Diet technician vs dietitian assistant

The differences between diet technicians and dietitian assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a diet technician and a dietitian assistant. Additionally, a diet technician has an average salary of $33,164, which is higher than the $32,409 average annual salary of a dietitian assistant.

The top three skills for a diet technician include patients, patient care and food service. The most important skills for a dietitian assistant are patients, patient care, and food service.

Diet technician vs dietitian assistant overview

	Diet Technician	Dietitian Assistant
Yearly salary	$33,164	$32,409
Hourly rate	$15.94	$15.58
Growth rate	2%	-
Number of jobs	24,858	6,672
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	2	2

Diet technician vs dietitian assistant salary

Diet technicians and dietitian assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Diet Technician	Dietitian Assistant
Average salary	$33,164	$32,409
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $41,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between diet technician and dietitian assistant education

There are a few differences between a diet technician and a dietitian assistant in terms of educational background:

	Diet Technician	Dietitian Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Dietetics	Dietetics
Most common college	-	-

Diet technician vs dietitian assistant demographics

Here are the differences between diet technicians' and dietitian assistants' demographics:

	Diet Technician	Dietitian Assistant
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 13.4% Female, 86.6%	Male, 17.6% Female, 82.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 5.8% White, 62.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 14.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 5.8% White, 62.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between diet technician and dietitian assistant duties and responsibilities

Diet technician example responsibilities.

Interview patients, determine dietary requirements and record dietary plans in medical charts using precise medical terminology.
Provide education to patients and family members of patients with medically restrict diets to promote optimal nutritional intake.
Determine WIC eligibility by identifying risk factors.
Conduct research and create PowerPoint presentations for wellness programs.

Dietitian assistant example responsibilities.

Obtain food histories, likes / dislikes, food aversions / allergies, cultural / religious observances.
Perform data entry, inputting patient's diets and allergies into database, includes modifying daily dietary selections.
Evaluate patients' diets through one-on-one discussions regarding individual dietary preferences and desire health outcomes.
Assist the nutrition in identifying and encouraging the residents to maintain specific dietary needs/restrictions for residents at an inpatient rehabilitation facility.
Store groceries using the first in first out method.

Diet technician vs dietitian assistant skills

Common diet technician skills

Patients, 29%
Patient Care, 10%
Food Service, 9%
Allergies, 5%
Nutrition Education, 5%
Diet Orders, 4%

Common dietitian assistant skills

Patients, 37%
Patient Care, 11%
Food Service, 10%
RD, 7%
Culinary, 6%
Nutrition Education, 4%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Diet Technician
Diet Technician vs Dietitian Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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