Clinical nutritionist vs community dietitian

The differences between clinical nutritionists and community dietitians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a clinical nutritionist and a community dietitian. Additionally, a clinical nutritionist has an average salary of $63,591, which is higher than the $61,786 average annual salary of a community dietitian.

The top three skills for a clinical nutritionist include patients, medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education. The most important skills for a community dietitian are medical nutrition, health education, and heart disease.

Clinical nutritionist vs community dietitian overview

	Clinical Nutritionist	Community Dietitian
Yearly salary	$63,591	$61,786
Hourly rate	$30.57	$29.70
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	57,652	16,585
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	2	2

Clinical nutritionist vs community dietitian salary

Clinical nutritionists and community dietitians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Clinical Nutritionist	Community Dietitian
Average salary	$63,591	$61,786
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $130,000	Between $30,000 And $123,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between clinical nutritionist and community dietitian education

There are a few differences between a clinical nutritionist and a community dietitian in terms of educational background:

	Clinical Nutritionist	Community Dietitian
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Dietetics	Dietetics
Most common college	Purdue University	University of Maryland - College Park

Clinical nutritionist vs community dietitian demographics

Here are the differences between clinical nutritionists' and community dietitians' demographics:

	Clinical Nutritionist	Community Dietitian
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 12.0% Female, 88.0%	Male, 4.1% Female, 95.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 9.0% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between clinical nutritionist and community dietitian duties and responsibilities

Clinical nutritionist example responsibilities.

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Train patients in diabetes self-management and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (insulin pump therapy).
Participate in weekly interdisciplinary rounds to further evaluate patients at increase nutritional risk and discuss the appropriate route for recovery.
Initiate application process for ADA approve diabetes education program.
Conduct medical nutrition management on outpatient basis; conduct weight control and diabetes education groups.
Participate in interdisciplinary biweekly meetings for rehabilitation unit.

Community dietitian example responsibilities.

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Provide nutrition education and diet counseling to WIC participants, groups and individuals.
Provide basic nutrition education to WIC patients and teach nutrition classes in this rural community.
Monitor patients' nutrition status, laboratory values, diet tolerance, and motivate them to adhere to dietary/medications recommendations.
Provide individualized nutrition consultations for sports nutrition, weight-loss, diabetes, hypertension and hormonal changes.

Clinical nutritionist vs community dietitian skills

Common clinical nutritionist skills

Patients, 31%
Medical Nutrition Therapy, 8%
Nutrition Education, 6%
Diabetes, 6%
Nutritional Risk, 5%
RD, 4%

Common community dietitian skills

Medical Nutrition, 17%
Health Education, 7%
Heart Disease, 6%
Community Health, 5%
Disease Management, 5%
Eating Disorders, 5%

Clinical Nutritionist vs. similar jobs

Clinical Nutritionist related careers

Clinical Nutritionist related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Clinical Nutritionist
Clinical Nutritionist vs Community Dietitian

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs