Upholsterers
Make, repair, or replace upholstery for household furniture or transportation vehicles.
Most important skills
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Design
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mechanical
- Education and Training
- Mathematics
- Building and Construction
- Personnel and Human Resources
What the work involves
- Fit, install, and secure material on frames, using hand tools, power tools, glue, cement, or staples.
- Build furniture up with loose fiber stuffing, cotton, felt, or foam padding to form smooth, rounded surfaces.
- Examine furniture frames, upholstery, springs, and webbing to locate defects.
- Attach fasteners, grommets, buttons, buckles, ornamental trim, and other accessories to covers or frames, using hand tools.
- Remove covering, webbing, padding, or defective springs from workpieces, using hand tools such as hammers and tack pullers.
- Read work orders, and apply knowledge and experience with materials to determine types and amounts of materials required to cover workpieces.
- Make, restore, or create custom upholstered furniture, using hand tools and knowledge of fabrics and upholstery methods.
- Measure and cut new covering materials, using patterns and measuring and cutting instruments, following sketches and design specifications.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (56.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (49.3%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (32.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Upholsterers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 91% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 80% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 96% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 94% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 50% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 80% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 50% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 81% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 3.86%
- Occasional contact with others: 33.93%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.25%
- Contact with others most of the time: 10.88%
- Constant contact with others: 48.08%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 10.88%
- Important: 18.46%
- Very important: 25.38%
- Extremely important: 8.86%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 11.02%
- Fairly important: 19.17%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 15.84%
- Extremely important: 16.52%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 12.43%
- Very little freedom: 18.46%
- Limited freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Some freedom: 0%
- A lot of freedom: 31.93%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 7.44%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 30.61%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.25%
- Every day: 38.71%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 18.48%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 34%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 38.57%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.67%
- Every day: 0.28%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 16.17%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.18%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.51%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 37.72%
- Every day: 0.41%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 31.06%
- Fairly serious: 31.26%
- Serious: 14.74%
- Very serious: 22.94%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 18, Incumbent 07/2016
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Furniture Finishers
Closeness 95/100
- Analyze
Tile and Stone Setters
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Automotive Body and Related Repairers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Etchers and Engravers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators
Closeness 93/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 51-6093.00 · SOC 51-6093 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8