Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers Salary

The median meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers salary in the United States is $38,300 per year ($18.41/hour). Salaries range from $29,980 at the entry level to $48,150+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 145,700 meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to grow 5.5% through 2034.

Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Median Salary
$38,300
per year
Hourly Rate
$18.41
per hour
Employment
145,700
jobs in the U.S.

Salary Distribution

10th percentile
$29,980
25th percentile
$35,350
Median
$38,300
75th percentile
$44,170
90th percentile
$48,150

Job Growth (2024-2034)

+5.5%
Faster than average

Annual Openings

18,400
jobs/year (growth + replacements)

Education Required

No formal educational credential

Training Needed

Short-term on-the-job training

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers Career Guide

Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmerss.

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers work the production floor at packing plants β€” Tyson, JBS, Cargill, Smithfield, Pilgrim's Pride, Perdue, and Trident Seafoods β€” breaking down carcasses, deboning, trimming, and packing at chain-line speeds of 90-175 birds/min or 400-600 hogs/hr. BLS reports median pay of $38,300 with a p10 of $29,980 and a p90 of $48,150 across 145,700 jobs. Top-end pay comes from Sr cutters at USDA-inspected beef plants (JBS Greeley, Cargill Dodge City) on premium cuts, and unionized (UFCW) plants; entry seats at poultry deboning at Tyson or Pilgrim's cluster near the median. Nearly all seats are full-time W-2 with attendance bonuses, PPE, uniforms, and OT.

Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For

Knife skills & cut yield
Sharpen, hone, and use boning, breaking, and skinning knives to hit USDA yield targets β€” a Sr trimmer on a Tyson boneless-skinless breast line pulls 4-6% more usable meat than a new trimmer, worth $180-400k/yr per line at Tyson-scale volume.
Chain-line pace & ergonomics
Poultry lines run 90-175 birds/min; hog lines 400-600/hr; beef lines 300-450/hr. Hitting pace without repetitive-strain injury means proper knife grip, stance, and micro-break discipline β€” the workers who stay 15+ years are the ones who protect their wrists and shoulders.
USDA & FSIS compliance
Zero-tolerance inspection for fecal, hair, contusion, and pathogen risk. On-line trimmers cut around defects, off-line trimmers handle inspector-flagged carcasses. USDA-FSIS violations can shut a plant for a shift and cost $1M+ in lost throughput.
HACCP & sanitation discipline
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system built into every cut and trim step. Knife dip, temperature checks, cross-contamination avoidance, and pre-shift sanitation are audited every shift by QA and periodically by USDA.
Cold-chain temperature control
Beef and pork product temperatures held under 40Β°F throughout processing; chicken often chilled to 32-34Β°F. Cutters who let product warm on the line trigger microbial risk and yield loss.
PPE & safety discipline (cut resistance, eye, ear)
Chainmail gloves, cut-resistant sleeves, aprons, hardhats, safety glasses, hearing protection, and steel-toe boots. Knife-injury rates on cutting floors are 4-6x the manufacturing average β€” PPE compliance is the difference between a career and a workers-comp claim.
Multi-station cross-training
Strong trimmers rotate every 15-30 minutes across skinner, deboner, trimmer, and packer stations to reduce ergonomic load. Plants that enforce rotation see 30-50% lower MSD injury rates and higher retention.
Basic English or Spanish plant-floor communication
Most Tyson, JBS, and Cargill plants are 40-70% Spanish-first; supervisor communication and safety signage is bilingual. Cutters who speak both are the ones who move to Lead.

How to Become a Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

  1. 1
    Complete high school diploma or GED β€” not required at every plant but strongly preferred
    Many packing plants hire without a GED for entry cutting seats, but supervisors and Sr cutters need one. Basic English or Spanish literacy for safety training is required.
  2. 2
    Apply directly at the plant β€” walk-in hiring is standard
    $30-36k starting wage at Tyson, JBS, Cargill, Smithfield, and Pilgrim's poultry / beef / pork plants. Most plants hire year-round with fast-track onboarding β€” from application to line in 5-15 business days.
  3. 3
    Complete plant orientation β€” HACCP, sanitation, PPE, safety, USDA
    1-2 weeks of paid classroom + on-line training. Some plants (Cargill, Perdue) offer $250-500 completion bonus for finishing week-one training.
  4. 4
    Move from entry station to specialty cutter over 6-24 months
    $34-42k. Entry stations (skinning, packing, transport) move to specialty deboning, breaking, or trim stations. Sr trimmer / Sr cutter on premium beef or pork cuts hits $42-52k.
  5. 5
    Promote to Lead / Line Supervisor / Trainer
    $48-72k. Own a chain-line section, train new hires, hit yield and safety targets. UFCW plants have a formal seniority-based ladder; non-union plants promote on attendance, yield, and English/Spanish fluency.

Career Progression

Entry Cutter / Skinner / Packer
0-1 yrs$30-36k ($15-17.50/hr + attendance bonus)
  • β€’Work an assigned station on the chain-line at production pace
  • β€’Follow USDA / FSIS trim standards on every carcass or bird
  • β€’Maintain sharp knife and PPE discipline every shift
  • β€’Complete HACCP and sanitation checks per station
Next: Move to specialty cutter station at 6-18 months on attendance and yield.
Specialty Cutter / Trimmer / Deboner
1-5 yrs$34-42k ($16.50-20.50/hr + shift diff + attendance bonus)
  • β€’Own a specialty cut station (boneless-skinless, prime rib, pork loin, tenderloin)
  • β€’Hit or exceed line yield targets β€” top 15% of cutters get recognition bonuses
  • β€’Sharpen and hone knives per plant standard; maintain PPE
  • β€’Cross-train to 2-3 adjacent stations for rotation
Next: Sr Cutter at 3-6 years on yield ranking and cross-training completion.
Sr Cutter / Trainer
5-10 yrs$42-52k ($20-25/hr + shift diff + OT + attendance bonus)
  • β€’Work the plant's highest-yield or hardest premium cut station
  • β€’Train new-hire cutters through structured 4-6 week OJT
  • β€’Support USDA and QA audits at the line
  • β€’Cover Lead absences and back up the Line Supervisor
Next: Line Lead or Supervisor at 8-12 years on Lead training completion.
Line Lead / Chain Supervisor
8-15 yrs$48-65k ($23-31/hr or salaried at some plants)
  • β€’Run a chain-line section (20-60 cutters) for a full shift
  • β€’Hit line yield, first-pass USDA, and safety targets daily
  • β€’Coordinate with QA, sanitation, and maintenance
  • β€’Handle disciplinary escalations and attendance tracking
Next: Superintendent / Production Supervisor at 12-18 years with formal training.
Production Supervisor / Superintendent
12+ yrs$62-95k salaried + bonus
  • β€’Manage 2-3 chain-lines and 60-200 people across a shift
  • β€’Own uptime, yield, first-pass USDA, and safety metrics reported daily to Plant Manager
  • β€’Interface with USDA-FSIS on-site inspectors, QA, and HR
  • β€’Drive CI projects β€” yield improvement, ergonomic redesign, PPE upgrades
Next: Plant Superintendent, Operations Manager, or Multi-Plant CI role.

Interview Questions & Answers

5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 15 total plus resume bullets for every level.

Q1. Walk me through your first hour of shift on a chain-line.technical
First hour is where the shift is won or lost. I show up 20 minutes before line-start, get PPE checked at the entry β€” chainmail glove intact, apron clean, boots sanitized. Grab my knives from the plant's regulated storage, check the edges under the sharpening station, and hone if needed. Get to my station 10 minutes early, verify the station is sanitized and the water/chill spray is running. Line starts, first 30 minutes I stay tight to the pace and check my yield against the line target every 10 birds or every 10 carcasses. If I'm off, I flag the Trainer or Sr Cutter β€” never fake yield. At a Tyson or Pilgrim's boneless-skinless line running 140 birds/min, that first hour sets the shift's total production number.
Q2. How do you handle a USDA inspector calling a defect on your work?situational
First rule: no arguing with USDA-FSIS on the floor. If the inspector calls a defect β€” a hair, a contamination, a bad trim β€” you fix it, log it in the inspector's tally, and continue. Second: you note what caused it (dull knife, missed sighting, station lighting). If it's a repeat, you flag your Lead in the shift huddle β€” one recurring defect might mean a station lighting fix or a knife-swap schedule change. Never take a USDA call personally; the inspector's job is to protect the product, not to grade the cutter. At a Cargill beef plant, cutters with the fewest USDA calls get the premium cut assignments β€” but that comes from process discipline, not arguing.
Q3. Describe a time you protected yourself or a coworker from injury.behavioral
STAR. Situation: at a JBS pork plant on the breaking line, a new cutter next to me was running the boning knife at a bad angle β€” thumb-forward into the swing β€” which is how tendon lacerations happen. Task: correct it without embarrassing him or breaking pace. Action: at the next line-stop for the break, I pulled him aside and showed him the safer grip and pull-away angle I'd learned from the Trainer, then flagged the Lead so the Trainer could reinforce it. Result: he adjusted, no injury, and he made it past 90-day probation. Interviewers want to see you handle safety peer-to-peer without a scene and escalate to Lead when needed.
Q4. Why cutting / trim work β€” why not a slower-pace job?culture
The honest answer: it pays for what it takes. Line work is hard on the body and it's fast, but it pays $30-52k with attendance bonus, OT, and shift diff, which beats warehouse and fast-food money in most towns where these plants are located. There's a real ladder β€” entry β†’ specialty β†’ Sr β†’ Lead β€” and plants like Tyson, Cargill, and JBS actually promote from within. And the skills transfer: a good boning cutter can get hired anywhere in the country by walking into a plant. Interviewers screen for people who understand the work, not people looking for the easy job.
Q5. Where do you see your career in 5 years?closer
I'd like to be a Sr Cutter or Trainer working a premium cut station, cross-trained on 4-5 stations, and starting Lead training. Longer term, Line Lead or Chain Supervisor. I'm targeting plants with real internal ladders β€” Cargill Dodge City, JBS Greeley, Perdue Salisbury, or a Trident Seafoods plant where the yield-improvement work is the ladder. I'd want a plant with strong ergonomic rotation because I'm planning to make it 15+ years, not burn out in 3.

Resume Template β€” Specialty Cutter / Trimmer (1-5 yrs)

Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.

Specialty Cutter / Trimmer (1-5 yrs)
  • β–ΈRan boneless-skinless breast station on Tyson chain-line at 140 birds/min; top-20% yield ranking 3 consecutive quarters.
  • β–ΈZero USDA inspector calls in FY24; passed all shift HACCP and sanitation audits.
  • β–ΈCross-trained on 3 stations (skinner, deboner, trim); available for rotation coverage 5 days/wk.
  • β–Έ$41,600 base + shift differential + $600 quarterly attendance bonus + 4-6 hrs OT/wk = $52,800 total.

What Gets You Rejected

  • βœ—Cannot pass the pre-employment physical β€” grip strength, standing endurance, and dexterity are automatic screens.
  • βœ—Attendance issues β€” chain-lines run continuous and one missing cutter pushes yield below target for the whole shift.
  • βœ—Falsifies yield or tries to hide missed defects β€” USDA and QA discover it in audit and it's terminal.
  • βœ—No PPE discipline β€” glove off, apron loose, or knife stored improperly gets a written warning immediately.
  • βœ—Won't cross-train to adjacent stations β€” cutters who refuse rotation get injured and stall at entry level.

Salary Negotiation Levers

  • βœ“Attendance bonus β€” $150-800 per quarter at most plants (Tyson, JBS, Perdue). Ask what the historical hit rate is and factor into total comp.
  • βœ“Shift differential β€” 2nd shift adds $0.75-1.50/hr; 3rd shift adds $1.25-2.75/hr; sanitation shift often has its own premium.
  • βœ“Signing / retention bonus β€” during shortages, packing plants (Tyson, JBS, Cargill, Smithfield) run $500-3,000 sign-on bonuses paid in tranches at 30/60/90/180 days.
  • βœ“Cross-training completion premium β€” some plants (Cargill, JBS) pay $0.50-1.50/hr more once cross-trained on 3+ stations.
  • βœ“Boot / knife / PPE allowance β€” often $150-400/yr; not always in the base offer.
  • βœ“OT opportunity β€” packing plants run seasonal peaks (poultry pre-Thanksgiving, beef Q4). Ask historical OT hours before signing.

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Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers Salary by State

Best Cities (cost-adjusted) β†’

Salary Map β€” Click a state for details

$28K
$50Kβ–  No data

Top Paying States

Colorado
$50K
+32%
Arizona
$49K
+27%
Kansas
$48K
+26%
Nebraska
$48K
+24%
New Hampshire
$47K
+23%
North Dakota
$47K
+23%
Michigan
$44K
+16%
South Dakota
$44K
+16%
Utah
$44K
+15%
Minnesota
$43K
+13%
Vertical line = national median. Click a state for full details.
StateMedianvs. National
Colorado$50,390+31.6%
Arizona$48,550+26.8%
Kansas$48,080+25.5%
Nebraska$47,580+24.2%
New Hampshire$47,260+23.4%
North Dakota$47,250+23.4%
Michigan$44,430+16.0%
South Dakota$44,290+15.6%
Utah$44,150+15.3%
Minnesota$43,400+13.3%
1–10 of 50

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs. National
Topeka, KS$52,050+35.9%
Sheboygan, WI$50,410+31.6%
Omaha, NE-IA$49,810+30.1%
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI$48,890+27.7%
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO$48,880+27.6%
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ$48,550+26.8%
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD$47,580+24.2%
Kansas City, MO-KS$45,820+19.6%
Portland-South Portland, ME$45,800+19.6%
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA$45,750+19.5%
1–10 of 135
Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Data reflects the most recent annual survey.
How does this compare to pro athletes?
A meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers earning $38,300/year would need 1556 years to match Stephen Curry's NBA salary, or 1671 yearsto match Patrick Mahomes' NFL contract.
See all sports & celebrity salaries β†’
πŸ“ˆ See how meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers salaries have changed over the past decade.
View Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers salary trend (2011–2024) β†’