SOC 51-6051.00

    Sewers, Hand

    Sew, join, reinforce, or finish, usually with needle and thread, a variety of manufactured items.

    Median pay
    $36,480
    Growth
    -12.0%
    Decline
    Openings a year
    600
    Typical education
    No formal credential

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

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    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $27,680
    Median
    $36,480
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $47,570
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    2,190 people work in this occupation.

    What sewers, hand do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Sew, join, reinforce, or finish, usually with needle and thread, a variety of manufactured items. Includes weavers and stitchers.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R) · strongest
    91 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    0 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    23 / 100
    Social (S)
    9 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    2 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    38 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code RCA. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Controlling Machines and Processes
    78
    Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
    72
    Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
    66
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    66
    Assisting and Caring for Others
    65
    Handling and Moving Objects
    58
    Getting Information
    57
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    56
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    55
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    54
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Time Management
    • Active Listening
    • Complex Problem Solving
    • Monitoring
    • Speaking
    • Critical Thinking
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Active Learning
    • Operation and Control

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Administration and Management
    • English Language
    • Mechanical
    • Education and Training
    • Mathematics
    • Design
    • Production and Processing
    • Economics and Accounting
    • Sales and Marketing

    Abilities

    • Finger Dexterity
    • Manual Dexterity
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
    • Near Vision
    • Control Precision
    • Category Flexibility
    • Information Ordering
    • Visualization
    • Multilimb Coordination
    • Visual Color Discrimination

    Work styles

    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Cautiousness
    • Perseverance
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Integrity
    • Self-Control
    • Self-Confidence
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Cooperation

    Also called

    Alteration Specialist · Apparel Specialist · Bale Sewer · Baseball Hand Sewer · Beadworker · Casing Sewer · Cloth Bale Header · Clothier · Couturier · Custom Apparel Specialist

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    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

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    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.