Meat Cutting

Types of Degrees Meat Cutting Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many meat cutting/meat cutter graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	18
Basic Certificate	15
Associate Degree	2

What Meat Cutting Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to meat cutting were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Meat Cutting Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Skills for Meat Cutting Majors

When studying meat cutting, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Meat Cutting Majors

A major in meat cutting will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
• Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
• Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

What Can You Do With a Meat Cutting Major?

People with a meat cutting degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Butchers and Meat Cutters	5.7%	$31,580
Slaughterers and Meat Packers	0.6%	$28,260

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Meat Cutting?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of meat cutting majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	1
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

How Much Do Meat Cutting Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $28,450 to $33,210 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to meat cutting. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Meat Cutting

Some careers associated with meat cutting require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to meat cutting have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	23.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	66.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.5%
Some College Courses	8.6%

Online Meat Cutting Programs

In 2020-2021, 7 schools offered a meat cutting program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	4	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	1	0
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Meat Cutting Worth It?

The median salary for a meat cutting grad is $28,450 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Meat Cutting

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to meat cutting.

Major	Number of Grads
Culinary Arts/Chef Training	9,052
Baking & Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef	4,322
General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts	3,156
Restaurant, Culinary, & Catering Management/Manager	1,380
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant	801
Other Culinary Arts & Related Services	411
Culinary Science/Culinology	196
Bartending/Bartender	183
Institutional Food Workers	157
Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, & Dining Room Management/Manager	84
Wine Steward/Sommelier	7

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By U.S. Army Europe Images under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.