Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers Salary in the United States
The median annual wage for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers in the U.S. is $52,540 ($25.26 per hour), according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates.
- Median annual wage
- $52,540
- Mean annual wage
- $57,960
- Median hourly wage
- $25.26
- Employment
- 22,440
22,440 employed
Wage percentiles
| Percentile | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $35,580 | $17.11 |
| 25th percentile | $39,520 | $19.00 |
| Median (50th) | $52,540 | $25.26 |
| 75th percentile | $69,810 | $33.56 |
| 90th percentile | $87,540 | $42.09 |
Highest-paying states for jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
| State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | $69,800 | 140 |
| Virginia | $61,940 | 240 |
| New York | $61,720 | 4,300 |
| California | $60,790 | 2,300 |
| South Carolina | $60,380 | 200 |
| Washington | $60,380 | 290 |
| New Jersey | $59,480 | 780 |
| Vermont | $58,570 | 50 |
| Kansas | $57,730 | 110 |
| Colorado | $57,120 | 220 |
Lowest-paying states
- Arkansas: $35,950 median annual wage
- Montana: $37,580 median annual wage
- Utah: $39,860 median annual wage
- Nevada: $40,510 median annual wage
- Oklahoma: $41,720 median annual wage
About this occupation
Design, fabricate, adjust, repair, or appraise jewelry, gold, silver, other precious metals, or gems.
Typical tasks
- Create jewelry from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semiprecious stones.
- Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.
- Smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire.
- Examine assembled or finished products to ensure conformance to specifications, using magnifying glasses or precision measuring instruments.
- Clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers' tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths.
- Pierce and cut open designs in ornamentation, using hand drills and scroll saws.
Education of the current workforce — typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Less than high school diploma | 10.8% |
| High school diploma or equivalent | 23.3% |
| Some college, no degree | 23.8% |
| Associate's degree | 9.0% |
| Bachelor's degree | 26.1% |
| Master's degree | 5.9% |
| Doctoral or professional degree | 1.1% |
Occupation profile data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Related occupations
- Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$44,650
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers$74,450
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers$48,570
- Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$53,750
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$43,220
- Machinists$58,750
- Production Workers, All Other$40,110
- Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Assemblers, Except Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers$45,850
About this data
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- CareerOneStop Occupation Profiles — data period 2026-08, retrieved August 14, 2026.
Figures are shown exactly as published by the source or derived by the documented formulas on our methodology page. Where a source suppresses an estimate, we show “—” rather than a substitute value.