Woodworking tools support nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs across cabinetmaking, machine operation, sawing, and furniture finishing. The data also shows a long-term employment decline, about 20,000 annual openings, and a substantial historical burden of table-saw injuries. The employment figures describe occupations that use or work around woodworking tools, not consumer tool sales.
Contents
- How many people work with woodworking tools
- Employment and pay by occupation
- Projected change and annual openings
- Where woodworking tool jobs are concentrated
- Table-saw injury volume
- Injury rates and patterns
How many people work with woodworking tools
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted about 199,900 woodworker jobs in 2025. This total covers several occupations rather than a single job title. Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters accounted for 81,800 jobs, while woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders other than sawing accounted for 60,900. Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders for wood represented another 41,200 jobs. Furniture finishers accounted for 15,900 jobs. These figures come from the BLS Woodworkers: Occupational Outlook Handbook for 2025.
The job mix is concentrated in manufacturing. Furniture and related product manufacturing employed 42% of woodworkers in 2025, and wood product manufacturing employed 37%. Self-employed workers represented 4%. Those shares describe the employment setting of the occupation, not the share of woodworking tools sold to businesses, hobbyists, or other users.
The categories also show why a single “woodworking tools” number can be misleading. A cabinetmaker may work at a bench, a saw operator may run dedicated production equipment, and a furniture finisher may use tools and processes associated with surface preparation and finishing. Together, these roles provide a broader view of people who operate or work around woodworking equipment.
Employment and pay by occupation
Pay varied across the woodworker occupations in May 2025. The mean annual wage for all U.S. woodworkers was $45,630, while the median hourly wage was $21.78. The BLS figures below are from Occupational Employment and Wages—May 2025.
| Occupation | Mean annual wage, May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Wood model makers and patternmakers | $59,450 |
| Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters | $48,290 |
| Other woodworkers | $46,070 |
| All U.S. woodworkers | $45,630 |
| Furniture finishers | $45,300 |
| Wood sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders | $43,580 |
| Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders except sawing | $43,570 |
Wood model makers and patternmakers had the highest listed mean annual wage at $59,450. Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters averaged $48,290, or $2,660 more than the mean for all U.S. woodworkers. Other woodworkers averaged $46,070, while furniture finishers averaged $45,300.
The machine-operation categories were close to one another. Wood sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders had a mean annual wage of $43,580, compared with $43,570 for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders except sawing. Both means were below the overall woodworker mean of $45,630.
Mean annual wage and median hourly wage are different measures. The $45,630 figure is an average annual wage for the occupation, while $21.78 is the middle hourly wage measure reported for all U.S. woodworkers. Neither figure is a consumer price or a forecast of what an individual beginning woodworker will earn.
Projected change and annual openings
BLS projections point to a modest contraction rather than the disappearance of woodworking occupations. Employment is projected to decline from 216,700 jobs in 2023 to 211,400 in 2033, a 2.4% decrease. The projection period is 2023–2033; these estimates should not be read as observed 2026 employment. The figures are reported in Occupational projections and worker characteristics.
At the same time, woodworker occupations are projected to have 20,000 annual openings on average over 2023–2033. Annual openings can arise from people leaving an occupation or from workers changing roles, so this measure is not the same as net job growth.
The projected changes differ by occupation:
- Cabinetmaker and bench carpenter employment is projected to fall 2.9%, from 81,800 jobs in 2023 to 79,400 in 2033.
- Furniture-finisher employment is projected to fall 3.5%, from 15,900 to 15,300.
- Woodworking machine setter, operator, and tender employment is projected to fall 1.9%, from 102,200 to 100,200.
- Sawing machine setter, operator, and tender employment is projected to fall 1.0%, from 41,200 to 40,800.
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders except sawing are projected to have 5,300 annual openings over the same period. The combination of a small projected decline and continuing openings suggests replacement demand remains important even when total employment is not growing.
Where woodworking tool jobs are concentrated
The BLS May 2024 area employment data shows that woodworking machine jobs are distributed across large metropolitan areas and smaller nonmetropolitan regions. For woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders excluding sawing, Grand Rapids–Wyoming–Kentwood, Michigan had 2,830 jobs. New York–Newark–Jersey City had 1,210, followed by North Northeastern Ohio’s nonmetropolitan area with 970. Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim had 950, and Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell had 940.
For wood sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, South Arkansas had 710 jobs in May 2024. Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell had 640, while Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro and Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim each had 570. South Central Kentucky also had 570. These area counts come from the BLS OEWS Chart.
| Area and occupation | Jobs, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Grand Rapids–Wyoming–Kentwood, MI; machine work except sawing | 2,830 |
| New York–Newark–Jersey City; machine work except sawing | 1,210 |
| North Northeastern Ohio nonmetropolitan area; machine work except sawing | 970 |
| South Arkansas; wood sawing machine work | 710 |
| Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell; wood sawing machine work | 640 |
These are occupation counts for named areas, not rankings of overall woodworking activity or sales of tools. They also come from May 2024, while the national employment and wage figures above use 2025 measurements or 2023–2033 projections.
Table-saw injury volume
Historical CPSC estimates show tens of thousands of emergency-department-treated table-saw blade-contact injuries each year. The estimate was 34,600 in 2008 and 33,000 in 2009. It was 30,100 in 2010, 29,600 in 2011, 29,500 in 2012, and 29,500 in 2013. The estimate rose to 30,300 in 2014 and 30,800 in 2015.
| Year | Estimated emergency-department-treated injuries |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 34,600 |
| 2009 | 33,000 |
| 2010 | 30,100 |
| 2011 | 29,600 |
| 2012 | 29,500 |
| 2013 | 29,500 |
| 2014 | 30,300 |
| 2015 | 30,800 |
The series covers U.S. estimates from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System and related CPSC analysis. It is specifically historical emergency-department-treated blade-contact injury data. The source is the CPSC Table Saw NPR vote sheet.
For 2015, CPSC separately estimated 54,843 table-saw blade-contact injuries annually across all medical treatment settings. That figure is based on 2015 data and should not be substituted for the 30,800 emergency-department-treated estimate.
Injury rates and patterns
The estimated table-saw blade-contact injury rate was 39.3 per 10,000 saws in use in 2008. It was 37.8 in 2009, 35.5 in 2010, 35.3 in 2011, 35.4 in 2012, and 35.8 in 2013. The rate increased to 37.0 in 2014 and 37.8 in 2015. These rates are estimates, not counts of every table saw or every injury.
The 2015 estimate shows the types and circumstances of injuries in more detail. An estimated 28,900 of 30,800 emergency-department-treated injuries involved a finger. Lacerations represented an estimated 18,100 injuries, or 58.8% of the total. An estimated 4,700 injuries were amputations, equal to 15.2%, and 3,800 victims were hospitalized, or 12.3%.
Males represented an estimated 96.4% of table-saw blade-contact injury victims in 2015. The home was the reported injury location for an estimated 20,600 injuries, or 67.0% of the total. That home-location figure matters when interpreting the injury data: the historical estimates include consumer and household use, not only professional woodworking workplaces.
CPSC notes that table-saw cases may be over- or underestimated because of product-code and narrative limitations. The injury figures therefore describe estimated patterns in the available CPSC data rather than a perfect census of all table-saw incidents.