Woodworking
Students study furniture design, cabinetmaking, wood joinery, finishing techniques, and workshop management using both traditional hand tools and modern CNC equipment. Graduates typically pursue careers as custom furniture makers, cabinetmakers, architectural millwork specialists, and woodworking business owners. Skilled woodworkers who combine traditional craftsmanship with modern technology can command premium prices for custom work.
What Woodworking graduates do
Your career will likely begin by bringing designs to life, either as a cabinetmaker or a woodworking machine operator. On a typical day, you might interpret blueprints to build custom kitchen cabinets, or set up and run industrial saws and sanders to produce components at scale. The work is tangible, requiring precision and a deep understanding of your materials.
Early roles often involve assisting senior craftspeople, but with experience, you can become a lead woodworker, manage a shop floor, or launch your own business specializing in custom furniture or architectural millwork. While the highest-paying paths like patternmaking are small and contracting, the core of the trade provides thousands of replacement openings each year.
Be aware that most traditional woodworking jobs face headwinds, with a decline in overall positions. However, the hands-on nature of this craft is its greatest strength. With an average AI exposure of just 11%, the core skills of shaping, joining, and finishing wood are highly insulated from automation. Your career value will be rooted in physical skill and an artisan's eye, not in adapting to disruptive software.
Students weighing Woodworking often also consider Industrial Production Technology — compare earnings, ROI, and AI outlook side by side.
Where Woodworking graduates work
Common career paths for Woodworking graduates, with median salaries, projected growth, and AI exposure per role. Roughly 23,200 combined openings per year across these roles.
| Role | Median Pay | Annual Openings | 10-yr Growth | AI Exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Patternmakers, wood
|
$52,520
$45K–$77K
|
— | -5.0% | Low · 26% |
|
Model makers, wood
|
$51,850
$40K–$80K
|
100 | -4.5% | Low · 15% |
|
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters
|
$46,020
$38K–$54K
|
8,100 | -1.6% | Low · 12% |
|
Furniture finishers
|
$42,530
$37K–$49K
|
2,000 | -3.3% | Low · 3% |
|
Woodworkers, all other
|
$41,220
$36K–$49K
|
1,800 | -4.4% | Low · 0% |
|
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing
|
$40,440
$36K–$48K
|
6,400 | -1.8% | Low · 7% |
|
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood
|
$39,950
$36K–$48K
|
4,800 | -0.6% | Low · 6% |
Best schools for Woodworking
Schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score (earnings × AI resilience × ROI × job-market size). Top 1 of 1.
Highest Earnings Top 5
| Rhode Island School of Design
RI |
$19,151 |
Best ROI Top 5
| Rhode Island School of Design
RI |
1.0x |
Related majors
Similar fields of study often offered alongside Woodworking.
Consider the trade route
Not sure a 4-year degree is the right path? Trade programs in Woodworking offer shorter timelines, lower debt, and strong AI resilience for hands-on careers.
Compare Woodworking trade programs on TradeSchoolOutlook →Frequently asked about Woodworking
What do Woodworking graduates make in their first year?
The median first-year salary across 1 Woodworking programs is $19,151. School selection matters — the gap between the lowest ($19,151) and highest ($19,151) earning programs is significant.
What is the AI automation risk for Woodworking?
Our analysis classifies Woodworking as "Low" for AI risk — approximately 14% of typical job tasks overlap with current AI capabilities. That puts relatively few of the daily work in the automation-sensitive category.
What's the top-ranked school for Woodworking?
Rhode Island School of Design leads all 1 programs with a DegreeOutlook Score of 10/100. Graduates earn $19,151/yr — the ranking weighs earnings, ROI, AI resilience, and job market size equally.
Is a Woodworking degree worth the investment?
Typical graduates earn 1.0 times what they paid in tuition within a decade. ROI varies significantly by school — choose carefully. Look at per-school ROI in the table above — averages can mask significant variation.