The U.S. meat industry directly employs more than 500,000 people. The industry is further responsible for supporting farmers and ranchers as well as generating nearly two million additional jobs along the value chain, from the people who supply the packing and processing industry to the people employed in transporting beef, pork, and poultry, all the way to those who work in retail and foodservice businesses.

There are 835 federally inspected livestock slaughter plants and 370 poultry slaughter plants in the U.S.

On an annual basis, meat packers transform 33.6 million head of cattle, 587,000 calves, 129.9 million hogs and 2.23 million sheep and lambs into more than 55 billion pounds of beef, pork, lamb and veal. Meanwhile, poultry processors transform 9.34 billion chickens and 227.6 million turkeys into more than 50 billion pounds of chicken and turkey products.

Annual sales total $152.5 billion in meat packing and processing and $65.6 billion in poultry slaughter and processing.

In 2019, the industry exported 3.02 billion pounds of beef and 6.3 billion pounds of pork to nations around the world. Poultry companies exported 7.2 billion pounds of chicken products and nearly 640 million pounds of turkey.

In the past year, U.S. beef has been exported to 135 countries, U.S pork has been shipped to 124 countries, and U.S. chicken was exported to 165 countries.

Affordability of Meat and Poultry

An estimated 95 percent of Americans make meat or poultry a regular part of their balanced diet. Thanks to its affordability, in 2019 Americans spend just 9.5 percent of disposable income on all food purchases, and they spend 1.4 percent of their disposable personal income on meat and poultry products.

U.S. consumers enjoy the most affordable high-quality meat and poultry supply in the world. As a result, the percent of disposable income per capita spent on food to be consumed at home was only 4.8 percent of per capita disposable income, while the average in high income countries around the globe is 7.7 percent.