Occupation / job
Sewers, Hand
Median annual pay. Half earn less than this.
Hourly at a standard 2,080-hour year. We do not yet have unpaid-time or cost data for this, so this is not an adjusted figure.
The middle half. A quarter earn below this range.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 · view
What this figure cannot tell you
It covers people EMPLOYED in this occupation. Anyone who trained for it and was never hired is not in the median above, and neither is anyone doing the work self-employed. No verified count of qualified people exists for this occupation, so this page shows none rather than an estimate. Why that matters · The occupations where we could source it
Who this suits
A median of $36,480 against the $50,020 all-occupation figure leaves Sewers, Hand 27% behind — $13,540 across a year. Whether that is workable depends almost entirely on where you would be doing it.
With 2,190 employed nationally, Sewers, Hand is a small occupation. Small occupations are quiet: few postings, slow turnover, and a real chance that the person you would replace is not going anywhere.
These roles suit people with real speed and hand accuracy who want piece work they can see the result of, in a domestic industry much smaller than it once was.
We carry no verified training length for Sewers, Hand — BLS reports pay, not preparation, and we will not estimate it.
Who should not do this
$7,390 separates the bottom quarter at $33,330 from the top quarter at $40,720, a ratio of 1.2x. In a band that tight, moving up inside Sewers, Hand pays less than moving out of it would.
The bottom quarter is under $33,330, $16,690 short of the $50,020 typical American job. The question worth answering before entering Sewers, Hand is how long people spend in that quarter, because the median says nothing about it.
Avoid it if you need a field with domestic depth; much of this production has moved offshore and stayed there.
There is no failure rate on this page because there is nothing honest to divide by. BLS counted 2,190 people employed as Sewers, Hand; it did not count the people who trained for it and are doing something else, and a rate built without that denominator would be a number we made up.
What the spread tells you
At 1.2x between $33,330 and $40,720, this is a narrow distribution. $36,480 is a reliable number to plan around, which is worth something — but so is knowing that outperforming the field will not be paid for.
In cash terms the middle half of Sewers, Hand runs $33,330 to $40,720 — $7,390 a year between the 25th and 75th percentiles, against a midpoint of $36,480.
Between $33,330 and $40,720 — the two ends of the middle half — sits $36,480. Moving from the midpoint to the upper quarter is worth $4,240; the whole climb from the lower quarter is $7,390.
The climb from $36,480 to $40,720 is $4,240; the drop to $33,330 is $3,150. A little more room above the midpoint than below it is the normal shape for Sewers, Hand and for most paid work, and it is the reason the median is the honest summary rather than the average.
On a 2,080-hour year the midpoint for Sewers, Hand is $17.53 an hour. The quarters sit at $16.02 and $19.57, and the all-occupation midpoint at $24.04.
What these figures are, and what they are not
Employers reported these wages for people already working as Sewers, Hand. The self-employed are excluded, so $36,480 does not describe an independent doing the same work.
With no unpaid-hours or cost data for Sewers, Hand, the hourly figure is $36,480 over a 2,080-hour year — a unit conversion, not an adjustment.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else