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Role hub · Dietitians and Nutritionists

Nutritionist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of nutritionists earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$76,400
Hourly
$36.73
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Nutritionists plan and conduct food service or nutritional programs to assist in the promotion of health and control of disease. The median pay is $76,400 a year ($36.73 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a post-baccalaureate certificate (53% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$76,400
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
77,570
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 5 of 5
extensive preparation
Most common education
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
53% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Dietitians and Nutritionists (O*NET-SOC 29-1031.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Nutritionists

SalaryNutritionist salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeNutritionist how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →Interview questionsNutritionist interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Career changeNutritionist career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What nutritionists do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
  2. Evaluate laboratory tests in preparing nutrition recommendations.
  3. Counsel individuals and groups on basic rules of good nutrition, healthy eating habits, and nutrition monitoring to improve their quality of life.
  4. Advise patients and their families on nutritional principles, dietary plans, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.
  5. Incorporate patient cultural, ethnic, or religious preferences and needs in the development of nutrition plans.
  6. Consult with physicians and health care personnel to determine nutritional needs and diet restrictions of patient or client.
  7. Record and evaluate patient and family health and food history, including symptoms, environmental toxic exposure, allergies, medication factors, and preventive health-care measures.
  8. Develop recipes and menus to address special nutrition needs, such as low glycemic, low histamine, or gluten- or allergen-free.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Social PerceptivenesscoreJudgment and Decision MakingcoreReading ComprehensioncoreActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingService OrientationComplex Problem SolvingWriting

Knowledge areas: Biology, Medicine and Dentistry, English Language, Therapy and Counseling, Customer and Personal Service, Psychology.

Tools and technology

Software nutritionists use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Allergenic diet softwareAnalytical or scientific software
  • Aurora FoodProAnalytical or scientific software
  • Axxya Systems Nutritionist ProAnalytical or scientific software
  • BioEx Systems Nutrition Maker PlusMedical software
  • Compu-Cal Nutrition AssistantAnalytical or scientific software
  • CronometerAnalytical or scientific software
  • ESHA Research The Food ProcessorAnalytical or scientific software
  • Google DriveCloud-based data access and sharing software
  • Graphics softwareGraphics or photo imaging software
  • Ketogenic planning softwareAnalytical or scientific software
  • Lifestyles Technologies DietMaster ProMedical software
  • MNT Northwest MNT AssistantMedical software

Also called: Dietitian, Clinical Dietician, Clinical Dietitian, Clinical Nutritionist, Oncology Dietitian.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).