Also called: Puppet Fabricator, Puppet Designer
Designs and builds puppets for TV, film, theater, and theme parks.
A puppet builder sculpts foam heads, sews fleece skins, installs mechanisms for blinking eyes, and makes repairs during a show's run.
Approximate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Art, costume, or puppetry training.
Ways in: 4-year college, Self-taught, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Puppetry, Sculpture, Costume Design.
Growing slowly. Tiny niche.
Low risk for 10 years. 3D printing helps parts, but building puppets by hand stays craft work.
Classes: Art (sculpture), Sewing or FACS, Woodshop, Theater tech crew.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1012.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.