Butchers and Meat Cutters
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 51-3021.00United States
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
- Median annual earnings
- $40,027
- Projected change
- +4%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 139.63K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
90.3% of the workforce
Growing to 145.23K by 2035
Explore this career by location
Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.
Showing United States
Loading available locations…
Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
Loading related ASU learning
The work
What butchers and meat cutters do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Prepare and place meat cuts and products in display counter to appear attractive and catch the shopper's eye.
- Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat.
- Cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, and fish, to prepare in cooking form.
- Prepare special cuts of meat ordered by customers.
- Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery to ensure meat quality.
- Estimate requirements and order or requisition meat supplies to maintain inventories.
- Shape, lace, and tie roasts, using boning knife, skewer, and twine.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $29,128
- 25th percentile
- $35,187
- 50th percentile
- $40,027
- 75th percentile
- $48,056
- 90th percentile
- $58,964
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $40,027 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+4%average or slower
2025139,629 jobs
2035 projected145,234 jobs
5,605 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 90.3%
- Some college
- 7.3%
- Certificate
- 2.4%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Butchers1,478 postings
- 02Meat Wrappers1,277 postings
- 03Meat Managers759 postings
- 04Assistants/Helpers625 postings
- 05Meat Cutters/Butchers611 postings
- 06Meat Associates489 postings
- 07Seafood Associates209 postings
- 08Meat Stockers98 postings
- 09Cutters95 postings
- 10Butcher Block Supervisors84 postings
- 11Meat Supervisors77 postings
- 12Journeymen73 postings
- 13Meat Cutters Apprentice70 postings
- 14Butcher Block Clerks63 postings
- 15Meat Leads54 postings
- 16Meat Team Leaders51 postings
- 17Produce Fresh Cut Clerks48 postings
- 18Meat-Seafood Managers43 postings
- 19Makers42 postings
- 20Meat Cutters42 postings
Top employers
- 01Costco620 postings
- 02K-Va-T Food Stores424 postings
- 03Whole Foods378 postings
- 04Albertsons304 postings
- 05Winn-Dixie253 postings
- 06Food City231 postings
- 07Kroger213 postings
- 08Restaurant Depot172 postings
- 09BJ's Wholesale Club171 postings
- 10Safeway116 postings
- 11Spartannash Associates94 postings
- 12C&S Wholesale Grocers93 postings
- 13ShopRite75 postings
- 14Meijer70 postings
- 15Brookshire Grocery Company68 postings
- 16Save A Lot Food Stores67 postings
- 17Price Chopper64 postings
- 18Pricerite64 postings
- 19CRH plc63 postings
- 20Leevers Supermarkets54 postings
Keep looking