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Butchers and Meat Cutters

Typical education: High school diplomaHigh pressure

What they do

Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.

Kinds of work

  • Realistic: Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals, often outdoors.
  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.

High pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $40,140 Median per year · $19.30/hr Most earn $29,460–$58,110

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • 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.
  • Cure, smoke, tenderize, and preserve meat.
  • Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat.
  • Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat.
  • Estimate requirements and order or requisition meat supplies to maintain inventories.

Job outlook

United States
2% more jobs by 2035, slower than average · about 15,100 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Grocery and specialty food retailers74.9%
  • General merchandise retailers9.0%
  • Animal slaughtering and processing8.8%
  • Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods2.8%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Some people start through an apprenticeship: paid training on the job, often with classes. Search apprenticeships on Apprenticeship.gov (opens in a new tab) ↗

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: High school diplomaExperience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Butchers and meat cutters usually start with a high school diploma and learn on the job. Most people need about 1 to 2 years of hands-on experience before they're doing the full job on their own.

  1. High school diploma

    4 years

    Finish school with useful classes like math, science, and any family and consumer sciences or culinary courses. These build the basic skills you'll use on the job, like measuring and food safety.

  2. Meat Trimmer

    6-12 months

    Start as an entry-level worker who trims fat, cuts simple pieces, and learns knife safety and sanitation from experienced cutters. This on-the-job training is how you build the skills to move up.

  3. Butcher and Meat Cutter

    1-2 years total experience

    With more practice, you cut, trim, and package consumer-sized portions of meat for sale in stores, handling a wider range of cuts with less supervision.

Where it can lead

  1. Lead Butcher

    2-4 years of experience first

    You take charge of the cutting station, train newer staff, and help keep work organized and on schedule. Strong knife skills, reliability, and clear communication help you get here.

  2. Meat Department Manager

    5+ years of experience first

    You oversee the whole meat department, including ordering, staffing, inventory, and customer service. Moving up here takes both cutting experience and comfort with planning and managing people.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take math and science classesMeasuring, weighing, and understanding how food spoils or stays safe all rely on these basics.
  • Enroll in a family and consumer sciences or culinary classThese classes teach knife skills, food safety, and kitchen sanitation, which are used every day at a meat counter.
  • Get a part-time job at a grocery storeWorking in the meat department or stocking shelves lets you see the work up close and gets you comfortable with a fast-paced store setting.
  • Join FFA or 4-H if your school offers themThese groups often include animal science and meat-related projects, plus hands-on experience with livestock and food processing.
  • Volunteer with a local food bank or community kitchenHelping prepare and package food builds portioning habits and teaches you to follow food safety rules.

In college

  • Take food science, animal science, or culinary coursesClasses on meat science, food safety, or cooking techniques give you knowledge that employers and butcher shops value.
  • Work part-time at a grocery meat counter or butcher shopSteady hands-on work builds knife skills and speed, and it may lead to a full-time job while you study.
  • Earn a food safety certificationA food handler or food safety certificate, often offered by local health departments or community colleges, shows employers you understand safe meat handling.
  • Seek a summer internship at a meat processing plant or farm-to-table butcherInternships show you how meat is processed on a larger scale and how a retail butcher counter runs day to day.
  • Join a culinary or agriculture student clubClubs connect you with people in food and farming careers and can open doors to job leads and mentors.

Tips for getting started

  • Ask about a part-time job in a grocery store meat department or local butcher shop. Hands-on exposure is the fastest way to learn the work and see if you enjoy it.
  • Get a food handler or food safety card if your town or school offers the course. Employers value workers who already understand sanitation and safe handling.
  • Pay attention to safety from day one. Good knife technique and keeping a clean station matter as much as speed in this job.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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