Headline risk
5%
Low RiskButchers and meat cutters
United States AI Work Index tracks this occupation on the shared structural baseline and then layers on local demand resilience, wages, and confidence.
Why This Score
Share of job tasks that overlap with current AI capabilities
Median annual wage
Projected employment change over 10 years
Typical preparation needed for this occupation
Occupation profile
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
Task evidence
100% weighted task match · 0% effective coverage
Scores combine AI task overlap, human advantages, and local demand. How it works
United States Now
Median Wage
USD 38,960
Employment 2024
143.1K
Projected Change (2024–34)
1.0%
Openings (2024–34)
16.9K
Wage distribution
Demand outlook
Employment of butchers is projected to show little or no change from 2024 to 2034.
Role Profile
Tasks
- 1. Prepare and place meat cuts and products in display counter to appear attractive and catch the shopper's eye. AI use: 0%
- 2. Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat. AI use: 0%
- 3. Cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, and fish, to prepare in cooking form. AI use: 0%
- 4. Prepare special cuts of meat ordered by customers. AI use: 0%
- 5. Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery to ensure meat quality. AI use: 0%
- 6. Estimate requirements and order or requisition meat supplies to maintain inventories. AI use: 0%
Technologies
Requirements
Work context
Worker profile
Median age 38.9 · 255K employed
Under 25: 11% · 25–54: 71% · 55+: 17%
Related
No direct US role match is available yet for this occupation.
Source coverage
11/11 source families · O*NET 30.2 / OEWS 2024 / ORS 2025 / OOH 2025-08-28 / Projections 2024-34 / CPS 2025 / Anthropic task penetration
Mapping quality
crosswalk_exact · employment series present
Narrative & sources
Butchers cut, trim, and package meat for retail sale.
Most butchers work in grocery stores and specialty meat shops. The work can be physically demanding and may include exposure to repetitive motions, dangerous equipment, and cold temperatures.
Butchers typically need no formal educational credential. They learn their skills on the job.
The median annual wage for butchers was $38,960 in May 2024.
Employment of butchers is projected to show little or no change from 2024 to 2034.
Published limitations
This page shows the local country layer, not realised individual job outcomes. The global structural baseline is shared across countries; only the local demand and wage layer changes here.
Built from O*NET occupation descriptions, task statements, technology skills, work context, Job Zones, Anthropic task penetration, BLS OEWS wages, BLS projection tables, BLS ORS requirements, BLS OOH narrative content, BLS skills data, and BLS CPS occupation age tables.