Dietitians and Nutritionists

Median salary

$76,400

Average salary

$77,130

Employment

77,570

Projected growth

5.5% growth

Annual openings

6,200

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

What Dietitians and Nutritionists Do

Plan and conduct food service or nutritional programs to assist in the promotion of health and control of disease. May supervise activities of a department providing quantity food services, counsel individuals, or conduct nutritional research.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Internship/residency
Self-employed: 12.2%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 5 of 5

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
Education: Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Biologyimportance 4.4/5
Medicine and Dentistryimportance 4.3/5
English Languageimportance 4.1/5
Therapy and Counselingimportance 4.1/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.0/5
Psychologyimportance 3.9/5
Education and Trainingimportance 3.8/5
Mathematicsimportance 3.6/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

E-Mail4.9/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.9/5
Telephone Conversations4.6/5
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.6/5
Contact With Others4.6/5
Freedom to Make Decisions4.5/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary98% skill match
Archivists98% skill match
Art Directors98% skill match
Fashion Designers97% skill match
Pharmacists97% skill match
Interior Designers97% skill match
Directors, Religious Activities and Education97% skill match
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers97% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Social Perceptivenessimportance 4.0/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 4.0/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.9/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.9/5
Coordinationimportance 3.8/5
Instructingimportance 3.8/5
Persuasionimportance 3.4/5
Systems Evaluationimportance 3.3/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Allergenic diet software
Aurora FoodPro
Axxya Systems Nutritionist Pro
BioEx Systems Nutrition Maker Plus
Compu-Cal Nutrition Assistant
Cronometer
CyberSoft NutriBase
Database software

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Cooperation
Empathy
Integrity
Social Orientation
Sincerity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

SocialHigh
InvestigativeMedium
EnterprisingMedium
ConventionalMedium
RealisticMedium
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where dietitians and nutritionists make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1Greenville, NC3.31× national avg
2Morgantown, WV2.40× national avg
3Battle Creek, MI2.27× national avg
4Pittsfield, MA2.20× national avg
5St. George, UT2.13× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

PharmacistsLateral Move
Medical and Health Services ManagersCareer Change
Financial ManagersCareer Change
Training and Development ManagersCareer Change

See the full career path from Dietitians and Nutritionists →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.