Butchers have a long history as one of the oldest trades, extending back to the earliest domestication of animals.
Meat cutters and butchers are often employed by grocery stores, supermarkets, major chains, or specialty butcher and fish shops in modern society.
Butchers can also work in the food business as part of the manufacture and processing of meat products.
Even though food shopping has been chiefly concentrated in larger supermarkets and merchants, specialist butcher shops remain popular in most urban areas.
Being one of the most ancient jobs around nowadays, you might wonder how much butchers make, and which state pays them the most?
According to Zippia, Washington is the highest paying state for Butchers, and to know about Butcher’s hourly, minimum, and highest pay, among other details, keep reading.
Summary
| Guide | How Much Do Butchers Make? |
|---|---|
| Average Income | $35,021 per year |
| Highest Income | Between $115,000 and $120,000 per year |
| Qualification | Not Required |
| Training | Not compulsory |
Who Are Butchers?
Sometimes known as a meat cutter, a butcher prepares meat by chopping, portioning, and grinding it.
If the butcher works in a store, they may also be responsible for packing and labeling the meat as well as serving customers.
In other jobs, a butcher could be in charge of slaughtering the animals that provide the meat.
Butchers are required to follow proper hygienic standards as well as federal and state requirements when handling and preparing meat products.
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How Much Do Butchers Make?
A butcher’s average hourly wage is $14.99, or $35,021 per year. This will depend on your skill level, experience, location, and education.
According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, there is going to be an increase in the job employment rate for butchers, so this might show an increase in the average wages as the experienced butchers will get higher wages than those who are just entering the market without prior experience.
When you are a butcher, your earnings solely depend on your experience, and also if you have your shop, you can earn great deals of money and not be subject to any salary.
1. How much do Butchers make an hour?
Butchers make a minimum of $8.89 an hour and a maximum of $24.76 an hour.
2. How much do Butchers make a month?
Butchers make a minimum of $1,542 a month and a maximum of $4,292 a month.
3. How much do Butchers make a year?
Butchers make a minimum of $18,500 a year and a maximum of $51,500 a year.
Highest Salary Of Butchers In 2023
Many things determine a butcher’s Salary. Depending on the location, the highest Salary could change significantly because the amount you will be getting in a big state is not the same as you get in a small state.
However, the average highest Salary among the most senior butchers is between $115,000 and $120,000 annually.
Considering the average pay for a butcher, this is a difference of more than triple, which is a significant difference when compared to other jobs.
Is Being A Butcher Good Or Bad?
Being a butcher is a challenging profession. There’s a lot of pressure. They work with high-priced meat cuts, and a single blunder might cost the business a whole cut of meat.
A Butcher must be aware of specifics such as the proper temperature for storing meat, the appearance of mold and germs on aged meat, and current culinary trends.
They must also know how to separate a carcass correctly. A butcher must know over three dozen different cuts only for a cow. It’s also chilly, physically taxing, and dangerous employment.
Butchers must carry and move heavy carcasses that generally stay at a temperature of roughly 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Butchers have one of the highest injury and sickness rates of any profession. Looking at all this, it all comes down to your risk tolerance and your likings.
Many people dislike being a butcher, but you might like it, and this makes it good for you.
Pros and Cons of Being A Butcher
Pros
- Low competition
- Profitable
- You can start a butchery
- Low stress job
- Standard work weeks
- Job security
- No education degree required
Cons
- Physically demanding
- Mistakes can cost you a lot
- Low social status
How To Become A Butcher?
Here’s how you can become a Butcher:
- It is good to have a school diploma or GED.
- You will need to obtain butchery training from a local school or training center.
- You can then do on-the-job training to polish your butchery skills.
- Some states may require a license, so you will need to obtain a butcher license if that is the requirement in your state.
Apart from this, you must have the necessary information about the products you are selling, and if you have experience preparing specific types of meat, you will have a better chance of landing a position.
To avoid injuring yourself and cutting meat with accuracy, you also need to have good hygiene and hand-eye coordination.
America’s Most Famous Butcher
How Many Hours Do Butchers Work?
Butchers work for eight hours a day and up to 40 hours a week.
Self-employed Butchers may choose to work longer than this, and many self-employed Butchers work for up to 10-12 hours a day.
What is the Starting Pay of Butchers?
The starting pay of Butchers is $8.89 an hour or $18,500 a year. With more experience, you can make as much as $24.76 an hour or $51.500 a year.
And if you start your own butchery business, then you will be able to make even more than this.
Butcher Training Programs
A training program is good venues to learn butchering skills and get a solid understanding of meat and butchery practice.
Basic cutting, trimming, and boning abilities and cleanliness and customer service skills are often taught in these programs.
Such courses might help you obtain a job as a butcher or seek higher study by providing practical, hands-on experience.
Many accredited courses give butcher training programs to people with a price tag.
Using them will give you a head start in your butcher career as they also give you practical experience during these training programs.
You learn things like meat evaluation, animal processing, meat selection, and many things about the meat, along with practical experience.
There are also university degrees if you think about pursuing them.
Conclusion
Even though it is one of the oldest jobs out there, being a butcher is not easy. It has a lot of things you need to be careful about, and it requires many qualifications to begin with.
With all needs it asks, the Average Salary of a butcher is not that good, but the more experience you have, the more you earn.
You might end up earning six figures in the long run when you put yourself into this career.
But if you can not give enough time and earn enough experience, you can not expect to earn a lot of money from this career.
FAQ
How much do butchers make when they have their own store?
For this, there is basically no limit because if you have a lot of customers and employees, you can not put a limit on the amount you are earning.
Still, on average, it will definitely be higher than an average butcher salary.
How much do butchers make when they are at the most senior level?
This depends, but the most senior butchers get around $115,000 annual salary, as we have mentioned above.
How much do butchers make when they first start their career after education?
If you got an education, you start off with something similar to the average butcher wage.
Still, if you did not get an education or apprenticeship, you start off from the very bottom of the salary scale.
Shefali Jain is a Content Writer & Editor at USWorkforce.org
After completing her graduation in hospitality, Shefali decided to follow her passion and started writing. Shefali has been writing for two years now and contributes to our website as a skilled editor and content writer with strong research skills. Writing product and service reviews, biographies, and book reviews are some of her key areas, among many others in which she specializes. In her time at the organization, she has written and edited content on a range of topics, including employment law, human resources, and business management.
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