Foreign-born employment shares are higher, and wages are lower in meatpacking compared with other industries: Employment and wages in meat and poultry processing vs. the overall economy, pooled 2022–2024 estimates, and H-2B average certified wages, 2024
| Animal processing | Animal processing, shares | Overall economy, | Overall economy, shares | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 562,600 | 100.0% | 157,960,000 | 100.0% |
| U.S.-born | 325,058 | 57.8% | 129,262,678 | 81.8% |
| Foreign-born | 237,542 | 42.2% | 28,697,322 | 18.2% |
| Naturalized citizen | 69,592 | 12.4% | 13,897,798 | 8.8% |
| Non-citizen | 167,951 | 29.9% | 14,799,523 | 9.4% |
| Animal processing, $ per hour | Animal processing, % of national median | Overall economy, $ per hour | Overall economy, % share of national median | |
| Average wage | $23.88 | 96.0% | $34.30 | 137.9% |
| U.S.-born | $26.20 | 83.2% | $34.33 | 137.4% |
| Foreign-born | $20.69 | 105.4% | $34.18 | 138.0% |
| New H-2B certifications | $16.66 | 83.2% | – | – |
Notes: Animal processing includes poultry. Overall employment numbers for both animal processing and overall economy numbers are from the Current Employment Statistics (CES). Shares of employment accounted for by citizenship status from the Current Population Survey (CPS), then these shares were applied to CES overall numbers to obtain levels. The H-2B average hourly wage for animal processing was calculated by taking the weighted average hourly wage of all 311 jobs certified by the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) for new H-2B workers in the “butchers and meat cutters” and “slaughterers and meat packers” occupations in 2024 for fiscal year 2024. For the calculation, the the lowest allowable wage employers were required to pay their H-2B employees was used, as reported in OFLC's data.
Source: EPI analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Current Population Survey (CPS) data, and H-2B disclosure data from the Office of Foreign Labor Certification's Performance Data, U.S. Department of Labor, for fiscal year 2024.
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