Career
Dietitians and nutritionists
Help people eat for health.
$76,400
Median pay
+7.7%
Job growth, 2025–35
5,700
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
- Evaluate laboratory tests in preparing nutrition recommendations.
- Counsel individuals and groups on basic rules of good nutrition, healthy eating habits, and nutrition monitoring to improve their quality of life.
- Advise patients and their families on nutritional principles, dietary plans, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.
- Incorporate patient cultural, ethnic, or religious preferences and needs in the development of nutrition plans.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $76,400 a year and 5,700 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, GeneralCIP 19.0501
- Human NutritionCIP 19.0504
- Foodservice Systems Administration/ManagementCIP 19.0505
- Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services, OtherCIP 19.0599
- Nutrition SciencesCIP 30.1901
- Dietetics/DietitianCIP 51.3101
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Dietetic Technicians$37,640 · +2.7%
- Nurse Practitioners$132,300 · +41.0%
- Family Medicine Physicians$244,180 · +3.3%
- Pediatricians, General$210,040 · +1.5%
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.