Is Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers a good career?
Also known as: Boot Maker
Think twice — it scores below most careers (33th percentile). The pay pulls it down enough that it's not the safe default it might seem.
SOC 51-6041 · U.S. dataThe bottom line
Think twice — it scores below most careers (33th percentile). The pay pulls it down enough that it's not the safe default it might seem.
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 score8/100
Job growth20% of score17/100AI-proof20% of score86/100
Easy to enter15% of score60/100
Chill20% of score68/100Your 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.
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.