Design, fabricate, adjust, repair, or appraise jewelry, gold, silver, other precious metals, or gems. Includes diamond polishers and gem cutters, and persons who perform precision casting and modeling of molds, casting metal in molds, or setting precious and semiprecious stones for jewelry and related products.
National median · BLS
$52,540
▲ +6.92%YoY
H-1B sponsor median
—
Too few H-1B filings
Average salary · BLS
$57,960
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
22,440
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.
Pay range for Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation.
Percentile
All U.S. workers (BLS)
10th — entry pay
$35,580
25th
$39,520
Median (50th)
$52,540
75th
$69,810
90th — top pay
$87,540
Hourly ⇄ annual pay
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Monthly—
Every 2 weeks—
Weekly—
Daily—
Based on
hrs/week ×
weeks/year
= 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035
Job outlook for Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
BLS projects employment of jewelers and precious stone and metal workers to decline 3.2% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%.
About 3,700 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.
Jobs 2025 → 2035
32,800 → 31,800
-1,100 jobs
Projected change
-3.2%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
3,700
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
No related experience required
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training
Self-employed
32.4% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 3)
Medium Preparation Needed. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers salaries by state
BLS state medians, plus the same figure adjusted for local prices (BEA Regional Price Parities). Tap a state for its full range and H-1B pay.
State
Median
Jobs
Cost-adjusted
Profile
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers salaries by metro area
Search by city, ZIP code or metro name. Tap a metro for its full range.
Metro area
Median
Jobs
Cost-adjusted
Profile
Skills & tools
Skills needed for Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.
Top skills
Active Listening3.1
Critical Thinking3.0
Speaking3.0
Coordination2.9
Judgment and Decision Making2.9
Social Perceptiveness2.9
Monitoring2.8
Reading Comprehension2.8
Complex Problem Solving2.6
Service Orientation2.6
Top knowledge areas
Customer and Personal Service4.3
Design4.0
Production and Processing3.9
Sales and Marketing3.8
Administration and Management3.7
Mechanical3.4
Administrative3.2
Engineering and Technology3.2
Software and technology used
Adobe IllustratorAdobe PhotoshopIntuit QuickBooksMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft WordComputer assisted jewelry design CAD softwareCustomer information databasesInventory tracking softwareJewelry store point of sale POS softwareMetal designing softwareRetail management softwareWeb browser software
Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).
Source: 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. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
About the job
What jewelers and precious stone and metal workers do
Clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers' tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths.
Smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire.
Create jewelry from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semiprecious stones.
Cut and file pieces of jewelry such as rings, brooches, bracelets, and lockets.
Examine assembled or finished products to ensure conformance to specifications, using magnifying glasses or precision measuring instruments.
Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.
Compute costs of labor and materials to determine production costs of products and articles.
Position stones and metal pieces, and set, mount, and secure items in place, using setting and hand tools.
Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.
Similar jobs and how they pay
Occupations O*NET lists as closely related to Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers, with BLS national medians compared with this occupation's $52,540.
