NinetoNext

← Career directory · Production and manufacturing

Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Builds cabinets, furniture and other wood products in a shop or factory.

Typical education to startHigh school diploma or equivalent
Job outlook2025–2035: -2%
Median pay$43,380 a year (2025)
Interest codeRC Realistic, Conventional

Read the full guide

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters build cabinets, counters and furniture from plans. Furniture finishers sand, stain and refinish pieces. Others run saws, routers and computer-controlled (CNC) machines in cabinet shops, sawmills and furniture plants, or make wood models and patterns. Most of the work is indoors in a shop, standing, with loud machines and dust. Carpenters who build houses have their own guide.

Open the cabinetmaker or woodworker guide

The guide checks the courses against your plan, with things to try each year. Free account needed.

High school courses that build toward it

  • Welding and Metal Fabrication · Career and Technical

    Builds tools and machines, which this job uses.

  • Pre-Algebra · Math

    Builds math, which this job uses.

  • English 10 · English

    Builds reading and writing, which this job uses.

  • Physical Education · Health and PE

    Builds teaching and training, which this job uses.

  • Physics · Science

    Builds math, which this job uses.

  • Ceramics · Arts

    Builds design and technical drawing, which this job uses.

Ranked by how much the job relies on what each course teaches, from O*NET's knowledge ratings. Your school's own courses and the counselor have the final word.

Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing on O*NET OnLine · O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections 2025.