Production · Holland code RCE
Butchers and Meat Cutters
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
Also called: Butcher, Meat Clerk, Meat Cutter, Meat Specialist, Meat Wrapper.
O*NET 51-3021.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $40,140
- Middle half earn $35,510 to $48,050. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 70% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +1% · Slower than average
- 143,100 jobs in 2024, projected 144,500. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Butchers".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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.
- Record quantity of meat received and issued to cooks or keep records of meat sales.
- Supervise other butchers or meat cutters.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.1 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
- Speaking3.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
- Active Learning2.5 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.1 / 5
- Food Production3.9 / 5
- Production and Processing3.4 / 5
- Sales and Marketing3.1 / 5
- English Language2.8 / 5
- Administration and Management2.5 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic88
- Investigative7
- Artistic13
- Social15
- Enterprising30
- Conventional49
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- meat and meat products specialised seller · DE Fachverkäufer für Fleisch- und Wurstwaren/Fachverkäuferin für Fleisch- und Wurstwaren · FR vendeur en boucherie/vendeuse en boucherie
- butcher · DE Fleischer/Fleischerin · FR boucher/bouchère
- halal butcher · DE Halal-Fleischer/Halal-Fleischerin · FR boucher en boucherie halal/bouchère en boucherie halal
- kosher butcher · DE Fleischer mit Koscherzertifikat/Fleischerin mit Koscherzertifikat · FR boucher en boucherie casher/bouchère en boucherie casher
- meat cutter · DE Fleischverarbeiter/Fleischverarbeiterin · FR désosseur-pareur/désosseuse-pareuse
- meat preparations operator · DE Fleischverarbeitungskraft · FR opérateur de transformation des viandes/opératrice de transformation des viandes
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Fishmongers and poultry dressers (5433)4,900 employed
- Vehicle and parts salespersons and advisers (7115)37,400 employed
- Butchers (5431)21,300 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €40,086 |
| Germany | €38,638 |
| Austria | €38,194 |
| Sweden | €37,856 |
| Netherlands | €37,077 |
| Ireland | €36,098 |
| France | €27,145 |
| Italy | €26,488 |
| Spain | €22,817 |
| Portugal | €11,142 |
| Poland | €10,099 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.97. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-3021).
Related careers
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