Dietitians and nutritionists held 86,300 U.S. jobs in 2025, with employment projected to reach 93,000 by 2035. The occupation combines clinical assessment, nutrition counseling, research, education, and food-service management. These statistics describe the U.S. labor market and occupation profile, with measurement periods shown for each set of figures.
Contents
- Workforce size and outlook
- Pay and wage distribution
- Where dietitians work
- Education, training, and credentials
- Core duties and task ratings
- Career interests and work orientation
Workforce size and outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook reports 86,300 jobs for dietitians and nutritionists in 2025. Its 2025–2035 outlook projects 93,000 jobs by 2035, a numeric increase of 6,700 jobs and a growth rate of 8%. The BLS projects about 5,700 openings per year on average during that decade. These openings reflect the projected annual opportunity level for the combined dietitian-and-nutritionist occupation, not a count of newly created jobs alone. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The BLS occupational projections and worker-characteristics table gives a closely related presentation: 86.3 thousand workers in 2025 and 93.0 thousand in 2035. It describes the change as 6.7 thousand jobs and a 7.7% increase, while the Occupational Outlook Handbook rounds the outlook to 8%. The projections table also lists 5.7 thousand annual openings on average from 2025 to 2035. (Occupational projections and worker characteristics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
| Measure | 2025–2035 U.S. projection |
|---|---|
| Jobs in 2025 | 86,300 |
| Jobs in 2035 | 93,000 |
| Numeric increase | 6,700 |
| Growth rate | 8% in the Occupational Outlook Handbook; 7.7% in the projections table |
| Average annual openings | 5,700 |
For context, the Occupational Outlook Handbook compares the occupation’s projected 8% growth with 3% for all occupations from 2025 to 2035. That comparison indicates a faster projected rate for dietitians and nutritionists than the all-occupation benchmark used by BLS. The projections table reports that self-employed workers represent 8.5% of the occupation in its 2025 projections data. The self-employed figure and the employment outlook are separate measures: one describes worker status, while the other describes projected occupation size. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Occupational projections and worker characteristics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Pay and wage distribution
In May 2025, the median annual wage for U.S. dietitians and nutritionists was $76,400, equivalent to a median hourly wage of $36.73. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $49,090 annually, while the highest-paid 10% earned more than $103,720. These figures show a broad reported wage distribution around the occupation’s median; they are not individual salary guarantees. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Median pay varied by industry in May 2025. Outpatient care centers had the highest listed median among the specified settings, at $80,790 per year. Hospitals followed at $78,180, and government employers excluding state and local education and hospitals reported $78,070. Nursing and residential care facilities reported $75,670.
| May 2025 setting or comparison | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Outpatient care centers | $80,790 |
| Hospitals | $78,180 |
| Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals | $78,070 |
| Nursing and residential care facilities | $75,670 |
| Dietitians and nutritionists overall | $76,400 |
The occupation’s $76,400 median was below the $103,500 median for healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners overall in May 2025. It was above the $50,980 median for all U.S. occupations. The comparison is useful for context, but the practitioner category is broader than dietetics and includes other healthcare occupations. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Where dietitians work
Hospitals were the largest listed employer setting in 2025, employing 27% of dietitians and nutritionists. Government employers, excluding state and local education and hospitals, employed 11%. Nursing and residential care facilities employed 9%, self-employed workers accounted for 9%, and outpatient care centers employed 8%. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
| Work setting or status | Share in 2025 |
|---|---|
| Hospitals | 27% |
| Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals | 11% |
| Nursing and residential care facilities | 9% |
| Self-employed | 9% |
| Outpatient care centers | 8% |
These categories show that dietitian work is distributed across clinical facilities, public-sector employers, residential care, outpatient services, and independent practice. The percentages are employment shares for the listed settings. They should not be read as the share of dietitians performing a particular task, nor as a complete list of every workplace category. The BLS source’s government category specifically excludes state and local education and hospitals, an important scope detail when comparing settings.
Education, training, and credentials
The BLS 2025–2035 projections data identifies one bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education for dietitians and nutritionists. It lists zero years of related work experience as typically required for entry and one internship or residency as the typical on-the-job training requirement. (Occupational projections and worker characteristics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
O*NET places dietitians and nutritionists in Job Zone 5, labeled “Extensive Preparation Needed,” in its 2026 occupation profile. The same profile lists a Specific Vocational Preparation range of 8.0 and above. The BLS occupation profile states that the Registered Dietitian/Registered Dietitian Nutritionist designation requires a minimum of one master’s degree, according to that 2026 profile. These measures describe preparation and designation requirements from different official profiles; they should not be collapsed into a single education statistic. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, O*NET OnLine; Dietitians and Nutritionists, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Core duties and task ratings
O*NET reports task-importance scores for the occupation. These are occupation-profile rating scores, not percentages of dietitians and nutritionists who perform each task. In the 2026 profile, assessing nutritional needs and developing dietary-care plans received a score of 91. Evaluating laboratory tests when preparing nutrition recommendations scored 89. Counseling individuals and groups on good nutrition and healthy eating habits scored 88.
Advising patients and families on nutrition principles and food selection scored 87, as did incorporating cultural, ethnic, or religious preferences into nutrition plans. Consulting physicians and healthcare personnel about nutritional needs and diet restrictions scored 83. Recording and evaluating patient and family health and food histories scored 82. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, O*NET OnLine)
| O*NET task | Importance score |
|---|---|
| Assess nutritional needs and develop dietary-care plans | 91 |
| Evaluate laboratory tests for nutrition recommendations | 89 |
| Counsel on nutrition and healthy eating habits | 88 |
| Advise on nutrition principles and food selection | 87 |
| Incorporate cultural, ethnic, or religious preferences | 87 |
| Consult healthcare personnel about nutrition needs and restrictions | 83 |
| Record and evaluate health and food histories | 82 |
The profile also rates recipe and menu development for special nutrition needs at 69 and coordination of diet counseling services at 68. Selecting, training, and supervising meal-service workers scored 63. Making nutrition-policy recommendations, managing quantity food-service departments or clinical and community nutrition services, and developing teaching curricula and educational materials scored 63, 63, and 61, respectively.
Research remains part of the occupational profile: planning, conducting, and evaluating dietary, nutritional, and epidemiological research received a task-importance score of 57. The range from 91 to 57 suggests that O*NET’s profile covers direct assessment and counseling as well as management, education, policy, food service, and research responsibilities. It does not establish how much time a typical worker spends on each activity. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, O*NET OnLine)
Career interests and work orientation
O*NET rates the Social career-interest type at 75 for dietitians and nutritionists, followed by Investigative at 63. Enterprising is rated 40 and Conventional 39. These are profile ratings, not percentages of workers selecting a preference and not survey prevalence. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, O*NET OnLine)
Among specific interest areas in the 2026 O*NET profile, Health Care Service scores 81 and Professional Advising scores 69. Medical Science scores 59, Teaching/Education 56, Personal Service 54, and Life Science 50.
| O*NET interest area | Rating |
|---|---|
| Health Care Service | 81 |
| Professional Advising | 69 |
| Medical Science | 59 |
| Teaching/Education | 56 |
| Personal Service | 54 |
| Life Science | 50 |
Taken together, these ratings describe an occupation profile centered on service and advice, with substantial investigative and scientific elements. The scores are useful for understanding how ONET characterizes the work, while the BLS employment, wage, and workplace statistics describe the U.S. labor market. BLS projections and Occupational Outlook Handbook values use the explicitly labeled 2025–2035 and May 2025 periods; ONET task and interest ratings come from 2026 occupation profiles. (Dietitians and Nutritionists, O*NET OnLine; Dietitians and Nutritionists Bright Outlook, O*NET OnLine)