Food Processing Occupations Pay Salary

The median annual wage of food processing occupations was $23,950 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $17,600, and the top 10 percent earned more than $40,350.

Median wages for food processing occupations in May 2010 were as follows:

• $28,600 for butchers and meat cutters
• $27,140 for food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders
• $22,330 for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

Most workers in food processing occupations work full time. Like many workers in manufacturing, those in food processing occupations may work a shift that requires either early mornings or nights and evenings.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition