Updated October 16, 2026

PERM occupation, SOC 51-3022.00, #3 of 1,410 by filings

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

Biggest sponsor: FPL Food, LLC · 25% of its filings
Busiest state: GA · 54% of its filings
Major group: Production · SOC 51

Weighing an offer for this job?

Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.

Compare my offer DOL's wage levels for this job

Median wage

$26,000

all PERM $103,272

Filings

9,306

#3 of 1,410

Approval

99.5%

field 96.8%

Median days

476

1 faster than the field

What it pays

Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.

Position in the field 535 occupations with 30+ decided

Median offered wage

$26,000above 4%

$18k $500k

Approval rate

99.5%ahead of 89%

49% 100%

Median days to decision

476 daysahead of 50%

323d 536d

Each bar counts occupations at that value. More

Each bar counts occupations at that value. PERM runs two labour markets through one process, which is why the wage axis is two humps rather than a bell. The line marks this one.

DOL PERM disclosure files

The wage ladder, year by year Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers, certified offers

5th to 95th
25th to 75th
Median
10th and 90th

FY2024

$29,120 median · 756 certified cases
FY2025

$26,000 median · 6,165 certified cases
FY2026

$26,000 median · 2,293 certified cases

$15k$20k$25k$30k$35k

10th: $22,464; -20.2% since FY2024
Median: $26,000; -10.7% since FY2024
90th: $31,720; +1.7% since FY2024
95th: $32,240; +3.3% since FY2024

These years are not measuring the same group of filings. The count moves by 8.2 times between the largest year and the smallest, so a change in the ladder is at least partly a change in which employers filed rather than a change in what the work pays. Read the shape, not the difference.

Offered wage percentiles by fiscal year, with the number of certified cases behind each row.
Fiscal year	Cases	5th	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	95th
FY2024	756	$28,150	$28,150	$28,150	$29,120	$29,120	$31,200	$31,200
FY2025	6,165	$21,112	$22,464	$22,464	$26,000	$30,202	$30,202	$31,200
FY2026	2,293	$22,464	$22,464	$23,920	$26,000	$26,500	$31,720	$32,240

A median answers whether pay moved. More

A median answers whether pay moved. The whole ladder answers which part of it moved, and those are not the same question: a distribution can hold its middle while its top stretches away.

DOL PERM disclosure files, certified cases only

The same job, state by state 4 states filing enough of this occupation to publish a ladder

5th to 95th
25th to 75th
Median
10th and 90th

GA

$26,500 median · 5,001 certified cases
AL

$22,464 median · 2,900 certified cases
NC

$28,150 median · 472 certified cases
AR

$31,408 median · 323 certified cases

$10k$20k$30k$40k

Offered wage percentiles by state, with the number of certified cases behind each row.
State	Cases	5th	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	95th
GA	5,001	$23,000	$23,005	$26,000	$26,500	$30,202	$30,202	$30,202
AL	2,900	$21,112	$21,112	$22,464	$22,464	$23,920	$23,920	$23,920
NC	472	$28,150	$28,150	$28,150	$28,150	$31,200	$31,200	$31,200
AR	323	$29,266	$29,266	$30,493	$31,408	$32,344	$32,344	$32,344

One SOC code, one federal process, and a wage range that moves with the state. More

One SOC code, one federal process, and a wage range that moves with the state. A state is included only when it files enough certified cases of this occupation to support seven percentiles; the rest are left out rather than drawn thin.

DOL PERM disclosure files, certified cases only

Who files it

The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.

Sponsors filing it

FPL Food, LLC 2,321 filings · 100.0% approved
JCG Foods of Georgia, LLC 2,159 filings · 100.0% approved
Consolidated Catfish Producers, LLC 2,044 filings · 100.0% approved
Koch Foods of Gadsden, LLC 862 filings · 100.0% approved
WAYNE FARMS LLC 780 filings · 98.8% approved
PECO FOODS, INC 323 filings · 100.0% approved

How this is counted

The employers with the most applications under this code. 8,489 of 9,306 filings, 91% of the total.

Firms filing it

JA EMPLOYMENT AGENCY INC. 494 filings · 100.0% approved
LAW OFFICES OF YUN JUNG YANG LLC 140 filings · 87.1% approved
Law Office of Tae K Song 120 filings · 100.0% approved
Corporate Immigration Partners, PC 29 filings
LAW OFFICES OF CHANG RYUL JI, PC 18 filings
Rainbow Total Business Service, LLC 9 filings

How this is counted

The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 810 of 9,306 filings, 9% of the total.

Where the jobs are

Georgia 5,035
Alabama 2,906
North Carolina 486
Arkansas 323
Ohio 211
Delaware 140

How this is counted

The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 9,101 of 9,306 filings.

Where the work is

Thomasville, GA 2,321
Eutaw, AL 2,044
Pine Mountain Valley, GA 1,525
Gadsden, AL 862
Pine Mountain Vally, GA 634
Dobson, NC 484

How this is counted

The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 7,870 of 9,306 filings.

Newspapers it advertised in

Thomasville Times-Enterprise

2,319 cases
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

2,159 cases
The Tuscaloosa News

2,044 cases
The Gadsden Times

862 cases
Arkansas Democrat Gazette

323 cases
The Canton Repository (Canton, OH)

211 cases

How this is counted

The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.

How long before filing it began

Under 30 days

0.0%
30 to 59 days

0.0%
60 to 89 days

61%
90 to 119 days

23%
120 to 149 days

5.7%
150 to 180 days

10%
Over 180 days

0.1%

How this is counted

Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.

Where every PERM employer recruits

Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023

From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.

Country of citizenship

Vietnam 661
Venezuela 30
South Korea 17
El Salvador 13
China 9
Peru 6

Worker's education

None 729
Bachelor's 7
Associate's 4
High School 2
Master's 1

Visa held when filed

NOT IN USA 645
F-1 31
B-2 14
B-1 1
E-2 1
J-1 1

Schools

CHEONGJU UNIVERSITY 2
CHINJU NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 1
DALIAN UNIVERSITY 1
FEIJING FENGTAI STAFF AND WORKERS UNIVERSITY 1
JANGAN UNIVERSITY 1
KUNSAN JUNIOR COLLEGE 1

Fields of study

N/A 2
APPILIED CHINESE 1
ARTISTIC CRAFTS 1
COMPUTER SCIENCE 1
DESIGN 1
EDUCATION 1

The job itself

What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.

What the job pays outside PERM BLS May 2025, DOL wage year 2026-27

United States
145,700 jobs
South Georgia nonmetropolitan area
Thomasville
Tuscaloosa, AL
Eutaw
Gadsden, AL
Gadsden
Western North Carolina nonmetropolitan area
Dobson

$30k$40k$50k

middle half of pay (BLS)
median
10th to 90th percentile
DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
median PERM offer

Market pay and DOL wage levels, by area
Area	BLS median	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
United States	$38,300
South Georgia nonmetropolitan area	$37,910	$31,221	$33,862	$36,483	$39,125
Tuscaloosa, AL	—	$28,746	$31,803	$34,882	$37,939
Gadsden, AL	—	$24,336	$28,517	$32,677	$36,858
Western North Carolina nonmetropolitan area	$37,940	$34,715	$36,088	$37,461	$38,834

How these figures fit together

BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.

The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; DOL OFLC wage tables

DOL's levels for this job in South Georgia nonmetropolitan area, year by year

Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.

DOL wage levels by wage year, South Georgia nonmetropolitan area
Wage year	Level I	Level II	Level III	Level IV
2026-27	$31,221	$33,862	$36,483	$39,125
2025-26	$31,262	$34,611	$37,960	$41,309
2024-25	$32,614	$34,736	$36,878	$39,000
2023-24	$30,202	$32,594	$35,006	$37,398
2022-23	$23,005	$25,293	$27,560	$29,848
2021-22	$23,733	$26,104	$28,496	$30,867

Every area and both wage tables in the wage-level tool.

What the job is

Use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.

Preparation: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed; O*NET Job Zone 1-2
DOL's education basis: None; Wage year 2026-27
Jobs, 2025 to 2035: +5.7%; About 17,000 openings a year (BLS)
Typical entry: No formal educational credential; BLS

Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.

The work, most important first

Use knives, cleavers, meat saws, bandsaws, or other equipment to perform meat cutting and trimming.
Weigh meats and tag containers for weight and contents.
Inspect meat products for defects, bruises or blemishes and remove them along with any excess fat.
Cut and trim meat to prepare for packing.
Separate meats and byproducts into specified containers and seal containers.

The education workers in it report

High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)

36%

Titles people use for it

Deboner, Meat Cutter, Trimmer, Wing Scorer, Beef Trimmer, Breast Trimmer, Chicken Cutter, Fish Processor.

This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Against other jobs

Where this sits in the ranking

Ranked 3 of 1,410 by volume: 2 filed at least as many filings, and 1,407 filed no more.

Just above: Computer Systems Analysts 15,316 filings
Just below: Project Management Specialists 8,526 filings

Other production roles

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More

Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.

Notes on these numbers

Reading the wage

A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.

What the median is

The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.

What these numbers don't say

4 notes

The code is the identity: This one is SOC 51-3022.00. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
A median isn’t an offer: It's the middle of all 9,306 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
Approval isn’t about the occupation: The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
Nothing here is pending: All 9,306 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is FPL Food, LLC. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.

The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built

Weighing an offer?

Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.

Setting one?

All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.

Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.

Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly

Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load

O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year

BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring

BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn

DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july

What each source includes

Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.

Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.

O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.

BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.

BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.

DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.

Cite this page

Waiting on a PERM case?

When it'll likely be decided
An email when DOL moves it