Career
Foundry mold and coremakers
Make molds and cores for metal casting.
$48,110
Median pay
-23.0%
Job growth, 2025–35
800
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
- Clean and smooth molds, cores, and core boxes, and repair surface imperfections.
- Sift and pack sand into mold sections, core boxes, and pattern contours, using hand or pneumatic ramming tools.
- Position patterns inside mold sections, and clamp sections together.
- Position cores into lower sections of molds, and reassemble molds for pouring.
- Sprinkle or spray parting agents onto patterns and mold sections to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
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?
“Clean and smooth molds, cores, and core boxes, and repair surface imperfections.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Monitoring, Operations Monitoring, Active Listening, Time Management.
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 $48,110 a year and 800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Ironworking/IronworkerCIP 48.0509
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic$46,170 · +5.8%
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$44,350 · -3.4%
- Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators$46,880 · +4.6%
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand$42,660 · -19.2%
- Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons$61,290 · -13.7%
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.