Pay · 51-6093
Upholsterers earn $46,340 a year at the midpoint
The middle of the pay scale for upholsterers is $46,340. A typical start is nearer $37,340; the top tenth earn about $63,770.
National figures for upholsterers, 51-6093, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Upholsterer earnings, from starting pay to the best-paid 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of job.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Upholsterer wages by state
The 33 states where the most people do this work, of 42 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.87 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $55,970 | $44,250 | $44,250 — $84,480 | 200 |
| Connecticut | $50,870 | $40,120 | $40,120 — $75,610 | 210 |
| Georgia | $50,760 | $29,320 | $29,320 — $73,480 | 780 |
| North Carolina | $50,600 | $38,270 | $38,270 — $74,490 | 4,050 |
| Maryland | $50,270 | $38,550 | $38,550 — $63,430 | 200 |
| Louisiana | $49,920 | $33,920 | $33,920 — $57,290 | 80 |
| Nevada | $49,880 | $24,960 | $24,960 — $71,030 | 220 |
| California | $48,580 | $37,710 | $37,710 — $62,810 | 1,640 |
| Oregon | $48,560 | $38,120 | $38,120 — $58,290 | 250 |
| Massachusetts | $48,380 | $40,120 | $40,120 — $77,050 | 150 |
| New York | $47,320 | $35,300 | $35,300 — $81,670 | 480 |
| Wisconsin | $47,010 | $26,850 | $26,850 — $71,210 | 260 |
| Indiana | $45,080 | $35,020 | $35,020 — $58,550 | 1,400 |
| Mississippi | $44,930 | $32,070 | $32,070 — $50,880 | 2,410 |
| Michigan | $44,890 | $36,770 | $36,770 — $60,300 | 500 |
| Utah | $44,590 | $32,570 | $32,570 — $60,680 | 90 |
| Arkansas | $43,660 | $30,650 | $30,650 — $65,240 | 210 |
| Kansas | $43,260 | $33,390 | $33,390 — $64,810 | 260 |
| Texas | $42,930 | $29,360 | $29,360 — $61,730 | 710 |
| Pennsylvania | $42,860 | $31,520 | $31,520 — $60,050 | 280 |
| New Jersey | $42,640 | $36,250 | $36,250 — $74,480 | 410 |
| Illinois | $42,450 | $34,300 | $34,300 — $60,200 | 250 |
| Colorado | $42,240 | $35,500 | $35,500 — $60,890 | 160 |
| Arizona | $41,860 | $35,310 | $35,310 — $59,600 | 180 |
| Idaho | $39,730 | $28,240 | $28,240 — $49,900 | 190 |
| Ohio | $39,420 | $27,310 | $27,310 — $57,980 | 380 |
| South Carolina | $38,880 | $33,210 | $33,210 — $56,590 | 140 |
| Alabama | $38,270 | $30,850 | $30,850 — $67,410 | 120 |
| Oklahoma | $38,020 | $28,490 | $28,490 — $88,700 | 150 |
| Tennessee | $38,020 | $29,580 | $29,580 — $50,610 | 460 |
| Florida | $37,840 | $31,670 | $31,670 — $56,470 | 1,530 |
| Virginia | $31,950 | $26,640 | $26,640 — $59,270 | 340 |
| Nebraska | $29,960 | $28,520 | $28,520 — $53,110 | 110 |
No. 605 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 23% of the occupations in the survey.
- 603 Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers $46,350
- 604 Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation $46,340
- 605 Upholsterers $46,340
- 606 Log Graders and Scalers $46,330
- 607 Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $46,330
A resume for upholsterers
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Fit, installed, and secured material on frames, using hand tools, power tools, glue, cement, or staples.
- Measured and cut new covering materials, using patterns and measuring and cutting instruments, following sketches and design specifications.
- Built furniture up with loose fiber stuffing, cotton, felt, or foam padding to form smooth, rounded surfaces.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 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. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Upholsterer pay rate, hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Questions people ask
What is an upholsterer’s yearly income?
An upholsterer makes a median of $46,340 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $37,340 and $54,580.
What is an upholsterer’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $22.28 an hour; the average is $47,340 a year.
What is the starting pay for an upholsterer?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $37,340 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $31,690.
Which state pays upholsterers the most?
Rhode Island, with a median of $63,360 a year.
How many people work as upholsterers?
About 20,140 in the United States — number 605 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $10 of what upholsterers earn — $46,340 a year — but not always the same spread.
- Same median Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation $46,340median a year 10th percentile: $35,570 90th percentile: $61,420
- $10 more Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers $46,350median a year 10th percentile: $35,890 90th percentile: $63,910
- $10 less Log Graders and Scalers $46,330median a year 10th percentile: $34,950 90th percentile: $62,400