Butchers and Meat Cutters
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
- Median pay
- $40,140
- Doing it now
- 138,400
- By 2035
- Up 2.4%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
a year
across the country
15,100 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat.
- Prepare and place meat cuts and products in display counter to appear attractive and catch the shopper's eye.
- Prepare special cuts of meat ordered by customers.
- Cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, and fish, to prepare in cooking form.
- Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery to ensure meat quality.
- Shape, lace, and tie roasts, using boning knife, skewer, and twine.
- Estimate requirements and order or requisition meat supplies to maintain inventories.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Culinary Arts and Related ServicesSee 40 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Leading and persuading
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $40,140 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.