WorthIt

Is Helpers--Carpenters a good career?

Also known as: Carpenter Assistant

A mixed bag, landing mid-pack (42th percentile of all careers). The ai-proof is decent, but the pay is the catch — right for some, not for everyone.

SOC 47-3012 · U.S. data
Pay17Growth71AI-proof94Entry52Chill17
48Worth-It Score · Mixed bag
$43,780
Median pay/yr
$31,660
Starting (entry-level)
+4%
Job growth to 2034
No formal educational credential
Typical entry education

The bottom line

A mixed bag, landing mid-pack (42th percentile of all careers). The ai-proof is decent, but the pay is the catch — right for some, not for everyone.

Will AI take this job? AI has barely touched this work — among the safest jobs from automation we track.  See the full AI breakdown →

How we scored it

Five things that decide if a career is worth it — each shown as a percentile (how it ranks against all U.S. jobs), then weighted into the total.

Pay25% of score17/100
Beats 17% of all U.S. jobs on this
Job growth20% of score71/100
Beats 71% of all U.S. jobs on this
AI-proof20% of score94/100
Beats 94% of all U.S. jobs on this
Easy to enter15% of score52/100
Beats 52% of all U.S. jobs on this
Chill20% of score17/100
High-stress job — more pressure than most

Your priorities differ — a high earner may weigh Pay more; a worried parent may weigh AI-proof more. This is a starting map, not a verdict on your life.

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Where the numbers come from

Pay · BLS OEWS, May 2024

Median, entry-level (10th percentile) and top (90th percentile) annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics. Public domain.

Job growth · BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034

Projected change in employment from the BLS Employment Projections (2024–2034). A 10-year forecast — an informed estimate, not a guarantee.

AI-proof · GistGarden AI Job Risk

How much AI is actually doing this job's tasks, from our AI Job Risk tool (built on O*NET, GPTs-are-GPTs & the Anthropic Economic Index). Higher AI use = lower AI-proof score.

Easy to enter · BLS entry education

Based on the typical education needed to enter (BLS) plus entry-level pay — lower barrier + better starting pay rank higher.

Low stress · O*NET work context

How much time pressure, conflict and competition the work involves, from O*NET Work Context. Less day-to-day pressure ranks higher.

How the score is built · method

Each of the five measures is turned into a percentile — where this job ranks against all 730+ U.S. occupations we track — then combined with a weighted average (Pay 25%, Job growth 20%, AI-proof 20%, Easy to enter 15%, Low stress 20%). The letter grade (A–E) reflects the total score's percentile. This follows the standard composite-indicator approach (normalize → weight → aggregate) used by the OECD Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators.

Sources: BLS OEWS (May 2024) · BLS Employment Projections (2024–2034) · O*NET 30.3 Work Context (CC BY 4.0) · GistGarden AI Job Risk. Compiled June 2026. BLS data is in the public domain; "O*NET" is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor.

For general informational purposes only — not career, financial, or employment advice. The Worth-It Score is one simplified model combining public data; it is not a prediction about any individual's job, pay, or future. Weigh it alongside your own goals and research.