How To Become A Bench Carpenter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a bench carpenter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a bench carpenter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.89 an hour? That's $43,442 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 8,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBench CarpenterUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,442

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 1.84%

Black or African American 4.84%

Hispanic or Latino 18.69%

Unknown 3.75%

White 70.21%

Gender

female 3.37%

male 96.63%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.5

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a bench carpenter

Explore bench carpenter education requirements

Most common bench carpenter degrees

High School Diploma

34.8 %

Associate

30.4 %

Diploma

21.7 %

Start to develop specific bench carpenter skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Tools	38.62%
CNC	16.84%
Table Saws	15.08%
Power Saws	8.01%
Jointers	7.67%

Complete relevant bench carpenter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New bench carpenters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a bench carpenter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bench carpenter resumes.

Research bench carpenter duties and responsibilities

use all hand and power tools available including table saws and routers, cnc, beam see
Enforce on-site policy and safety regulations for state and local agencies (EPA, NYFD, OSHA, DEM).
Operate various saws and shop equipment.
Set up 10,000 sf shop including professional spray booth.

Prepare your bench carpenter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your bench carpenter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a bench carpenter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable bench carpenter resume templates

Build a professional bench carpenter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your bench carpenter resume.