Retail Dietitians Business Alliance Releases Results of 2016 Salary Survey

December 7, 2016
Annette Maggi
Career DevelopmentHuman Resources

By RDBA Executive Director Annette Maggi, MS, RDN, LD, FAND

The Retail Dietitians Business Alliance (RDBA) today announced the results of its second biennial Salary Survey for retail dietitians. The Survey reveals average salaries, compensation satisfaction and provides additional industry information as it pertains to retail dietitians.  

“This Salary Survey is a state-of-of the-industry report providing valuable information not only to the RDs, but also to the retailers,” says Phil Lempert, CEO and president of the RDBA. “In the end, retailers, RDs and customers will win.”  

Salary Survey highlights include:

• 80% of retail dietitians earn annual salaries between $41,000 and $70,000. But 67% of corporate supervisory RDs earn $51,000-$80,000; also, 6% earn $81,000-$90,000, 6% earn $91,000-$100,000, and 17% who are the best paid retail RDs earn $101,000-$125,000;    
• The more professional experience, the higher the salary.  While three-quarters of retail dietitians are still in their first professional year, 75% earn $41,000-$50,000. Salaries escalate to $51,000-$70,000 for 63% of RDs with one-to-five years’ experience; $61,000-$90,000 for 43% of RDs with six-to-10 years’ experience; and $91,000-$125,000 for 33% of RDs with 11-15 years’ experience;   
• 55% of retail dietitians don’t receive an annual bonus. Those who do get a bonus receive 5% or less. These findings are less generous than 2014 when 56% said they received a bonus; 
• While many employee perks such as stock options and employers paying dues for professional memberships decreased since 2014, others have increased such as employers paying for cell phones and continuing education courses; 
• Retail RDs are starting to bring in dollars to contribute to the ROI of their programs.  28% of retail RDs now charge for health and wellness services they provide and 15% seek insurance reimbursements; and
• Retail RDs seem moderately pleased by their total compensation, rating it 6.4 on a scale of 1 (not satisfied) to 10 (very satisfied).  

Full details of the report are available here, and include comparisons to RDBA’s 2014 Salary Survey and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 2015 Compensation and Benefits Survey. Please contact RDBA Executive Director Annette Maggi, MS, RDN, LD, FAND at annette@retaildietitians.com with any questions.