$288B
Annual forest-products output
The USDA Forest Service reports that the U.S. forest-products industry generates $288 billion annually. USDA Forest Service Research and Development: Forest Products, January 8, 2025.
Reference page
U.S. Woodworking Statistics
A sourced reference for writers, designers, makers, and anyone looking for a clear snapshot of the woodworking workforce and the broader U.S. forest-products industry.
Last updated August 25, 2026
What this covers
The work behind the work.
Woodworking spans individual benches, custom furniture shops, cabinetry, finishing, millwork, and the much larger forest-products economy that supplies material and manufacturing capacity. This page keeps those layers distinct and points back to the original public sources for every number.
Gothic Ranch Works makes one-of-a-kind wood pieces in Sanger, Texas. The figures here are national context, not claims about this workshop, its prices, or its production.
The numbers
Woodworking and forest-products facts
Each figure includes its data date and links directly to the public source. Definitions vary by source, so the note below each number matters as much as the headline figure.
950K
People employed in forest products
The same Forest Service reference places annual payroll at about $50 billion across the industry. USDA Forest Service Research and Development: Forest Products, January 8, 2025.
45
States where the sector is a top-10 manufacturing employer
This shows how deeply the wood-products supply chain is tied to regional manufacturing economies. USDA Forest Service Research and Development: Forest Products, January 8, 2025.
214,600
U.S. woodworker jobs in 2024
The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups cabinetmakers, furniture finishers, and woodworking-machine operators within this total. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Woodworkers, September 4, 2025.
86,000
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters in 2024
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters made up the largest detailed woodworking occupation in the BLS 2024 breakdown. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Woodworkers, September 4, 2025.
$46,680
Median annual pay for cabinetmakers in May 2025
This is the national median annual wage for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters, according to the latest published wage estimate. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters, May 2025.
-2%
Projected change in woodworker employment, 2024 to 2034
The BLS projects the occupation group to move from 214,600 jobs in 2024 to 211,100 in 2034. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Woodworkers, September 4, 2025.
21,400
Average yearly woodworker openings through 2034
The BLS expects openings largely from workers leaving the occupation or the labor force, not from net job growth. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Woodworkers, September 4, 2025.
$43,720
Median annual pay for woodworkers in 2024
This is the median annual wage reported for the woodworker occupation group in the BLS outlook. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Woodworkers, September 4, 2025.
Methodology and sources
Built from public, primary sources.
This is a curated reference, not a survey of every woodworking business. Occupational figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Forest-products industry figures come from the USDA Forest Service. Each source uses its own definitions, collection periods, and release schedule.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Woodworkers
Data reference: September 4, 2025. Accessed August 25, 2026.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
Data reference: May 2025. Accessed August 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service Research and Development: Forest Products
Data reference: January 8, 2025. Accessed August 25, 2026.
Citing this page
Use a stable link to the fact you need.
Link to this page for the full source list, or use the individual statistic anchors above when you are referring to one figure. The page will be refreshed when the underlying public data changes.
Suggested citation: Gothic Ranch Works. “U.S. Woodworking Statistics: Jobs, Pay, and Industry Facts.” Updated August 25, 2026. gothicranchworks.com/woodworking-statistics.