Career
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters
Build cabinets and fine furniture.
$46,680
Median pay
-2.9%
Job growth, 2025–35
6,900
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Verify dimensions or check the quality or fit of pieces to ensure adherence to specifications.
- 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.
- Measure and mark dimensions of parts on paper or lumber stock prior to cutting, following blueprints, to ensure a tight fit and quality product.
- 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Verify dimensions or check the quality or fit of pieces to ensure adherence to specifications.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operations Monitoring, Quality Control Analysis, Monitoring, Operation and Control.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $46,680 a year and 6,900 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Cabinetmaking and MillworkCIP 48.0703
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Model Makers, Wood$56,550 · -3.3%
- Furniture Finishers$44,540 · -3.5%
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing$43,380 · -2.5%
- Carpenters$60,580 · +3.9%
- Patternmakers, Wood$49,630 · -2.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.