Career
Shoe and leather workers and repairers
Make and repair shoes and leather goods.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Dye, soak, polish, paint, stamp, stitch, stain, buff, or engrave leather or other materials to obtain desired effects, decorations, or shapes.
- Cut out parts, following patterns or outlines, using knives, shears, scissors, or machine presses.
- Construct, decorate, or repair leather products according to specifications, using sewing machines, needles and thread, leather lacing, glue, clamps, hand tools, or rivets.
- Repair and recondition leather products such as trunks, luggage, shoes, saddles, belts, purses, and baseball gloves.
- Align and stitch or glue materials such as fabric, fleece, leather, or wood, to join parts.
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?
“Dye, soak, polish, paint, stamp, stitch, stain, buff, or engrave leather or other materials to obtain desired effects, decorations, or shapes.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Monitoring.
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 $37,800 a year and 1,000 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Shoe, Boot and Leather RepairCIP 48.0304
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders$35,650 · -6.9%
- Sewers, Hand$36,480 · -12.0%
- Sewing Machine Operators$36,670 · -15.1%
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic$46,170 · +5.8%
- Upholsterers$46,340 · -2.3%
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.