Furniture restoration sits between skilled trade work, repair services, furniture manufacturing, and reuse. In 2023, the United States had 3,168 paid-employer establishments classified in reupholstery and furniture repair. BLS counted 14,230 furniture finishers in May 2024, while EPA reported 12.08 million U.S. tons of furniture and furnishings entering the municipal solid-waste stream in 2018. Together, these figures describe the scale of the trade, the workforce that performs related finishing work, and the material stream that restoration can help extend.
Contents
- Industry scope and national footprint
- State business concentrations
- Employment and payroll by state
- Workforce size and earnings
- Industries employing furniture finishers
- States with concentrated finishing employment
- Metropolitan employment and pay
Industry scope and national footprint
The Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns: 2023 counted 3,168 U.S. employer establishments in NAICS 811420, reupholstery and furniture repair, in 2023. This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in reupholstering, refinishing, repairing, and restoring furniture. It measures paid-employer businesses, so it does not represent informal hobby activity or every independent person doing occasional restoration work.
The environmental figures come from the EPA’s Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data. In 2018, furniture and furnishings generated 12.08 million U.S. tons of municipal solid waste, equal to 4.1% of total U.S. municipal solid-waste generation. Landfills received 9.68 million U.S. tons of furniture and furnishings that year.
These are different measurements and should not be treated as a single-year industry total. Census data count employer establishments in 2023; the EPA data describe end-of-life municipal solid waste after primary use and secondary-owner reuse in 2018. The EPA figures are not a direct count of furniture that could have been repaired.
State business concentrations
The largest reported establishment counts in 2023 were in Florida and California. Florida had 390 reupholstery and furniture-repair establishments, followed by California with 373 and New York with 268. Texas had 191 establishments, while Illinois had 148.
The next group included North Carolina with 117 establishments and Pennsylvania with 100. Georgia had 94, Virginia had 90, and Colorado had 83. The table keeps the Census business measure separate from later BLS job and wage measures.
| State | Reupholstery and furniture-repair establishments | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 390 | 2023 |
| California | 373 | 2023 |
| New York | 268 | 2023 |
| Texas | 191 | 2023 |
| Illinois | 148 | 2023 |
| North Carolina | 117 | 2023 |
| Pennsylvania | 100 | 2023 |
| Georgia | 94 | 2023 |
| Virginia | 90 | 2023 |
| Colorado | 83 | 2023 |
The establishment pattern shows a broad national service footprint rather than a single dominant location. It also illustrates why business counts and occupational counts answer different questions: a repair establishment may employ several kinds of workers, while a furniture finisher can work in repair, manufacturing, retail, warehousing, or another industry.
Employment and payroll by state
California’s reupholstery and furniture-repair establishments employed 1,400 people in 2023. Florida employed 1,184, New York employed 1,009, and Texas employed 909. Illinois reported 494 employees, North Carolina 442, Ohio 395, and Pennsylvania 383.
The same Census series reported annual payroll of $61.885 million for California establishments, $50.417 million for Florida, $46.313 million for New York, and $37.509 million for Texas. These dollar amounts are nominal as reported by the agency; they are not inflation-adjusted estimates.
| State | Employees | Annual payroll |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1,400 | $61.885 million |
| Florida | 1,184 | $50.417 million |
| New York | 1,009 | $46.313 million |
| Texas | 909 | $37.509 million |
| Illinois | 494 | Not reported here |
| North Carolina | 442 | Not reported here |
| Ohio | 395 | Not reported here |
| Pennsylvania | 383 | Not reported here |
The payroll figures describe the annual payroll reported by covered establishments, not an individual’s wage and not the value of all restoration work performed in a state. They also come from 2023, while the occupational wage figures below are from May 2023 or May 2024 and use a different statistical framework.
Workforce size and earnings
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wages News Release counted 14,230 furniture finishers in May 2024. Their mean hourly wage was $21.31, and their mean annual wage was $44,310. The median hourly wage was $20.45.
The detailed BLS Furniture Finishers, May 2023 profile gives a distribution of hourly and annual wages. The 10th percentile was $14.26 per hour, or $29,660 annually. At the 25th percentile, the figures were $16.82 per hour and $34,980 annually. The median was $19.13 per hour and $39,790 annually.
At the upper end of the reported distribution, the 75th-percentile wage was $22.90 per hour, or $47,640 annually. The 90th percentile was $27.46 per hour, or $57,120 annually. The 2023 detailed distribution and the May 2024 national figures are separate BLS observations; the earlier percentiles should not be presented as May 2024 percentiles.
| May 2023 wage point | Hourly wage | Annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $14.26 | $29,660 |
| 25th percentile | $16.82 | $34,980 |
| Median | $19.13 | $39,790 |
| 75th percentile | $22.90 | $47,640 |
| 90th percentile | $27.46 | $57,120 |
Furniture-finisher figures are an occupational proxy for restoration and refinishing work. They include workers across multiple industries, so they are broader than the Census count for NAICS 811420.
Industries employing furniture finishers
In May 2023, furniture and related product manufacturing employed 9,500 furniture finishers at a $19.85 hourly mean wage. Personal and household goods repair and maintenance employed 1,820 furniture finishers at a $22.31 hourly mean wage.
Furniture and home-furnishings retailers employed 880 furniture finishers at a $21.98 hourly mean wage. Warehousing and storage employed 710 at $21.71 per hour. Other wood-product manufacturing employed 510 at a $21.26 hourly mean wage.
This industry breakdown matters for interpreting the occupation. A person classified as a furniture finisher is not necessarily employed by a restoration shop. The BLS list includes manufacturing, repair and maintenance, retail, warehousing, and other wood-product work, making the occupation useful for understanding finishing skills but not a precise headcount of restoration businesses.
States with concentrated finishing employment
The BLS May 2023 state profile showed the highest listed employment levels in Indiana, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. Indiana had 1,210 furniture-finisher jobs, Texas had 1,190, Florida had 1,160, and North Carolina had 920.
Location quotient measures indicate where an occupation is especially concentrated relative to the overall employment mix. South Dakota had a location quotient of 3.32 with 140 furniture-finisher jobs, and Vermont had a quotient of 2.92 with 80 jobs. North Carolina had a quotient of 2.03 with 920 jobs, while Kansas had a quotient of 1.93 with 260 jobs.
State employment and concentration are not interchangeable. Indiana had the highest listed job count in this set, while South Dakota had the highest listed location quotient. A smaller state can have a high concentration without having the largest absolute workforce.
State pay also varied in the BLS May 2023 profile. Hawaii had the highest listed state mean wage at $34.85 per hour, or $72,490 annually. Massachusetts reported $28.78 per hour and $59,860 annually. New Jersey reported $24.75 per hour and $51,470 annually, while Maryland reported $24.54 per hour and $51,040 annually.
Metropolitan employment and pay
At the metropolitan level, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington had 570 furniture-finisher jobs at a $19.56 hourly mean wage in May 2023. New York-Newark-Jersey City had 480 jobs at $24.39 per hour, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim had 390 jobs at $23.20 per hour.
Some smaller metropolitan areas showed particularly high location quotients. Green Bay had a furniture-finisher location quotient of 5.83 with 90 jobs. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, had a quotient of 5.22 with 120 jobs. These concentration figures describe the occupation’s share of local employment, not the total number of restoration establishments.
The highest listed metropolitan mean wage was in Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, at $29.23 per hour or $60,790 annually. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward reported $27.34 per hour and $56,870 annually, while Elkhart-Goshen reported $26.97 per hour and $56,090 annually.
For readers comparing restoration markets, the statistics support three distinct questions: where repair businesses are counted, where finishing jobs are located, and where reported wages are highest. Census establishment data answer the first; BLS occupational employment, location quotients, and wages answer the second and third. The EPA’s 2018 waste figures add a separate materials context: furniture and furnishings accounted for 12.08 million tons of municipal solid waste, including 9.68 million tons sent to landfills.