Dietitian Consulting Fees: Pricing Guide

In this blog article, we will break down the steps to determine your dietitian consulting fees and how much to charge for your offerings and services. 

Pricing can be a challenging hurdle for many practitioners. Within the DSC Nutrition + Business Membership, we cover how to define your offer and price your services extensively. We also provide you with a supportive RD community so you can get feedback from other practitioners, and the opportunity to get 1:1 video business coaching and support. 

Get started with a FREE Dietitian Business Planning Workbook for a step-by-step breakdown on how to create your dietitian business plan, steps for how to define your niche, pricing and marketing strategies, as well as goal setting tips.

Introduction to Pricing

There is no right price, there is no wrong price, there is only your price.

Most dietitian entrepreneurs are looking for a concrete right price for their dietitian consulting fees and services. However, pricing is very individual and dependent on the unique value that you bring to the table. 

The following factors are important to consider when coming up with your pricing strategy: 

• Your education and training 

• Your experience 

• Your ability to deliver your service and facilitate behavior change 

• The brand that you’re building

We will discuss these factors in more detail below. 

Pricing is a Work in Process

As we gain more experience and expertise, we provide more value. Consequently, it’s important to re-evaluate your pricing every 6 months or so to ensure that the prices you are charging align with the value that you are delivering. 

Factors that Influence Dietitian Consulting Fees (ie. How we Price Ourselves)

As mentioned, pricing is an individualized process. We want to balance the following factors when deciding on price points for various nutrition services. If you’re struggling to know how to price a service and you want supportive feedback and advice, check out our Nutrition + Business Membership. Through the membership, you have the opportunity to submit questions through our community forum to receive advice from fellow RDs, or you can receive 1:1 advice by submitting a video question to our team through our Q&A feature. 

• Your experience – if you’re a brand new dietitian, you may be charging a lower rate than someone who has been in the field for many years, has developed a strong reputation and is sought after for their expertise. 
• Results – as you develop and mature as a practitioner, you will continue to refine your counseling style and technique. If you’ve developed a tried and true process or framework for helping clients achieve a specific desired transformation, this may warrant a higher price point. 

• Your credentials and training – do you have a unique skill set or knowledge base? Investing time and money into continuing education courses can add to your value! 
• Your target market – is it important that your services are budget-friendly? Will most of your clientele be looking to submit services to their insurance provider, or are you targeting cash-paying clients? 

• What the market will tolerate – we want to make sure that we are not pricing ourselves significantly lower (or higher) than others (to an extent). How other people price themselves can be a reflection of what the market will tolerate, but don’t use this as your sole decision-making criteria. As mentioned above, if you add more value, you can charge a higher price point. 

• Competition – a word of caution here – though assessing others’ pricing can be a helpful gut-check, pricing “cheaper” than competitors (to make yourself look more appealing) makes your services look subpar, and devalues the role of the dietitian. As is often said in business, competing on price is a race to the bottom.  

The Pricing Sweet Spot

A pricing sweet spot occurs when you strike a balance where you feel that your time and experience are valued and also believe that your target audience is willing to pay for your services. Avoid letting imposter syndrome influence your pricing decisions. Your worth should not be defined by self-doubt, but should be grounded in the value you genuinely offer to clients. 

You have the flexibility to begin with lower prices and gradually raise them as you gain experience, build your reputation and brand, and expand your offerings. Re-evaluate your pricing strategy every 6 months or so. We cover pricing in more detail and help you build your offer in DSC’s Defining Your Offer & Pricing course for dietitian entrepreneurs, included in the DSC Nutrition + Business membership. 

Start by Setting Your Income Goals

Determining your dietitian private practice salary takes some planning. Setting a money goal can help provide us with direction in terms of how to price our services/offers. 

Step 1: Assessing your Money Mindset

• • Is there anything holding you back from charging for your value?
  • You might be asking yourself:

• Am I really worth that much?

• Can I really charge that price?

• What if I offer too high of a price and disappoint people with my services?

If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome around pricing, we have an awesome training video around Mindset Shifts within the Nutrition + Business Membership. 

Step 2: Understand your Minimum Revenue Requirements

• Calculate your monthly revenue requirements; how much money you need to meet your monthly expenses. Within the DSC Nutrition + Business Membership, we provide you with a Monthly Revenue Calculator to help define this. 
• Make sure and account for an approximate % you will need to set aside for taxes. 
• When you know what your monthly revenue requirements are, it makes it easier to determine how much you need to charge on a per unit basis (ie. per client, or per course), and how many units you need to sell (or clients you need to see), in order to breakeven or make a profit. 

Step 3: Set a Realistic Goal

• Set a monthly goal that you feel is realistic
• Work your way up to it – it will likely take TIME to meet your monthly revenue target
• Break the goal down into achievable and measurable milestones (ie. I want to work with X clients at X price point in the month of August) and don’t set yourself up for failure (ie. setting an outlandish monetary goal that isn’t realistic)
• Write this goal number on a sticky note and post it next to your computer

Step 4: How much do you need to charge to meet this goal? 

• Breakdown how many clients you need to take (or how many units you need to sell), at what price point, in order to achieve your monthly money goal 
• This may feel overwhelming at first but will help to give you a concrete number to aim for 

How Much do Private Practice Dietitians Charge? Examples of Price Points for Various Nutrition Services 

Please remember, there is no one ‘right’ price. The ideas below are simply intended to act as guides based on what other practitioners in the field often charge. Choose the rate that feels best for you. You will increase your prices as you gain more experience and start to build up your brand. We provide you with a more extensive list of price points within the DSC Nutrition + Business Membership. 

1:1 Client Sessions 

How much do private practice dietitians charge for 1:1 sessions? Typically, pricing for 1:1 sessions is done on a per-session basis. Many dietitians prefer to do a 60-minute initial consult, followed by 30 or 45-minute follow-ups every 2 weeks, depending on your style. They may opt to bundle sessions, or create a package offer which includes additional components (like meal plans, email support, etc.). We cover how to create packages and bundled offerings within the DSC Nutrition + Business Membership. 

If you are new to business and you just want a quick and easy way to get started working with clients, you might opt to offer one-off sessions instead of bundled packages or programs. This can be a good strategy if you don’t have a specific niche audience that you are working with. 

Dietitian prices for 1:1 services can range anywhere from $90 – $200+ per hour. Most RDs that we work with within the DSC membership are closer to the $150 per hour range. 

Note that if you choose to direct bill to insurance companies, your pricing process may be slightly different. For US RD’s – if you plan to take insurance, companies that you want to become in-network with will provide you a “contracted rate” before you sign the agreement. You can choose to agree to the rate, try to negotiate it, or decide that taking insurance at this price point is not the best route for you. Note that this contracted rate is private between you and the insurance company and cannot be discussed with any other party at any time. If your self-pay rate is $150/hr, you can bill $37.50/unit (1 unit = 15 minutes) to the insurance company. However, if you agreed to their contracted rate of, let’s say, $30/unit, the insurance company will only pay you a total of $120/hr.

Meal Planning 

How much do private practice dietitians charge for meal plans? You may choose to provide your clients with a meal or menu plan to help them learn about nutrition and structuring meals. We highly recommend checking out That Clean Life. Though it is an investment, it will save you an incredible amount of time. The DSC audience gets 20% off their first 4 months of That Clean Life by clicking this link (note: this is an affiliate link, so we earn a commission if you choose to purchase through this link). 

That Clean Life wrote a fantastic blog post about how much to charge for meal plans. The average rate for a 1-week meal plan is $75 USD and $200 USD for 4 weeks. 

Group Presentations & Workshops 

How much do private practice dietitians charge for workshops and group presentations? When it comes to groups, it can be helpful to understand their budget first, rather than having standard pricing for group presentations or corporate events. Group budgets can vary significantly (for example, if they are a corporation vs. a not-for-profit). We suggest when you start a conversation, try and get a sense of their budget first and then you can design something to fit that budget – or decide if you don’t want to do it if the budget is too low. 

The fees dietitians charge for corporate workshops or presentations can vary significantly depending on factors such as: level of expertise, location (ie. what type of budget does the organization have? what is travel like to get there?), duration of the presentation, the size of the audience, whether it will be recorded, how many potential clients it could expose you to, and any additional services provided.

On average, a dietitian might charge anywhere from $100 to $500 or more per hour for a corporate workshop or presentation. Some dietitians may offer discounted rates for longer engagements or repeat clients, while others may charge higher fees for specialized topics or services. As mentioned, inquire what the organization’s budget is first. If you would like advice and a gut check on whether your price seems appropriate, post it in the community. 

Dietitian Consulting Fees & Freelancing 

Dietitian consulting fees can vary significantly based on project scope and expectations. Post your specific questions about consulting rates in the community to get feedback. 

• Hourly Rate: Many dietitians charge an hourly rate for consulting services. Hourly rates can range anywhere from $50-200+ or more per hour, depending on factors such as the dietitian’s experience and the market demand for their services.
• Project-Based Fees: For larger consulting projects or ongoing engagements, dietitians may offer project-based fees. They might provide a quote for the entire project based on an estimate of the time and resources required to complete the work.
• Retainer Agreements: Some clients may prefer to retain a dietitian’s services on an ongoing basis. In this case, the dietitian and client may agree to a retainer agreement, where the client pays a monthly or quarterly fee in exchange for a set number of consulting hours or services (ex. a company hires you to write 4 blog posts for them each month).
• Package Deals: Dietitians may offer package deals for consulting services, bundling together a set number of hours or services for a discounted rate (ex. a company hires you to create X Instagram posts, X blog posts for them each month). 
• Per Diem Rates: For consulting work that requires travel or on-site support, dietitians may charge a per diem rate to cover expenses such as lodging, meals, and transportation, in addition to their consulting fee.
• Customized Pricing: Ultimately, dietitian consulting fees are highly customizable based on the specific needs and preferences of the client. 

Key Takeaways for Pricing 

There is no “right” or “wrong” price for your offerings or dietitian consulting fees. Though, there are some factors that can influence how much to charge for dietitian counseling and other services. Your offering value will go up with more time and experience. Knowing your ideal income goals can help you understand how much to charge and be more successful in earning money as a dietitian entrepreneur. 

The DSC Nutrition + Business membership includes access to courses for dietitians including the Defining Your Offer & Pricing Course where you can put these steps into action and come up with a plan to decide on your dietitian consulting fees.

Dietitian Success Center is THE professional development resource for dietitians, dietetic students, and dietitian entrepreneurs. Our mission is to make it easier for dietitians and dietetic students to build expertise. We do this through evidence-based courses for dietitians, community and ready-to-use client handouts. Plus – we give you the tools to start and grow your dietitian private practice!

Disclaimer: the information provided in all written materials is for educational purposes only and is not to be used as medical advice or to diagnose or treat a medical disease. It is strictly for informational purposes and is general in nature. Dietitian Success Center Inc. is not responsible and cannot be held liable for any actions or inactions taken related to the information provided. Consult with your local medical provider before implementing any dietary changes. It is hereby understood that the information provided does not replace medical advice provided by your healthcare provider.