How To Become A Registered Dietician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a registered dietician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Carmen Shanks Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a registered dietician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.84 an hour? That's $53,753 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 5,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a registered dietician?

Dr. Carmen Shanks Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Montana State University

Entering the food and nutrition workforce during 2021 will be different than any other time in history given. Remain committed to your career path and clear about the types of positions that you apply and interview for. The real key is to remain open and flexible to how employers are addressing issues related to COVID-19, such as being willing to work from home, follow COVID-19 safety protocols, or work different hours than typical.

ScoreRegistered DieticianUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,753

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.2

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.81%

Asian 7.03%

Black or African American 8.66%

Hispanic or Latino 7.92%

Unknown 3.48%

White 72.09%

Gender

female 80.43%

male 19.57%

Age - 40

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 - 40

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a registered dietician

Explore registered dietician education requirements

Most common registered dietician degrees

Bachelor's

75.0 %

Master's

8.3 %

Certificate

5.6 %

Start to develop specific registered dietician skills

Skills	Percentages
RD	50.01%
Diabetes	24.91%
Culinary	9.88%
State Regulations	7.35%
Hypertension	3.09%

Complete relevant registered dietician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New registered dieticians 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 registered dietician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real registered dietician resumes.

Research registered dietician duties and responsibilities

Manage the in-store dietitian program providing nutrition education, culinary workshops, food demonstrations, and nutritional assessments.
Obtain resident information on admission regarding food allergies and preferences.
Assess, evaluate and educate patient/family members on nutrition prescriptions in the ICU, medical/surgical and telemetry units.
Superior-Rate facility with JCAHO long-term care and sub-acute accreditation.

Prepare your registered dietician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your registered dietician 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 registered dietician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable registered dietician resume templates

Build a professional registered dietician 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 registered dietician resume.