How To Become A Meat Grader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a meat grader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a meat grader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.44 an hour? That's $44,605 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -17,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMeat GraderUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,605

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

1.5

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 2.47%

Black or African American 8.23%

Hispanic or Latino 59.81%

Unknown 3.16%

White 25.93%

Gender

female 42.50%

male 57.50%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

1.5

Stress level is low

7.1 - high

Complexity level

3.1

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a meat grader

Explore meat grader education requirements

Most common meat grader degrees

Bachelor's

52.4 %

High School Diploma

19.0 %

Associate

14.3 %

Start to develop specific meat grader skills

Skills	Percentages
USDA	100.00%

Complete relevant meat grader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New meat graders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a meat grader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real meat grader resumes.

Research meat grader duties and responsibilities

Provide feedback on errors, manage records on blackboard and proctore during exams.
Identify problems and determine corrective actions with plant management in reference to USDA regulations.
Identify problems and determine corrective actions with plant management in reference to USDA regulations.

Prepare your meat grader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your meat grader resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a meat grader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable meat grader resume templates

Build a professional meat grader resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your meat grader resume.