---
title: "Cabinetmaker and Bench Carpenter"
description: "Cut, shape, and assemble wooden articles or set up and operate a variety of woodworking machines, such as power saws, jointers, and mortisers to surface…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/cabinetmaker-and-bench-carpenter"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Cabinetmaker and Bench Carpenter

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-7011 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-7011.00

Cut, shape, and assemble wooden articles or set up and operate a variety of woodworking machines, such as power saws, jointers, and mortisers to surface, cut, or shape lumber or to fabricate parts for wood products.

Also advertised as: Angled Cabinetmaker; Assembler; Cabinet Assembler; Cabinet Builder; Cabinet Door Maker; Cabinet Installer; Cabinetmaker; Double End Tenon Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $46,680 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.44/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $35,650 to $63,720, with the middle half between $38,830 and $55,760
- **Total US employment:** 77,170
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -2.9% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 6,900 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 59/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 77,170 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $35,650 |
| 25th | $38,830 |
| 50th (median) | $46,680 |
| 75th | $55,760 |
| 90th | $63,720 |
| Mean (average) | $48,290 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DE | $60,090 | $60,206 | 60 |
| NY | $58,680 | $54,373 | 2,470 |
| CT | $58,100 | $56,076 | 740 |
| MA | $58,040 | $54,881 | 1,440 |
| NH | $57,980 | $55,662 | 190 |
| VT | $57,620 | $58,821 | 360 |
| RI | $52,800 | $51,623 | 80 |
| NJ | $51,760 | $47,571 | 790 |
| IL | $50,160 | $50,181 | 2,350 |
| AR | $50,070 | $57,593 | 920 |
| CO | $49,610 | $48,141 | 1,300 |
| MD | $49,180 | $46,856 | 610 |
| HI | $49,050 | $44,611 | 160 |
| CA | $49,030 | $44,283 | 7,360 |
| MN | $48,740 | $49,422 | 2,340 |

35 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 50 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/cabinetmaker-and-bench-carpenter/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/cabinetmaker-and-bench-carpenter.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 81,800 in the 2025–2035 base year to 79,400 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 2,400 jobs, or -2.9%. Declining: -2.9% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 6,900 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

## What the work involves

- Match materials for color, grain, or texture, giving attention to knots or other features of the wood.
- Verify dimensions or check the quality or fit of pieces to ensure adherence to specifications.
- Set up or operate machines, including power saws, jointers, mortisers, tenoners, molders, or shapers, to cut, mold, or shape woodstock or wood substitutes.
- Establish the specifications of articles to be constructed or repaired, or plan the methods or operations for shaping or assembling parts, based on blueprints, drawings, diagrams, or oral or written instructions.
- Cut timber to the right size, and shape and trim parts of joints to ensure a snug fit, using hand tools, such as planes, chisels, or wood files.
- Repair or alter wooden furniture, cabinetry, fixtures, paneling, or other pieces.
- Produce or assemble components of articles, such as store fixtures, office equipment, cabinets, or high-grade furniture.
- Trim, sand, or scrape surfaces or joints to prepare articles for finishing.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Manual Dexterity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Finger Dexterity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Visualization — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.38 |
| A — Artistic | 2.50 |
| I — Investigative | 2.05 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.23 |
| S — Social | 1.11 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 81.9 |
| ISTP | 77.5 |
| ISFJ | 67.3 |
| INTJ | 66.5 |
| ESTJ | 63.9 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISTP. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Model Maker, Wood](https://nuecareer.com/careers/model-maker-wood) — median $56,550
- [Furniture Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/furniture-finisher) — median $44,540
- [Woodworking Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Except Sawing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/woodworking-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $43,380
- [Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) — median $60,580
- [Patternmaker, Wood](https://nuecareer.com/careers/patternmaker-wood) — median $49,630
- [Upholsterer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/upholsterer) — median $46,340
- [Layout Worker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/layout-worker-metal-and-plastic) — median $63,870
- [Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter) — median $51,330
- [Stone Cutter and Carver, Manufacturing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stone-cutter-and-carver-manufacturing) — median $46,170
- [Model Maker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/model-maker-metal-and-plastic) — median $63,340

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/cabinetmaker-and-bench-carpenter