Furniture Finishers Salary: $49,985 Median Pay (2026 stats)
TL;DR
About 14,230 furniture finishers nationally earn a mean of $49,985. Employment in the series shown rose about 12% from the first to the last year; projections imply about 8.0% annual decline.
Key Statistics
Furniture Finishers: what the data shows
Common questions about furniture finishers careers, answered from BLS OEWS and O*NET in this repository.
What is a furniture finishers?
Furniture Finishers is tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics under SOC 51-7021.
U.S. employment in our OEWS extract is about 14,230 workers.
What does a furniture finishers do?
O*NET work activities rated highest for this occupation include Getting Information, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Handling and Moving Objects, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, Performing General Physical Activities, and related tasks. See Work Activities for the full list.
How much does a furniture finishers make?
BLS national median annual wage: $42,530 (May 2024 in our extract).
Mean annual wage in our occupational extract: $49,985 — higher than the median, which often reflects top earners in the distribution.
Wage percentiles below are from the California OEWS extract (not national unless noted).
| Wage percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $36,812 |
| 25th percentile | $39,192 |
| Median (50th) | $47,256 |
| 75th percentile | $56,028 |
| 90th percentile | $67,694 |
What education do you need?
For Furniture Finishers, O*NET incumbent surveys in our extract most often report: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
These are education levels of current workers, not minimum legal requirements.
What skills do you need?
O*NET ratings for this occupation emphasize skills such as Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Time Management, Speaking, Judgment and Decision Making, and knowledge areas including Production and Processing, Mechanical, Design, Education and Training. See Education & Skills for detail.
Is furniture finishers in demand?
Historical employment trend in our series implies about 8.0% annual decline (compound rate in the extract).
Five-year projected employment change: -34.1%.
Ten-year projected employment change: -56.6%.
Current U.S. headcount: 14,230.
We report federal series only—compare wages, growth, and openings against your target market.
Where do furniture finisherss work?
Top industries by employment share in our OEWS industry extract:
| Industry | Employment | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-industry | 14,230 | 20.1% |
| Cross-industry, Private Ownership only | 14,220 | 20.1% |
| Manufacturing | 10,150 | 14.3% |
| Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing | 9,780 | 13.8% |
| Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only) | 9,780 | 13.8% |
| Repair and Maintenance | 1,600 | 2.3% |
See Industry for charts.
What degrees lead to this career?
Common majors for Furniture Finishers in O*NET:
See Related degrees.
Employment
Employment and salary information for the Furniture Finishers workforce.
Employment Over Time
14,230 Workforce in 2023
The Furniture Finishers workforce has been growing over time.
Historical employment trends for Furniture Finishers.
Yearly Wage Ranking
$49,985 Average Wage
In 2023, Furniture Finishers earned an average of $49,985.
Wage ranking compared to other occupations.
Wage Distribution
This chart shows the distribution of average salaries by income buckets for Furniture Finishers.
Salary distribution for Furniture Finishers.
Employment Growth Projections
-8.0% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
2,174 Projected Employment (5 years)
Projected growth: -34.1%
1,432 Projected Employment (10 years)
Projected growth: -56.6%
This occupation is experiencing a decline. Consider related fields with better growth prospects.
Historical employment trends and future projections for Furniture Finishers.
Industry
Information on the industries that employ Furniture Finishers and on wages for those in the field.
Occupations by Industries
This graphic shows the share of Furniture Finishers employed by various industries.
Industry distribution for Furniture Finishers.
Wage Trends by Industry
3.8% Average Annual Wage Growth Rate
Total, All Industry: -2.1% growth (Current: $60,335)
Historical wage growth trends by industry for Furniture Finishers.
Geographic Distribution
Employment and wage information by geographic location for Furniture Finishers.
State employment and wages are from the U.S. BLS OEWS May 2024 state extract. Metropolitan areas use the national MSA file when available.
Top States by Employment
Top States by Employment:
- FL: 1,300 employees, $45,500 avg wage
- IN: 1,260 employees, $48,400 avg wage
- TX: 1,220 employees, $39,950 avg wage
- CA: 920 employees, $48,720 avg wage
- NC: 880 employees, $42,410 avg wage
- PA: 850 employees, $43,750 avg wage
- NY: 690 employees, $48,130 avg wage
- TN: 570 employees, $34,440 avg wage
- AZ: 530 employees, $43,730 avg wage
- MI: 440 employees, $45,380 avg wage
Top 10 states by employment for Furniture Finishers.
Top Metropolitan Areas
Top Metropolitan Areas:
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ: 660 employees, $51,150 avg wage
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: 520 employees, $46,680 avg wage
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL: 450 employees, $45,980 avg wage
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 450 employees, $41,750 avg wage
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ: 410 employees, $44,140 avg wage
- Elkhart-Goshen, IN: 340 employees, $54,880 avg wage
- Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC: 330 employees, $42,490 avg wage
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 270 employees, $47,000 avg wage
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX: 220 employees, $40,110 avg wage
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA: 220 employees, $49,510 avg wage
Top 10 metropolitan statistical areas by employment for Furniture Finishers.
Diversity
Demographic information on Furniture Finishers in the US.
Gender and Age
The workforce of Furniture Finishers in 2023 was 14,230 people, with 62.0% women and 38.0% men.
Gender and age distribution for Furniture Finishers.
Races
Racial and ethnic shares when present in the career dataset. If the chart area shows a notice instead, occupational race/ethnicity fields are not yet populated for this extract.
Race and ethnicity distribution for Furniture Finishers.
Education & Skills
Data on higher education choices and required skills for Furniture Finishers.
Majors
The most common majors achieved by Furniture Finishers in 2023 were Business Administration, Business, Social Sciences.
Common majors for Furniture Finishers.
Education Levels
The main educational levels achieved by Furniture Finishers workers.
Education level distribution for Furniture Finishers.
Skills
Furniture Finishers need many skills, but most especially Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Time Management, Speaking.
Required skills for Furniture Finishers.
Knowledge & Abilities
Knowledge areas and abilities required for Furniture Finishers.
Knowledge Areas
The most important knowledge areas for Furniture Finishers include Production and Processing, Mechanical, Design, Education and Training, English Language.
Knowledge areas required for Furniture Finishers.
Abilities
Key abilities needed for Furniture Finishers include Near Vision, Visual Color Discrimination, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Control Precision.
Required abilities for Furniture Finishers.
Work Activities
Common work activities performed by Furniture Finishers.
Daily Activities
Furniture Finishers spend their time on activities such as Getting Information, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials, Handling and Moving Objects, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events.
Most important work activities for Furniture Finishers.
About
Furniture Finishers
The average yearly wage for Furniture Finishers was $49,985 in 2023.
SOC Code
51-7021 - Furniture Finishers
Insights and Analysis
Compensation snapshot: Furniture Finishers reports an average salary of $49,985.
Labor market presence: The current workforce is approximately 14,230 workers, indicating sustained demand.
Forward outlook: Projected annual decline is -8.0%, which should inform long-term career planning.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), and O*NET Online.
All wage figures represent annual averages and may vary by location, industry, and experience level.