Upholsterers

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (1)

Lower estimated automation risk

First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
38% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
19.5 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Experienced upholsterers can supervise textile or furniture repair workflows, quality, and scheduling.

Alternative careers

Related career paths that build on similar skills and experience

Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
53% automation risk | Moderate Risk
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4.6 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Fits upholsterers who also repair furniture frames and can extend into bench-built furniture work.

Furniture Finishers
57% automation risk | Moderate Risk
0.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Adjacent furniture-restoration path using knowledge of frames, surfaces, finishes, and repair standards.

Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers
53% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Pays better
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Why it fits

Builds on pattern reading, fabric shaping, dimensions, and translating fit requirements into cut pieces.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
4.0/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

57% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 27 votes

28% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. However, the automation risk level we have generated suggests a higher chance of automation: 57% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Upholsterers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Upholsterers was $46,190 ($22 per hour).

The median annual wage for Upholsterers was 6.7% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Upholsterers' job openings is expected to decline 1.8% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 20,990 people employed as 'Upholsterers' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 7 thousand people are employed as 'Upholsterers'.

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What people are saying (2)

Dervon Barrett (Low)
12 Feb 2023 14:40
As for mass production of upholstery products or amenities,I think the risk is very high.However for reupholstery work it may be different, because attending to individual peices with different designs requires a lot of skills and knowledge.
Vít Budina (No chance)
07 Apr 2020 10:56
Upholstery (especially the historical one) is a very delicate job, requiring you to find pictures, videos or paintings of e.g. a horse carriage or an old car, which is not very likely to be automated due to the 'beauty of human error' included in this profession. It is crucial to use the same materials when restoring an old carriage or any other historical upholstery. Using PU foam will result in too clean of a job and looking dead.
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Job description

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

O*NET-SOC code: 51-6093.00