counterexamples or required extra hypotheses, and produce a short note stating potential applications in combinatorics or topology.
The tools that do the workLinuxWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Calculate areas, volumes, and surface areas of shapes
+Compute exact formulas for area, surface area and volume for the family of parametrised solids given,…
Calculate areas, volumes, and surface areas of shapes
+Compute exact formulas for area, surface area and volume for the family of parametrised solids given, simplify expressions, produce numeric examples for radii 1,2,5 and attach diagrams showing integration bounds for the grader by Thursday.
The tools that do the workLinuxWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Approximate mathematical constants such as π
+Implement three independent algorithms to approximate pi, document convergence and time complexity, produce…
Approximate mathematical constants such as π
+Implement three independent algorithms to approximate pi, document convergence and time complexity, produce plots of error versus iterations and provide the best estimate with uncertainty after ten million iterations.
The tools that do the workC++Wikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Develop methods like exhaustion for calculations
+Derive a set of exhaustion-style approximation procedures for the target integral and area problems in my…
Develop methods like exhaustion for calculations
+Derive a set of exhaustion-style approximation procedures for the target integral and area problems in my notes, show error bounds to third order, and produce worked examples comparing the approximations to exact results for peer review next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workC++Wikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Apply knowledge to engineering and scientific challenges
+Translate the beam deflection and heat-transfer design questions from the engineering brief into solvable…
Apply knowledge to engineering and scientific challenges
+Translate the beam deflection and heat-transfer design questions from the engineering brief into solvable mathematical models, list assumptions, derive governing equations, and generate numerical solutions with sensitivity analyses to hand to the design team on Friday.
The tools that do the workC++ESCO
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Conduct quantitative research
+Assemble the experimental dataset, specify statistical estimators and hypothesis tests appropriate to the…
Conduct quantitative research
+Assemble the experimental dataset, specify statistical estimators and hypothesis tests appropriate to the variables, run the analyses with confidence intervals and diagnostics, and prepare a one-page summary of methods and results for the lab meeting Monday.
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Think analytically
+Break the problem set into logical subproblems, lay out the proof strategy for each, flag likely pitfalls and…
Think analytically
+Break the problem set into logical subproblems, lay out the proof strategy for each, flag likely pitfalls and required lemmas, and produce concise step-by-step arguments I can present to the group tomorrow afternoon.
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Says who?
These are the pages we read to build this. Open any of them and check us.
Activities this job lives in
The human activities behind the tasks — each with its honest AI ceiling.
The logs, files & records this job keeps
Shared with other careers — the same record means something different in each.
Related careers
Same family of work — each with its own tasks and prompts.
The LLOS Work Atlas is the world's largest evidenced task library — a map of human work, with a ready prompt behind every task. 1,774 careers · every task named by the sources that witnessed it — O*NET, ESCO, real job descriptions, Wikipedia — and the deepest tasks by several at once. And it is honest about limits: where AI cannot help, the map says so.
The rest of the map
Same library, five ways in.
Copyright © LLOS.ai · 2026 — original pedagogy, voice, and design — all rights reserved.
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses