The Starting Salary for a Registered Dietitian
Registered dietitians are trained specialists in food and nutrition. They plan nutrition programs and supervise the preparation of meals. With their knowledge, they can prevent illnesses through improved diets and eating habits. They will also manage food service operations in hospitals and schools. Some dietitians will also specialize their skills and become clinical dietitians, community dietitians, management dietitians or consultants, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Certification
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Becoming a registered dietitian requires being certified by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the American Dietetic Association. Applicants for the certification must possess a four-year degree and supervised internship before qualifying to take the exam. Once the dietitian passes the exam, he must complete 75 credit hours of continuing education credits each year to maintain the certification.
Starting Salary
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According to PayScale.com, beginning registered dietitians start around $41,729 on average. This is about $2,000 a year more than a non-registered dietitian can expect to make. Experienced registered dieticians can expect to earn up to $57,593 a year on average, according to PayScale.com. You can expect to earn more than average if you are working as a registered dietitian in the cities that pay more. The top five cities for dietitians in the U.S. are: Los Angeles, California; San Diego, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Albany, New York and New York, New York.
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Dietitian Experience
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Only 9 percent of registered dietitians have less than a year experience in the field so there aren't many dietitians on the starting salary end of the pay range, according to PayScale.com. The largest number of registered dietitians have one to four years experience and make up 46 percent of the field. More experienced registered dietitians only total 45 percent of the field.
Where to Work
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The starting pay for a registered dietician is within $1,000 no matter which industry your find work in. The healthcare industry hires the most dietitians, but hospitals pay the highest starting salary of $39,865 a year on average, according to PayScale.com. Other popular industries that hire registered dietitians include long-term care and rehabilitation centers, food service businesses and nursing homes.
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