Production
Butchers and Meat Cutters
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
Also called: Butcher, Meat Clerk, Meat Cutter, Meat Specialist, Meat Wrapper
- Median pay in Greater Boston
- $48,910
- $23.52/hr
- Jobs in Greater Boston
- 1,150
- Massachusetts 2024–2034
- +2.5%
- 220 openings a year
- Typical U.S. entry requirement
- No formal educational credential
- plus Moderate-term on-the-job training
Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.
Pay range in Greater Boston
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39,420 | $44,620 | $48,910 | $51,670 | $61,930 |
10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.
What you’d 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.
AI and this job
AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.
Lower exposure14 of 100
The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:
- AIOE 17
- Language-model AIOE 18
- GPTs-are-GPTs 7
Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)
AI exposure for butchers and meat cutters is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. AI tools may help with simple back-counter jobs like weighing, labeling, and pricing. Cutting, boning, and trimming meat by hand, and checking deliveries, depend on hands-on skill and judgment that AI tools do not do.
Likely to change
- Weighing, labeling, and pricing cuts of meat
- Tracking meat deliveries and stock records
Still relies on people
- Cutting, boning, and trimming meat by hand
- Filling special orders and advising customers
Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.
Next steps from here
Related jobs that build on what you already do.
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You already trim material with knives and saws and read orders. This move offers higher pay ($55,530) and a steady skilled trade, with long-term on-the-job training.
- Pay difference
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- AI exposure
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- Pay difference
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Training near Boston
College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).
No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.
Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.
Related occupations
Talk to a career coach
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