---
title: "Model Maker, Wood"
description: "Construct full-size and scale wooden precision models of products. Includes wood jig builders and loft workers."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/model-maker-wood"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Model Maker, Wood

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-7031 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-7031.00

Construct full-size and scale wooden precision models of products. Includes wood jig builders and loft workers.

Also advertised as: Builder; Craftsman; Jig Maker; Model Builder; Model Maker; Product Development Carpenter; Sample Builder; Sample Maker.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $56,550 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $27.19/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $34,800 to $98,050, with the middle half between $37,660 and $87,150
- **Total US employment:** 280
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 55/100 — 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 280 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $34,800 |
| 25th | $37,660 |
| 50th (median) | $56,550 |
| 75th | $87,150 |
| 90th | $98,050 |
| Mean (average) | $63,670 |

### Pay by state

The 1 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OH | $35,900 | $38,696 | Not published by BLS |

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 0 jobs, or -3.3%. Declining: -3.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 100 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:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 30.8% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 30.2% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 20.3% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 14.3% |
| Some College Courses | 4.3% |

## What the work involves

- Set up, operate, and adjust a variety of woodworking machines such as bandsaws and planers to cut and shape sections, parts, and patterns, according to specifications.
- Verify dimensions and contours of models during hand-forming processes, using templates and measuring devices.
- Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.
- Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, screws, and other fasteners.
- Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications, and consult with designers to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.
- Fabricate work aids such as scrapers or templates.
- Construct wooden models, patterns, templates, full scale mock-ups, and molds for parts of products and production tools.
- Plan, lay out, and draw outlines of units, sectional patterns, or full-scale mock-ups of products.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — 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 3.1 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
- Operations Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Building and Construction — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Finger Dexterity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.4 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), Artistic (A).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.99 |
| A — Artistic | 3.79 |
| I — Investigative | 2.57 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.59 |
| S — Social | 1.38 |

### 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 | 79.5 |
| ISTP | 77.5 |
| INTJ | 68.8 |
| ISFJ | 64.7 |
| ISFP | 60.4 |

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.

- [Cabinetmaker and Bench Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cabinetmaker-and-bench-carpenter) — median $46,680
- [Layout Worker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/layout-worker-metal-and-plastic) — median $63,870
- [Patternmaker, Wood](https://nuecareer.com/careers/patternmaker-wood) — median $49,630
- [Model Maker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/model-maker-metal-and-plastic) — median $63,340
- [Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter) — median $51,330
- [Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) — median $60,580
- [Patternmaker, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/patternmaker-metal-and-plastic) — median $58,000
- [Woodworking Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Except Sawing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/woodworking-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $43,380
- [Aircraft Structure, Surface, Rigging, and Systems Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-structure-surface-rigging-and-systems-assembler) — median $65,380
- [Stone Cutter and Carver, Manufacturing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stone-cutter-and-carver-manufacturing) — median $46,170

## 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/
- **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

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