Can You Really Make Money in Woodworking?

Katie Walkowski ‘24, designing the set of Bonnie & Clyde

(edited with an AI assistant for grammar and spelling)

Short answer: yes.
Longer answer: yes, but treat it like a profession, not a hobby.

There’s a persistent myth that woodworking is either a starving-artist path or a retirement pastime.

The truth? The people who make real money in treat it like a skilled trade and a business.

We see it every day: students go from enthusiasts with a dream to professionals earning a living by creating work that matters. Take William Toth for example, will came to Michigan with the goal of getting employed in the trade and now makes high-end custom pieces at Vogue. Or Katie, Who graduated from University of Michigan with an arts degree and couldn’t find a creative career, so she decided to go to trade school. After graduating from the Wood Design: Furniture Making program, Katie had multiple opportunities and is now working at the Croswell Opera House designing sets and using her skills and creative passions to build whimsical theatre sets. See more stories here.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make money woodworking, it starts with the right training, mentorship, and mindset.

What Do Woodworkers Actually Earn? Let’s start with real data.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cabinetmakers and bench carpenters earn a median of about paltry $46,000 per year. Our own verified data shows that the starting wages of SBWI graduates tend to be higher — ranging from $23–$30 per hour after just one year of dedicated schooling. Those who move into high-end, custom, or niche work can reach $60,000 to $100,000+ annually.

But here’s the real story — it’s not just about wages; it’s about ownership and quality of life.
The woodworking industry is full of stories of people who started small — even in a garage — and built something extraordinary. That’s what separates a job from a woodworking career.

From Garage Shop to Industry Giant: Orville D. Merillat

In 1946, Orville D. Merillat and his wife Ruth started making kitchen cabinets out of their garage in Adrian, Michigan.
They didn’t have investors or a corporate plan — just craftsmanship, grit, and a belief that quality and integrity mattered. That small cabinet making business grew into Merillat Industries, one of the most iconic cabinet companies in America, eventually employing thousands and transforming an entire region’s economy.

Their story proves that woodworking entrepreneurship isn’t just possible — it’s repeatable. With skill, vision, and the right systems, woodworking can scale into something that changes lives — your own and others’.

From Period Furniture to Global Design: Herman Miller’s Rise

In 1905, the Star Furniture Company started out building traditional, period-style furniture in Zeeland, Michigan. Within a generation, it evolved into Herman Miller now MillerKnoll — a company that revolutionized modern furniture design, collaborated with visionaries like George Nelson and Charles Eames, and became a multi-billion-dollar, publicly traded company known worldwide.

It’s easy to forget that Herman Miller began exactly where every great woodworker begins — in a shop, shaping wood with care and purpose. Their leap from craftsmanship to innovation shows what happens when creative vision meets technical expertise.


The Quality of Life That Comes with Working with Your Hands

We must keep in mind that money is not the key to happiness. While it’s an important ingredient, it’s only one part of a happy, healthy, and sustainable lifestyle that can support a family. Another ingredient is fulfillment. If you’re in a career that leaves you unfulfilled, it’s hard to feel satisfied in your professional life.

There’s a kind of satisfaction in woodworking that can’t be measured in a paycheck or a performance review. It’s the deep, quiet reward that comes from shaping something real — something that will outlast you. Most of today’s workforce spends their days behind a screen, punching numbers into spreadsheets or responding to endless email threads. At the end of the day, there’s nothing tangible to point to — nothing they can hold, touch, or feel proud of.

Woodworkers live a different rhythm. They spend their days creating, solving problems with their hands and minds, and watching raw material transform into something beautiful and functional. It’s a way of life that grounds you. The smell of freshly planed oak, the sound of a sharp chisel cutting clean, the satisfaction of a perfect joint — these are reminders that real work still exists, and it still matters. The beauty of woodworking isn’t just the product; it’s the process. It reconnects you to something honest — to craft, to purpose, to a kind of mindfulness that can’t be downloaded or automated. It’s work that builds character as much as it builds furniture.

When you leave the shop at the end of the day, you don’t just log off. You turn off the lights knowing you made something that will last — and that’s a feeling worth more than any spreadsheet.


Why Some Woodworkers Struggle (and How to Avoid It)

Most people don’t fail because “there’s no money in woodworking.”
They fail because they:

- Are unwilling to pay their dues.
- Underprice their work.
- Skip foundational training.
- Stop Learning - Continuous Learning is the key, just ask any high-level leader.
- Focus on social media instead of client relationships.
- Never learn to run a shop efficiently.

Woodworking can absolutely pay your bills — and more — but only when you approach it as a professional craft and a sustainable business. Everyone pays their dues — just like doctors, lawyers, or architects. But if you stick with it, the payoff is enormous. This is where education makes all the difference. Learning from those with experience can help shorten your path to success. Basically, they have already paid some of the dues for you. At a high-level trade school such as the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute (there are a couple others as well), students learn not just how to build, but how to build a career in woodworking.

You’ll learn:

Professional techniques in joinery, design, and finishing.
Real-world business skills — bidding, pricing, marketing, and client relations.
Design innovation — how to merge creative vision with production efficiency.
Industry networking — SBWI graduates go on to work for high-end firms like Vogue Furniture and start their own businesses across the country.

A good school is a launchpad for woodworking entrepreneurs, artists, and designers who will shape the future of craft and design.


The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Every great woodworking entrepreneur begins with one pair of hands, one set of tools, and a drive to make something worthwhile.

Whether it’s Orville Merillat’s garage-built cabinet company or Herman Miller’s evolution into a design powerhouse, the lesson is the same: you can build something extraordinary when craftsmanship and vision come together. At SBWI,e teach both — the technical excellence of a tradesperson and the creative courage of an entrepreneur. You’ll learn woodworking professionally and gain the confidence to turn your craft into a thriving woodworking business.


Invest in Your Future

If you’re serious about learning how to make money woodworking, it starts with education and the right community around you. With quality education, you’ll gain real-world experience, business confidence, and the craftsmanship that defines the best in the trade. Whether you dream of running your own cabinet making business, designing custom furniture, working in historic preservation carpentry, or joining the growing mass timber and timber framing industries, SBWI will give you the foundation to succeed.

Start where it counts.
Learn from industry professionals.
Train at a place built by woodworkers, for woodworkers.

Visit SBWI.edu to explore our woodworking training programs, meet our instructors, and take the first step toward a future built by hand.