Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code SIE
Dietitians and Nutritionists
Plan and conduct food service or nutritional programs to assist in the promotion of health and control of disease. May supervise activities of a department providing quantity food services, counsel individuals, or conduct nutritional research.
Also called: Clinical Dietitian, Dietitian, Nutritionist, Registered Dietitian, Clinical Dietician, Clinical Nutritionist, Oncology Dietitian, Outpatient Dietitian.
O*NET 29-1031.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $76,400
- Middle half earn $63,080 to $89,340. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
- 53% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +6% · Faster than average
- 90,900 jobs in 2024, projected 95,900. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Dietitians and nutritionists".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
- Evaluate laboratory tests in preparing nutrition recommendations.
- Counsel individuals and groups on basic rules of good nutrition, healthy eating habits, and nutrition monitoring to improve their quality of life.
- Advise patients and their families on nutritional principles, dietary plans, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.
- Incorporate patient cultural, ethnic, or religious preferences and needs in the development of nutrition plans.
- Consult with physicians and health care personnel to determine nutritional needs and diet restrictions of patient or client.
- Record and evaluate patient and family health and food history, including symptoms, environmental toxic exposure, allergies, medication factors, and preventive health-care measures.
- Develop recipes and menus to address special nutrition needs, such as low glycemic, low histamine, or gluten- or allergen-free.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Active Listening4.0 / 5
- Speaking4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
- Writing3.9 / 5
- Monitoring3.9 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Biology4.4 / 5
- Medicine and Dentistry4.3 / 5
- English Language4.1 / 5
- Therapy and Counseling4.1 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service4.0 / 5
- Psychology3.9 / 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.
- Realistic34
- Investigative63
- Artistic23
- Social75
- Enterprising40
- Conventional39
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)
- animal feed nutritionist · DE Futtermittelwissenschaftler/Futtermittelwissenschaftlerin · FR nutritionniste animalier
- food biotechnologist · DE Lebensmittelbiotechnologe/Lebensmittelbiotechnologin · FR spécialiste en biotechnologie alimentaire
- food technologist · DE Lebensmitteltechnologe/Lebensmitteltechnologin · FR ingénieur en technologie alimentaire/ingénieure en technologie alimentaire
- dietitian · DE Diätologe/Diätologin · FR diététicien/diététicienne
- prepared meals nutritionist · DE Ernährungsberater Fertiggerichte/Ernährungsberaterin Fertiggerichte · FR diététicien chef de produit en fabrication industrielle/diététicienne chef de produit en fabrication industrielle
- kinesiologist · DE Kinesiologe/Kinesiologin · FR kinésiologue
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Occupational therapists (2222)56,000 employed
- Podiatrists (2256)16,200 employed
- Beauticians and related occupations (6222)90,100 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.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “栄養士”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥259,400
- Middle half earn ¥226,300 to ¥294,700 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 105,330
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. 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 | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
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 higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.34. 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 (29-1031).
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