blacksmith
Blacksmiths heat metal, usually steel, in a forge and shape it with a hammer, chisel, and an anvil. Contemporarily, they predominantly create artisanal metal products, including ornamental work, as well as horse shoes, one of the sole metal fabricating processes that has not been industrialised.
blacksmith blacksmiths heat metal, usually steel, in a forge and shape it with a hammer, chisel, and an anvil. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include types of metal, forging processes, hot forging, maintain furnace temperature, join metals.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £37,058 a year for Metal plate workers, smiths, moulders and related occupations (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 5212). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Craft and related trades workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only blacksmith, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 7. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Frequently asked questions
What does blacksmith do?
Blacksmiths heat metal, usually steel, in a forge and shape it with a hammer, chisel, and an anvil. Contemporarily, they predominantly create artisanal metal products, including ornamental work, as well as horse shoes, one of the sole metal fabricating processes that has not been industrialised.
What skills does blacksmith need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include types of metal, forging processes, hot forging, maintain furnace temperature, join metals, operate welding equipment. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace blacksmith?
Our AI-durability model gives blacksmith a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.