Butchers and Meat Cutters

Low pay & highrisk
High Risk
Low High

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
2.8/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

61% (High Risk)

High Risk (61-80%): This occupation shows a significant risk of end-to-end replacement by automation. Many core parts of the role may be structured, repeatable, software-driven, or physically predictable enough for AI, machines, or robotic systems to take over. If you work in this area, it may be worth exploring safer related careers or moving towards more human-centred responsibilities.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Working directly with the public

Quite important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 100 votes

56% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. However, the automation risk level we have generated suggests a much higher chance of automation: 61% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Butchers and Meat Cutters will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Butchers and Meat Cutters was $38,960 ($19 per hour).

The median annual wage for Butchers and Meat Cutters was 21.3% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Butchers and Meat Cutters' job openings is expected to rise 1.0% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 140,040 people employed as 'Butchers and Meat Cutters' within the United States.

This represents around 0.09% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Butchers and Meat Cutters'.

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What people are saying (5)

Leave a comment
Jay (Low)
26 Apr 2026 13:04
Unless retailers move to robotics and replace customer service I believe highly unlikely and animal proteins are so diverse from one another and the amount of different animal proteins in retail controlling shrink will be difficult without skilled labor but customer service is declining and if labor is reduced significantly shrink will not be a issue
Timmo
29 Mar 2023 03:33
The problem with robots cutting primals into different cuts is the variation in the size of primals and finished salable cuts of meat. AI is already deboning chicken parts but the quality of the cut meat is terrible.Different portions , tiny bits , pieces of cartilage and bone remaining in the finished product.
Nick (Highly likely)
18 Apr 2022 21:59
First off, it's a dying occupation, but a necessary one. I strongly believe that we will be able to fully automate the process from killing to cutting up the animals. It will take a while before a machine can identify every piece of meat, but AI has accomplished a lot already, so I wouldn't be shocked if it achieves this too.
Jhonno
22 May 2020 06:37
There is a high chance robots will take jobs from butchers because they can work faster and don't get tired, so they will be more efficient.
Martin (Uncertain)
04 Sep 2019 18:18
Quality will prevail, robots have not shown the precision req.
Leave a reply about this occupation
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Job description

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

O*NET-SOC code: 51-3021.00