Slaughterers and Meat Packers salary

SOC 51-3023 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$40,130

per year, nationally

Middle half

$36,150–$46,870

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

69,950

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.2%

8,400 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$33,340$51,090

10th: $33,340
25th: $36,150
Median: $40,130
75th: $46,870
90th: $51,090

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where slaughterers and meat packers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Colorado	$50,480	103.1	1,590	1.23×
2	Arizona	$49,020	100.7	440	0.30×
3	Nebraska	$48,910	90.1	5,480	11.89×
4	Kansas	$48,240	90.1	2,170	3.36×
5	Montana	$46,700	94.6	80	0.33×
6	South Carolina	$46,000	93.7	250	0.24×
7	Oregon	$45,980	103.4	360	0.41×
8	Oklahoma	$45,970	87.8	1,560	2.03×
9	Michigan	$45,850	96.2	2,920	1.47×
10	New Jersey	$45,230	108.8	1,050	0.54×
11	Washington	$45,100	107.0	840	0.53×
12	Illinois	$44,950	100.0	3,360	1.23×
13	Missouri	$44,490	90.8	1,280	0.97×
14	South Dakota	$44,410	88.6	740	3.60×
15	Utah	$44,040	98.9	560	0.72×
16	Iowa	$43,820	87.8	4,220	6.02×
17	Indiana	$43,770	93.3	1,210	0.84×
18	Minnesota	$43,360	98.6	2,820	2.12×
19	Texas	$43,160	97.1	2,950	0.47×
20	Vermont	$42,220	98.0	50	0.37×
21	Idaho	$40,370	95.5	450	1.18×
22	Louisiana	$40,120	88.2	650	0.75×
23	North Carolina	$39,930	94.3	6,120	2.75×
24	North Dakota	$39,730	89.0	160	0.84×
25	California	$39,420	110.7	6,170	0.75×
26	New Hampshire	$39,270	104.2	40	0.14×
27	Hawaii	$38,890	110.0	120	0.42×
28	Maine	$38,740	97.0	50	0.18×
29	Kentucky	$38,330	90.2	320	0.36×
30	Arkansas	$37,800	86.9	2,140	3.64×
31	Massachusetts	$37,780	105.8	170	0.11×
32	Maryland	$37,650	105.0	130	0.11×
33	Rhode Island	$37,570	102.3	280	1.24×
34	Wisconsin	$37,510	94.1	2,620	1.98×
35	Virginia	$37,430	101.1	1,480	0.80×
36	Pennsylvania	$37,330	97.6	4,410	1.62×
37	Ohio	$36,800	92.8	2,440	0.98×
38	Georgia	$36,770	96.3	3,660	1.66×
39	Alabama	$36,360	88.8	240	0.26×
40	Connecticut	$36,290	103.6	70	0.10×
41	Tennessee	$35,790	91.9	650	0.44×
42	Florida	$34,430	103.4	400	0.09×
43	New York	$33,880	107.9	1,750	0.40×
44	Mississippi	$33,650	87.0	1,100	2.09×
45	Delaware	$31,200	99.8	50	0.25×
46	New Mexico	$30,560	92.2	—	—
47	Nevada	$30,430	100.0	140	0.21×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where slaughterers and meat packers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for slaughterers and meat packers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$52,180	103.2	40	0.38×
2	Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	$49,600	86.5	1,120	33.22×
3	Corpus Christi, TX	$49,460	92.7	50	0.55×
4	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	$48,120	89.1	430	5.33×
5	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$48,030	92.7	110	0.64×
6	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$46,990	105.8	210	0.29×
7	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$46,670	104.8	100	0.11×
8	Omaha, NE-IA	$46,390	91.9	1,330	5.94×
9	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$46,380	105.4	200	0.37×
10	Columbia, SC	$46,170	93.7	150	0.84×
11	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$45,300	115.6	140	0.13×
12	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$45,220	98.1	60	0.10×
13	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$45,090	102.4	50	2.00×
14	Madison, WI	$44,920	97.3	90	0.47×
15	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$44,490	105.1	210	1.61×
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$44,040	111.1	240	0.25×
17	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$44,040	100.9	260	0.70×
18	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$43,680	95.5	610	2.25×
19	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$43,060	96.9	420	1.13×
20	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$42,080	95.8	110	0.47×
21	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$42,070	103.1	260	0.14×
22	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$41,950	102.6	1,720	1.32×
23	Tyler, TX	$39,620	92.2	40	0.75×
24	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$39,510	100.1	730	0.56×
25	Fresno, CA	$39,420	102.2	2,690	12.53×
26	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$39,200	103.6	1,780	0.88×
27	Elkhart-Goshen, IN	$39,070	90.3	100	1.76×
28	Kansas City, MO-KS	$39,020	92.5	150	0.29×
29	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$38,990	100.0	60	0.37×
30	St. Louis, MO-IL	$38,840	95.1	120	0.20×
31	Fort Smith, AR-OK	$38,800	85.9	300	7.09×
32	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$38,290	100.3	250	0.30×
33	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$37,800	108.3	90	0.08×
34	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$37,570	101.8	310	0.96×
35	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$37,270	97.3	130	0.21×
36	Pittsburgh, PA	$37,170	94.7	150	0.30×
37	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$37,160	104.5	—	—
38	Oklahoma City, OK	$37,110	90.4	130	0.42×
39	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$37,020	93.6	290	2.53×
40	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$36,830	95.4	330	0.67×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where slaughterers and meat packers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Bakers$37,160
Food Batchmakers$42,290
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers$38,300
Butchers and Meat Cutters$40,140
Food Processing Workers, All Other$39,680
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders$41,590
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders$44,810