Dietary manager vs dietitian

The differences between dietary managers and dietitians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a dietary manager, becoming a dietitian takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a dietitian has an average salary of $58,480, which is higher than the $42,856 average annual salary of a dietary manager.

The top three skills for a dietary manager include kitchen equipment, patients and dietary services. The most important skills for a dietitian are patients, medical nutrition therapy, and rehabilitation.

Dietary manager vs dietitian overview

	Dietary Manager	Dietitian
Yearly salary	$42,856	$58,480
Hourly rate	$20.60	$28.12
Growth rate	10%	7%
Number of jobs	95,306	6,164
Job satisfaction	-	2.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	39	42
Years of experience	4	2

What does a dietary manager do?

A dietary manager oversees the food service operations of a company or institution's kitchen facilities, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They are primarily in charge of developing dietary programs and meal plans, coordinating with nutritionists, setting daily objectives, establishing food preparation standards and protocols, managing budgets and employee schedules, and monitoring overall operations, solving issues and concerns if any arise. They also supervise the recruitment and training of staff, monitor inventories, purchase supplies, and interact with customers. Moreover, a dietary manager leads employees to reach goals and implements industry standards and company policies.

What does a dietitian do?

A dietitian's role is to assist clients in their journey to achieve their health goals. Typically, a dietitian's responsibilities revolve around interviewing and assessing a client's diet needs and goals, learning their preferences and restrictions such as allergies, and crafting a personalized nutrition plan. Moreover, it is essential for a dietitian to monitor a client's progress and maintain information on all accounts. There are also instances where one may promote healthy eating habits to the public, all while keeping abreast of the latest nutrition studies.

Dietary manager vs dietitian salary

Dietary managers and dietitians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dietary Manager	Dietitian
Average salary	$42,856	$58,480
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $60,000	Between $43,000 And $78,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	University of California
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between dietary manager and dietitian education

There are a few differences between a dietary manager and a dietitian in terms of educational background:

	Dietary Manager	Dietitian
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Dietetics
Most common college	Cornell University	University of Maryland - College Park

Dietary manager vs dietitian demographics

Here are the differences between dietary managers' and dietitians' demographics:

	Dietary Manager	Dietitian
Average age	39	42
Gender ratio	Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0%	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 7.7% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 9.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	10%	8%

Differences between dietary manager and dietitian duties and responsibilities

Dietary manager example responsibilities.

Manage operations and provide support to a team of 245 union employees at various elementary, middle and high school cafeterias.
Review records and assess the nutritional condition of at risk residents, including unplan weight changes, charting and MDS reporting.
Analyze diet requirement of patients and prepare nutritional balance menus accordingly.
Refer patients to appropriate outpatient settings for additional diet education and support.
Communicate effectively in medical charts, and complete MDS assessments for Medicare reimbursement with proficiency.
Increase student participation by overseeing and implementing marketing brands in school cafeterias.

Dietitian example responsibilities.

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Prioritize initial/quarterly/consult assessments, interventions and progress monitoring for long-term care, rehabilitation and post acute patients.
Design and provide individualize nutrition counseling to promote healthy behavior modifications for a variety of home health care patients.
Counsele post-op patients to ensure dietary compliance, nutritional adequacy and formulation of weight management goals throughout their post-operative course.
Perform indirect calorimetry to measure resting metabolic rates (RMR).
Work as part of research team on a large-scale NIH clinical trial.

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Dietary manager vs dietitian skills

Common dietary manager skills

Kitchen Equipment, 11%
Patients, 9%
Dietary Services, 6%
Infection Control, 5%
Food Preparation, 5%
Federal Regulations, 5%

Common dietitian skills

Patients, 39%
Medical Nutrition Therapy, 9%
Rehabilitation, 6%
Patient Education, 6%
Nutrition Services, 5%
Lab Results, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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