AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Upholsterers?

Task-level automation exposure for Upholsterers: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

21% weighted task index

22 of 22 tasks scored

Median Salary

$46,340 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

20,140 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-2.3% employment change

1,700 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 42 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$29,960 – $63,360

Highest medians

Rhode Island $63,360

Hawaii $57,390

Washington $55,970

North Dakota $52,420

Connecticut $50,870

Lowest medians

Nebraska $29,960

Missouri $29,990

Virginia $31,950

Florida $37,840

Tennessee $38,020

State figures come from the 51-6093 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 21%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 75%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 7%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 4%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 0/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 17%

4 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 3%

1 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 80%

17 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#14228 · Core · 6% automatable

Fit, install, and secure material on frames, using hand tools, power tools, glue, cement, or staples.

physical manipulation — Aligning parts for assembly needs hands and judgment

Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment. Align parts or workpieces to ensure proper assembly.

#14236 · Core · 14% automatable

Measure and cut new covering materials, using patterns and measuring and cutting instruments, following sketches and design specifications.

physical manipulation — Marking reference points requires hands-on measurement

Measure materials to mark reference points, cutting lines, or other indicators. Cut fabrics.

#14229 · Core · 5% automatable

Build furniture up with loose fiber stuffing, cotton, felt, or foam padding to form smooth, rounded surfaces.

physical manipulation — Sewing and assembling textiles needs fine dexterity

Assemble garments or textile products.

#14235 · Core · 8% automatable

Make, restore, or create custom upholstered furniture, using hand tools and knowledge of fabrics and upholstery methods.

physical manipulation — Hands-on upholstery and furniture repair in unstructured materials

Repair furniture or upholstery.

#14233 · Core · 80% automatable

Read work orders, and apply knowledge and experience with materials to determine types and amounts of materials required to cover workpieces.

information retrieval — Parse specs and materials from orders

Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements.

#14230 · Core · 22% automatable

Examine furniture frames, upholstery, springs, and webbing to locate defects.

visual inspection — Property condition assessment requires physical presence

Examine condition of property or products.

#14245 · Core · 8% automatable

Adjust or replace webbing, padding, or springs, and secure them in place.

physical manipulation — Hands-on upholstery and furniture repair in unstructured materials

Repair furniture or upholstery.

#14243 · Core · 4% automatable

Sew rips or tears in material, or create tufting, using needles and thread.

physical manipulation — Sewing clothing requires fine manual dexterity

Sew clothing or other articles. Repair textiles or apparel.

#14232 · Core · 8% automatable

Remove covering, webbing, padding, or defective springs from workpieces, using hand tools such as hammers and tack pullers.

physical manipulation — Hands-on upholstery and furniture repair in unstructured materials

Repair furniture or upholstery.

#14231 · Core · 10% automatable

Attach fasteners, grommets, buttons, buckles, ornamental trim, and other accessories to covers or frames, using hand tools.

physical manipulation — Attaching accessories requires manual fitting

Attach decorative or functional accessories to products.

#14239 · Core · 6% automatable

Repair furniture frames and refinish exposed wood.

physical manipulation — Hands-on upholstery and furniture repair in unstructured materials

Shape surfaces or edges of wood workpieces. Repair furniture or upholstery.

#14242 · Core · 8% automatable

Interweave and fasten strips of webbing to the backs and undersides of furniture, using small hand tools and fasteners.

physical manipulation — Hands-on upholstery and furniture repair in unstructured materials

Repair furniture or upholstery.

#14234 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Draw cutting lines on material following patterns, templates, sketches, or blueprints, using chalk, pencils, paint, or other methods.

physical manipulation — Drawing guide lines on materials is hands-on

Draw guide lines or markings on materials or workpieces using patterns or other references.

#14246 · Supplemental · 4% automatable

Stretch webbing and fabric, using webbing stretchers.

physical manipulation — Adjusting fabric is tactile manual work

Adjust fabrics or other materials during garment production.

#14240 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Operate sewing machines or sew upholstery by hand to seam cushions and join various sections of covering material.

physical manipulation — Operating sewing equipment is manual machine work

Sew clothing or other articles. Operate sewing equipment.

#14247 · Supplemental · 68% automatable

Design upholstery cover patterns and cutting plans, based on sketches, customer descriptions, or blueprints.

visual inspection — Generates template designs; aesthetic fit needs human review

Design templates or patterns.

#14237 · Supplemental · 82% automatable

Maintain records of time required to perform each job.

data analysis — Record production data into structured logs

Record operational or production data.

#14238 · Supplemental · 64% automatable

Discuss upholstery fabrics, colors, and styles with customers, and provide cost estimates.

data analysis — Cost estimation from inputs; human validates

Estimate costs of products, services, or materials. Confer with customers or designers to determine order specifications.

#14241 · Supplemental · 6% automatable

Pick up and deliver furniture.

physical manipulation — Manual moving of furniture in varied spaces

Move furniture.

#14244 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Attach bindings or apply solutions to edges of cut material to prevent raveling.

physical manipulation — Physical fabric/material preparation

Prepare fabrics or materials for processing or production.

#14249 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Collaborate with interior designers to decorate rooms and coordinate furnishing fabrics.

interpersonal — Colleague information exchange is relational, contextual

Exchange information with colleagues.

#14248 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Make, repair, or replace automobile upholstery and convertible and vinyl tops, using knowledge of fabric and upholstery methods.

physical manipulation — Hands-on upholstery and furniture repair in unstructured materials

Repair furniture or upholstery.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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