---
title: "Upholsterer"
description: "Make, repair, or replace upholstery for household furniture or transportation vehicles."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/upholsterer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Upholsterer

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-6093 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-6093.00

Make, repair, or replace upholstery for household furniture or transportation vehicles.

Also advertised as: Box Spring Upholsterer; Furniture Upholsterer; Inside Upholsterer; Sofa Back Upholsterer; Stapler; Trimmer; Upholstered Goods Crafter; Upholsterer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $46,340 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.28/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $31,690 to $63,770, with the middle half between $37,340 and $54,580
- **Total US employment:** 20,140
- **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:** -2.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,700 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 58/100 — 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 20,140 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $31,690 |
| 25th | $37,340 |
| 50th (median) | $46,340 |
| 75th | $54,580 |
| 90th | $63,770 |
| Mean (average) | $47,340 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RI | $63,360 | $61,948 | 30 |
| HI | $57,390 | $52,196 | 30 |
| WA | $55,970 | $52,302 | 200 |
| ND | $52,420 | $58,926 | Not published by BLS |
| CT | $50,870 | $49,098 | 210 |
| GA | $50,760 | $52,714 | 780 |
| NC | $50,600 | $53,644 | 4,050 |
| MD | $50,270 | $47,895 | 200 |
| LA | $49,920 | $56,594 | 80 |
| NV | $49,880 | $49,890 | 220 |
| DE | $49,860 | $49,956 | 40 |
| MN | $48,810 | $49,493 | 60 |
| CA | $48,580 | $43,876 | 1,640 |
| OR | $48,560 | $46,981 | 250 |
| MA | $48,380 | $45,746 | 150 |

27 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 42 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/upholsterer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/upholsterer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 22,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 22,200 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 500 jobs, or -2.3%. Declining: -2.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,700 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.

### 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 |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 56.2% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 43.8% |

## What the work involves

- Fit, install, and secure material on frames, using hand tools, power tools, glue, cement, or staples.
- Build furniture up with loose fiber stuffing, cotton, felt, or foam padding to form smooth, rounded surfaces.
- Attach fasteners, grommets, buttons, buckles, ornamental trim, and other accessories to covers or frames, using hand tools.
- Make, restore, or create custom upholstered furniture, using hand tools and knowledge of fabrics and upholstery methods.
- Adjust or replace webbing, padding, or springs, and secure them in place.
- Remove covering, webbing, padding, or defective springs from workpieces, using hand tools such as hammers and tack pullers.
- Interweave and fasten strips of webbing to the backs and undersides of furniture, using small hand tools and fasteners.
- Read work orders, and apply knowledge and experience with materials to determine types and amounts of materials required to cover workpieces.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.6 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.

- Complex Problem Solving — 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
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

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

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.81 |
| A — Artistic | 2.92 |
| C — Conventional | 2.92 |
| I — Investigative | 1.84 |
| S — Social | 1.38 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.00 |

### 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 | 76.9 |
| ISTP | 75.5 |
| ISFJ | 65.1 |
| INTJ | 64.5 |
| ISFP | 62.5 |

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.

- [Furniture Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/furniture-finisher) — median $44,540
- [Cabinetmaker and Bench Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cabinetmaker-and-bench-carpenter) — median $46,680
- [Sewer, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sewer-hand) — median $36,480
- [Shoe and Leather Worker and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/shoe-and-leather-worker-and-repairer) — median $37,800
- [Sewing Machine Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sewing-machine-operator) — median $36,670
- [Carpet Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpet-installer) — median $50,340
- [Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-and-polishing-worker-hand) — median $42,660
- [Molder, Shaper, and Caster, Except Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molder-shaper-and-caster) — median $46,170
- [Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter) — median $51,330
- [Painting, Coating, and Decorating Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/painting-coating-and-decorating-worker) — median $41,600

## 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

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/upholsterer