Butchers and meat cutters
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
Butchers and meat cutters cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments. The role reports a median annual salary of $38,960 in the US. Entry typically requires a No formal educational credential, and shows moderate AI exposure (0.48 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Time Management.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £28,859 a year for Butchers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £25,989 to £32,218 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 5431). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Craft and related trades workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Butchers and meat cutters, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 7. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- Food Production
- Production and Processing
- Sales and Marketing
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Education and Training
What you'd actually 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.
- 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.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Butchers and meat cutters do?
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
How much does Butchers and meat cutters earn?
The median annual salary for Butchers and meat cutters in the US is $38,960.
How do I become butchers and meat cutters?
The typical entry education is a No formal educational credential. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Butchers and meat cutters need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Time Management, Monitoring. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Butchers and meat cutters?
Our AI-durability model gives Butchers and meat cutters a score of 0.48 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Butchers and meat cutters has low barrier to entry — generally accessible — you can enter with basic credentials and on-the-job learning.