---
title: "Will AI Replace Butchers and Meat Cutters?"
description: "BLS rates butchers and meat cutters' exposure to AI as moderate. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+2.4%…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-butchers-and-meat-cutters"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Butchers and Meat Cutters? (2026)

**Short answer:** Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places butchers and meat cutters in its moderate AI exposure category, below the middle of the pack: some of the work overlaps with what AI can do, much of it does not. BLS projects employment to change by +2.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 15,100 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Moderate | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 63/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +2.4% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 15,100 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $40,140 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate (this job) | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Hands-on work with tools and objects: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Repetitive motions: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Getting information: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Communicating with supervisors, peers, or subordinates: 3.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Prepare special cuts of meat ordered by customers.
- Cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, and fish, to prepare in cooking form.
- Prepare and place meat cuts and products in display counter to appear attractive and catch the shopper's eye.
- Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat.
- Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery to ensure meat quality.
- Shape, lace, and tie roasts, using boning knife, skewer, and twine.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than butchers and meat cutters

- [Stone Cutter and Carver, Manufacturing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stone-cutter-and-carver-manufacturing): BLS exposure Low, median $46,170
- [Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-and-polishing-worker-hand): BLS exposure Low, median $42,660

## FAQ

**Will AI replace butchers and meat cutters?**

Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +2.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 15,100 openings a year.

**How exposed are butchers and meat cutters to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Butchers and Meat Cutters are in the moderate category, alongside 193 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a butcher and meat cutter's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are repetitive motions, getting information and being exact or highly accurate. The parts that hold up best are hands-on work with tools and objects, face-to-face discussions and performing for or working directly with the public. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a butcher and meat cutter a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, butchers and meat cutters score 63 out of 100, higher than 90% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $40,140 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to butchers and meat cutters are less exposed to AI?**

Stone Cutter and Carver, Manufacturing (low exposure, $46,170 median), Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand (low exposure, $42,660 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than butchers and meat cutters, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/butcher-and-meat-cutter.

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This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology