Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 51-3022.00United States
Use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.
- Median annual earnings
- $38,235
- Projected change
- +8%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 149.26K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
98.7% of the workforce
Growing to 161.14K by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Use knives, cleavers, meat saws, bandsaws, or other equipment to perform meat cutting and trimming.
- Weigh meats and tag containers for weight and contents.
- Inspect meat products for defects, bruises or blemishes and remove them along with any excess fat.
- Cut and trim meat to prepare for packing.
- Separate meats and byproducts into specified containers and seal containers.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $29,822
- 25th percentile
- $35,203
- 50th percentile
- $38,235
- 75th percentile
- $44,189
- 90th percentile
- $48,575
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $38,235 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+8%faster than average
2025149,261 jobs
2035 projected161,137 jobs
11,876 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
- 98.7%
- Doctoral degree or more
- 1.3%
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.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- 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.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Meat Cutters8,121 postings
- 02Meat Cutters Apprentice564 postings
- 03Meat Clerks438 postings
- 04Journeyman Meat Cutters303 postings
- 05Meatcutters187 postings
- 06Meat Wrappers176 postings
- 07Meat Managers61 postings
- 08Trimmers52 postings
- 09Assistants/Helpers30 postings
- 10Meat Cutters/Clerks21 postings
- 11Apparel Associates18 postings
- 12Utility Workers18 postings
- 13Meat Team Members16 postings
- 14Meat Clerks/Meat Cutters10 postings
- 15Meat and Seafood Clerks10 postings
- 16All Purpose Clerks6 postings
- 17Beef Shoppe/Seafood Clerks5 postings
- 18Meat Department Managers5 postings
- 19Meat Leads5 postings
- 20Deli/Meat Clerks4 postings
Top employers
- 01Albertsons865 postings
- 02Costco594 postings
- 03Walmart515 postings
- 04Sam's Club444 postings
- 05Safeway328 postings
- 06BJ's Wholesale Club310 postings
- 07Hannaford Brothers Company294 postings
- 08The Fresh Market272 postings
- 09Kroger260 postings
- 10WinCo Foods190 postings
- 11Meijer175 postings
- 12Harris Teeter143 postings
- 13Giant Eagle140 postings
- 14H-E-B137 postings
- 15Winn-Dixie130 postings
- 16United Supermarkets123 postings
- 17Fresh Thyme Market119 postings
- 18Hy-Vee108 postings
- 19Jewel-Osco106 postings
- 20C&S Wholesale Grocers104 postings
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