Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders vs Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers: $45K vs $38K Median Pay

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders vs Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers: what changes?

Consider Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders if you want to operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying equipment. Consider Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers if you would rather use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders and Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

National median pay (2025): $44,810
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing to ensure conformance to standards.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,500

Know before you choose

BLS projects essentially flat employment (0.4%) through 2035. Annual openings mostly reflect replacement, not a rapidly expanding field.

See the full Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders brief

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

National median pay (2025): $38,300
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Use knives, cleavers, meat saws, bandsaws, or other equipment to perform meat cutting and trimming.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 17,000

Know before you choose

Long periods of standing are part of the normal workday.

See the full Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers brief

How the national numbers differ

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers has the edge on projected growth

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers is at 5.7% projected growth, compared with 0.4% projected growth for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders.

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers has the edge on annual openings

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers is at 17,000 annual openings, compared with 2,500 annual openings for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders.

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders has the edge on median pay

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders is at $44,810, compared with $38,300 for Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers.

36.1/ 100

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

56.3/ 100

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders vs Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

Dimension	Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders	Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
Median pay (2025)	$44,810	$38,300
Pay percentile	17.7 percentile	9.3 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	0.4%	5.7%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	2,500	17,000
2025 employment	21,600	149,800
How you qualify	No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders brief Read Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers brief

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders vs Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

How the national numbers differ

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers has the edge on projected growth

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers has the edge on annual openings

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders has the edge on median pay

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders vs Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

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