Cutting colored glass and leading it into images that come alive with light — designing, fabricating, and sometimes restoring windows and panels by hand. A centuries-old craft built around how light passes through.
The work means cutting glass, assembling with lead came or copper foil, soldering, and finishing — or restoring old windows piece by piece. You work to your own designs or commissions, in a studio, often hours bent over a light table. The craft is exacting and physical — one ill-fitting piece throws off the panel.
What people underestimate is the commercial and physical reality — commissions, deadlines, and the hazards of glass, lead, and solder. Income tends to be uneven and project-driven, the craft is slow to truly master, and restoration work brings its own painstaking demands. The market is niche.
It fits someone patient, precise, and quietly devoted to a traditional craft. If you want stable pay or fast, large-scale work, the niche can feel limiting. But if you love working with your hands — and the moment finished glass catches the sun and glows — the work tends to reward the years it takes to master.
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Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Arts & Media roles →Cutting colored glass and leading it into images that come alive with light — designing, fabricating, and sometimes restoring windows and panels by hand. A centuries-old craft built around how light passes through.
Median pay for a Stained Glass Artist is about $70K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $26K to $141K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Speaking.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 1% through 2034, with roughly 40,250 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Undraped Artist Model, Packaging Designer, and Comic Book Designer.
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