Production · Holland code RCA
Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers
Construct, decorate, or repair leather and leather-like products, such as luggage, shoes, and saddles. May use hand tools.
Also called: Boot Maker, Cobbler, Shoe Maker, Shoe Repairer, Leather Worker, Saddle and Harness Maker, Shoe Cutter, Shoe Repairman.
O*NET 51-6041.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $37,800
- Middle half earn $31,270 to $45,670. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 56% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Prepare inserts, heel pads, and lifts from casts of customers' feet.
- Dress and otherwise finish boots or shoes, as by trimming the edges of new soles and heels to the shoe shape.
- Attach insoles to shoe lasts, affix shoe uppers, and apply heels and outsoles.
- Clean and polish shoes.
- Cement, nail, or sew soles and heels to shoes.
- Check the texture, color, and strength of leather to ensure that it is adequate for a particular purpose.
- Dye, soak, polish, paint, stamp, stitch, stain, buff, or engrave leather or other materials to obtain desired effects, decorations, or shapes.
- Shape shoe heels with a knife, and sand them on a buffing wheel for smoothness.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.0 / 5
- Speaking3.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
- Reading Comprehension2.9 / 5
- Active Learning2.4 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Production and Processing3.2 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.0 / 5
- Mechanical2.9 / 5
- Sales and Marketing2.6 / 5
- Administration and Management2.4 / 5
- Education and Training2.1 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic99
- Investigative10
- Artistic36
- Social5
- Enterprising9
- Conventional37
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- leather goods manufacturing technician · DE Produktionstechniker Lederwaren/Produktionstechnikerin Lederwaren · FR technicien de fabrication d’articles en cuir/technicienne de fabrication d’articles en cuir
- leather goods artisanal worker · DE Sattler – Feintäschnerei/Sattlerin – Feintäschnerei · FR artisan/artisane sur cuir
- leather goods manual operator · DE Fachkraft für händische Lederverarbeitung · FR monteur d’articles en cuir/monteuse d’articles en cuir
- leather goods hand stitcher · DE Ledernäher/Ledernäherin · FR piqueur main articles en cuir/piqueuse main articles en cuir
- shoemaker · DE Schuhmacher/Schuhmacherin · FR cordonnier/cordonnière
- bespoke footwear technician · DE Maßschuhmacher/Maßschuhmacherin · FR fabricant de chaussures sur mesure/fabricante de chaussures sur mesure
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Quality assurance technicians (3115)36,100 employed
- Footwear and leather working trades (5412)7,700 employed
- Science, engineering and production technicians n.e.c. (3119)38,000 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €40,086 |
| Germany | €38,638 |
| Austria | €38,194 |
| Sweden | €37,856 |
| Netherlands | €37,077 |
| Ireland | €36,098 |
| France | €27,145 |
| Italy | €26,488 |
| Spain | €22,817 |
| Portugal | €11,142 |
| Poland | €10,099 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.99. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-6041).
Related careers
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