Upholsterers
What Upholsterers Do
Make, repair, or replace upholstery for household furniture or transportation vehicles.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 9.2%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Production and Processingimportance 3.1/5
- Designimportance 3.0/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 2.9/5
- Mechanicalimportance 2.8/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 2.7/5
- Mathematicsimportance 2.6/5
- Building and Constructionimportance 2.4/5
- Personnel and Human Resourcesimportance 2.2/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls4.9/5
- Spend Time Standing4.6/5
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.3/5
- Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions4.1/5
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets3.9/5
- Time Pressure3.9/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Furniture Finishers95% skill match
- Dental Laboratory Technicians95% skill match
- Fence Erectors94% skill match
- Carpet Installers94% skill match
- Surgical Technologists93% skill match
- Diagnostic Medical Sonographers93% skill match
- Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers93% skill match
- Tile and Stone Setters92% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.0/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.9/5
- Service Orientationimportance 2.9/5
- Operations Monitoringimportance 2.9/5
- Coordinationimportance 2.8/5
- Operation and Controlimportance 2.8/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- LibreOffice Draw
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Cautiousness
- Perseverance
- Achievement Orientation
- Integrity
- Innovation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- ArtisticLow
- ConventionalLow
- InvestigativeLow
- SocialLow
- EnterprisingLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where upholsterers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC111.23× national avg
- 2Greensboro-High Point, NC15.76× national avg
- 3Elkhart-Goshen, IN13.74× national avg
- 4Winston-Salem, NC12.28× national avg
- 5Wichita, KS3.57× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Furniture FinishersLateral Move
- Shoe and Leather Workers and RepairersLateral Move
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and PlasticLateral Move
- Carpet InstallersCareer Change
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.