Cooks, Restaurant vs Butchers and Meat Cutters
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Cooks, Restaurant and Butchers and Meat Cutters on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”
At a glance
| Dimension | Cooks, Restaurant | Butchers and Meat Cutters |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $36,830 | $38,960 |
| Employment | 1,452,130 | 140,040 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | Growing fast (+14.9%) | About average (+1.0%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 250,700 | 16,900 |
| Typical education · O*NET | Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. | Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. |
| AI exposure · published exposure studies | Moderate · 60th pct | Moderate · 65th pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | 29th pct · 18% of tasks | 9th pct · 13% of tasks |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | Automation-leaning (49.8%) | — |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | No | No |
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.
Skills
Shared: Near Vision, Food Production, Manual Dexterity, Problem Sensitivity, English Language, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Time Management, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Information Ordering, Selective Attention, Time Sharing, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Finger Dexterity, Control Precision, Trunk Strength, Visual Color Discrimination, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Active Listening, Category Flexibility, Reading Comprehension, Visualization, Multilimb Coordination, Far Vision, Customer and Personal Service, Coordination, Judgment and Decision Making, Written Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness.
Specific to Cooks, Restaurant
- Perceptual Speed
- Deductive Reasoning
- Active Learning
- Fluency of Ideas
- Stamina
- Extent Flexibility
- Operations Monitoring
- Inductive Reasoning
Specific to Butchers and Meat Cutters
- Production and Processing
- Sales and Marketing
- Service Orientation
- Complex Problem Solving
- Reaction Time
- Static Strength
- Auditory Attention
- Persuasion
Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).
Tools & technology
Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Word processing software .
Specific to Cooks, Restaurant
Specific to Butchers and Meat Cutters
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Cooks, Restaurant or Butchers and Meat Cutters — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.
More comparisons
Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Cooks, Short Order
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Food Preparation Workers
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Bakers
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Cooks, Fast Food
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Cooks, Private Household
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Chefs and Head Cooks
- Cooks, Restaurant vs Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Cooks, Restaurant vs Butchers and Meat Cutters." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/cooks-restaurant-vs-butchers-and-meat-cutters
Singulariki. (2026). Cooks, Restaurant vs Butchers and Meat Cutters. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/cooks-restaurant-vs-butchers-and-meat-cutters
@misc{singulariki-cooks-restaurant-vs-butchers-and-meat-cutters,
title = {Cooks, Restaurant vs Butchers and Meat Cutters},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/compare/cooks-restaurant-vs-butchers-and-meat-cutters}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.