Furniture Industry Wages Non-Managerial Occupations Art and Design Occupations
September 27,
2019 by Laurie Northington in General 
Wages across the U.S. job market have been slow to grow post-recession, despite a healthy economy and the lowest unemployment rates in decades and the furniture industry is no exception. The steady increase of furniture and home furnishings sales over the last 10 years has been slower to hit employees working in the stores, but in recent years many occupations have finally started to see an upturn in wage growth.
Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ March 2019 release of “Occupational Employment Statistics,” this is the second factoid in a series of five factoids detailing employee wages in furniture stores and home furnishings stores across the variety of occupations.
As a whole non-managerial positions among furniture and home furnishings retailers carry much lower wages than managerial positions.
Non-Managerial Occupations: Art and Design Category
Non-management wages are reported in hourly wages. Interior designers in furniture stores have shown consistent median hourly wage growth (14.1 percent) from 2012 to 2018, compared to the much slower growth pace in home furnishings from 2012 to 2018 of 3.9 percent. (Table E and Figure 2). In 2018, Interior designers earned a higher median hourly wage in furniture stores ($21.90) than in home furnishings stores ($19.75).
Median hourly wages of merchandise displayer and window treatment occupations are consistent between both channels – earning between $15 and $16 an hour in 2018.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Employment Statistics,” released March 29, 2019.