1. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Private
In-State Tuition
$10,595
Enrollment
30,184
What is a Dietitian?
Dieticians are specialists that help in planning food and nutrition programs and supervise the preparation and serving of meals. They usually run their service in hospitals and schools but sometimes can work with individuals. A dietician offers dietetic educational services, assesses patients' nutritional needs, and oversees meal planning. They also develop dietetic plans at the institutional level and work with individual clients to develop customized diets and meal plans for their overall healthcare. A dietician facilitates group sessions, collects data, and prepares statistical reports.
As a dietician, you need soft skills for you to work effectively with patients. Some of these skills include active listening skills since patients need complete attention when discussing their health issues. You will also need verbal communication skills as you will need excellent communication and speaking skills to convey information to the patients. You must also be able to instruct and persuade the patients, manage time well, and organize things with ease. Dieticians need at least a bachelor's degree in dietetics, food nutrition, or related areas like biochemistry, sociology, psychology. The median annual salary of a dietician is $59,410.
What Does a Dietitian Do
Dietitians and nutritionists are experts in the use of food and nutrition to promote health and manage disease. They advise people on what to eat in order to lead a healthy lifestyle or achieve a specific health-related goal.
How To Become a Dietitian
Most dietitians and nutritionists have a bachelor’s degree and have completed supervised training through an internship. Many states require dietitians and nutritionists to be licensed.
Dietitian Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of consultant you might progress to a role such as supervisor eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title registered nurse case manager.
Dietitian
Registered Nurse Case Manager
8 Years
Food Service Director
9 Years
Registered Nurse Manager
8 Years
Medical Director
9 Years
Director Of Food And Nutrition Services
9 Years
Food Service Manager
5 Years
Show More
Average Salary for a Dietitian
Dietitians in America make an average salary of $58,480 per year or $28 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $78,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $43,000 per year.
Average Dietitian Salary
$58,480Â Yearly$28.12 hourly
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Dietitian
The role of a dietitian includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general dietitian responsibilities:
- Customer service: responsible for driving the fms culture through values
- Performs nutritional screening on all patients, using nutrition assignment tool or appropriate methods per department standards. Develops, maintains,
- Interviews patient and/or family for nutritional history. Assesses patients
There are several types of dietitian, including:
Dietary Aide
Role:
If you've ever had the dream of telling people what to eat, you might do well as a dietary aide. These aides are there for people who want to learn more about leading a healthy lifestyle or reaching a specific health-related goal.
Dietary aides are needed in hospitals, nursing homes, clincis, cafeterias, and even in state and local governments. Through supervised training, and a bachelor's degree, you'll be putting together healthy meal plans in no time.
- Average Salary: $28,005
- Degree: High School Diploma
Clinical Dietitian
Role:
Clinical dietitians assist patients in clinics, hospitals, private practices, prisons, nursing homes, and educational institutions. They develop and implement nutrition programs to improve or maintain the health of patients. They work with patients to determine their condition, dietary needs, preferences, and goals. Furthermore, they develop and implement standards for medical nutrition therapy to enable others to properly administer it to patients and monitor the patient's progress. Additionally, they update their nutrition plan accordingly. Besides that, they conduct research to stay updated on the latest nutrition and food health updates.
To become a clinical dietitian, you need at least a bachelor's degree in nutrition, dietetics, or a related field. You will need a state license to work. You must have previous experience in a related role. Also, you must possess interpersonal, analytical, multitasking, communication, and problem-solving skills. A clinical dietitian earns an average salary of $60,682 per annum. This varies from $43,000 to $85,000.
- Average Salary: $59,133
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Nutritionist
Role:
First, you have to note that Nutritionists are not Chefs; they are more food scientists. They help patients make the right nutritional decisions and advise about the effect of some particular foods on their health.
A Nutritionist tells you how many calories you need every day to lose some pounds of flesh and remain healthy. They don't just recommend the foods you need; they help you plan your diets. Not just in weight loss, they have a specific meal for every health condition. But then, there are some skills you need to have before you qualify as a Nutritionist.
Some of them include working as a team, strong food knowledge, good interpersonal and networking skills, communication skills, the ability to explain complex things simply, a strong understanding of science, motivational skills and business skills.
To qualify for this job, you need some educational qualifications. Some of them include a Bachelor's or Master's degree in nutrition, dietetics, food service system management, or equivalent field. But a professional certification in the field will also increase your chances of getting the job.
- Average Salary: $49,877
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Dietitian Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active dietitian jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where dietitians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Average Salary: Job Openings:
Number Of Dietitian Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 355 | $78,105 |
| 2 | Texas | 338 | $52,591 |
| 3 | New York | 323 | $66,696 |
| 4 | Florida | 306 | $51,194 |
| 5 | Indiana | 241 | $51,418 |
| 6 | Ohio | 228 | $54,119 |
| 7 | Georgia | 228 | $45,752 |
| 8 | Illinois | 207 | $52,068 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 191 | $53,157 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 189 | $56,068 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 186 | $59,785 |
| 12 | Michigan | 166 | $55,148 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 146 | $44,407 |
| 14 | New Jersey | 140 | $65,478 |
| 15 | Washington | 113 | $59,432 |
| 16 | Minnesota | 106 | $50,871 |
| 17 | South Carolina | 105 | $41,152 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 99 | $52,074 |
| 19 | Arizona | 96 | $55,466 |
| 20 | Iowa | 90 | $51,093 |
| 21 | Maryland | 89 | $57,567 |
| 22 | Kansas | 87 | $49,931 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 80 | $55,137 |
| 24 | Virginia | 75 | $54,223 |
| 25 | Missouri | 71 | $49,864 |
| 26 | Colorado | 67 | $53,378 |
| 27 | Alabama | 62 | $38,276 |
| 28 | Oregon | 56 | $70,432 |
| 29 | Maine | 52 | $57,203 |
| 30 | Louisiana | 52 | $42,348 |
| 31 | Nebraska | 43 | $47,326 |
| 32 | Mississippi | 39 | $56,921 |
| 33 | New Mexico | 35 | $53,827 |
| 34 | New Hampshire | 34 | $62,679 |
| 35 | Utah | 34 | $52,693 |
| 36 | Connecticut | 33 | $65,038 |
| 37 | Nevada | 31 | $64,061 |
| 38 | Idaho | 31 | $57,419 |
| 39 | South Dakota | 27 | $49,820 |
| 40 | West Virginia | 26 | $55,737 |
| 41 | Oklahoma | 25 | $48,867 |
| 42 | Arkansas | 24 | $50,319 |
| 43 | Delaware | 23 | $64,166 |
| 44 | Rhode Island | 21 | $65,135 |
| 45 | North Dakota | 19 | $49,632 |
| 46 | Alaska | 13 | $69,061 |
| 47 | Vermont | 12 | $62,821 |
| 48 | Montana | 12 | $63,214 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 11 | $60,115 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 6 | $65,143 |
Top Colleges for Dietitians
2. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
In-State Tuition
$11,830
Enrollment
29,474
3. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-State Tuition
$9,992
Enrollment
33,495
4. University of Delaware
Newark, DE • Private
In-State Tuition
$13,680
Enrollment
19,060
5. Ohio State University
Columbus, OH • Private
In-State Tuition
$10,726
Enrollment
45,769
6. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
7. California State University - Chico
Chico, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$7,608
Enrollment
16,317
8. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,188
Enrollment
15,105
9. Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX • Private
In-State Tuition
$9,080
Enrollment
30,795
10. Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI • Private
In-State Tuition
$14,460
Enrollment
39,208
Top Skills For a Dietitian
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 38.9% of dietitians listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and compassion are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Dietitian Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Dietitian templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Dietitian resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Dietitian diversity
Dietitian Gender Distribution
Female
88%
Male
12%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among dietitians, 88.3% of them are women, while 11.7% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among dietitians is White, which makes up 66.4% of all dietitians.
- The most common foreign language among dietitians is Spanish at 59.2%.
Online Courses For Dietitian That You May Like
Advertising Disclosure Â
1. Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy
Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy offers an overview of the latest research findings and international recommendations on a variety of nutrition-related aspects and outcomes of pregnancy. Ensuring a healthy nutritional status and lifestyle prior to and during pregnancy is one of the best ways to help support the healthy growth and development of the unborn child. We will look at how a healthy diet and lifestyle should ideally be achieved prior to conception and provide recommendations for...
2. Child Nutrition and Cooking
Eating patterns that begin in childhood affect health and well-being across the lifespan. The culture of eating has changed significantly in recent decades, especially in parts of the world where processed foods dominate our dietary intake. This course examines contemporary child nutrition and the impact of the individual decisions made by each family. The health risks associated with obesity in childhood are also discussed. Participants will learn what constitutes a healthy diet for children...
3. Nutrition Certification: Advanced Diet & Meal Planning
Advanced Diet And Nutrition Coach Strategies Dieting Certificate For Meal Plans, Fat Loss, Health & Sports Nutrition...
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Best States For a Dietitian
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a dietitian. The best states for people in this position are California, Oregon, Alaska, and New York. Dietitians make the most in California with an average salary of $78,105. Whereas in Oregon and Alaska, they would average $70,432 and $69,061, respectively. While dietitians would only make an average of $66,696 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
Total Dietitian Jobs: 323
Highest 10% Earn:
$93,000
Location Quotient:
1.42
$66,696
Avg. Salary
2. Rhode Island
Total Dietitian Jobs: 21
Highest 10% Earn:
$89,000
Location Quotient:
0.98
$65,135
Avg. Salary
3. New Hampshire
Total Dietitian Jobs: 34
Highest 10% Earn:
$84,000
Location Quotient:
1.1
$62,679
Avg. Salary
How Do Dietitians Rate Their Jobs?
Dietitian Reviews
Cons
No room for upward mobility in most healthcare areas. Pay is bad. Still the lowest paid healthcare professionals for the amount of education required to become a RDN. For that much education better off becoming a PA or RN that becomes a NP.
Pros
I love the daytime work hours and having the weekends off most of the time. I love it when a client is interested in diet and ready to learn.
Cons
Some areas of nutrition-especially outpatient-require a certain amount of persuasive ability. It can be hard to work with the public all the time. And some dietitians, mostly clinical and hospital food service have to work some holidays.
Top Dietitian Employers
Most Common Employers For Dietitian
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California-Berkeley | $67,585 | $32.49 | 10 |
| 2 | Legacy Health | $65,157 | $31.33 | 18 |
| 3 | Encompass Health | $63,321 | $30.44 | 9 |
| 4 | DaVita Kidney Care | $63,092 | $30.33 | 22 |
| 5 | Healthcare Services Group | $62,209 | $29.91 | 11 |
| 6 | PeaceHealth | $61,515 | $29.57 | 34 |
| 7 | US Foods | $59,254 | $28.49 | 9 |
| 8 | Morrison Healthcare | $58,302 | $28.03 | 10 |
| 9 | Mayo Clinic | $58,233 | $28.00 | 18 |
| 10 | HealthTrust | $57,515 | $27.65 | 10 |
Dietitian Videos
Clinical Dietitian, Career Video from drkit.org
How to become a Dietitian
What it takes to be a Dietitian | Dietitan Talk