Cashiers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, cashiers rate their career happiness 2.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 1% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cashiers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Customer service representative
2.3
$18k
Retail salesperson
2.3
$6k
Housekeeper
2.3
$4k
Stock clerk
2.2
$23k
Janitor
2.2
$4k
Cashier
2.2
$2k
Telemarketer
1.8
$20k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are cashiers happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do cashiers find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as cashiers?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are cashier’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are cashiers making the best use of their abilities?

Are cashiers happy with their salary?

Cashiers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.4/5. Most cashiers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

We asked cashiers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.4 out of 5 stars

10076 cashiers

5 Star
5%

5% of cashiers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
14%

14% of cashiers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of cashiers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of cashiers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
31%

31% of cashiers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do cashiers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, cashiers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 1.7/5. The majority of cashiers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked cashiers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

1.7 out of 5 stars

10094 cashiers

5 Star
2%

2% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
5%

5% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
12%

12% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
57%

57% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as cashiers?

Cashiers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.3/5. The majority of cashiers don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.

We asked cashiers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.3 out of 5 stars

10810 cashiers

5 Star
20%

20% of cashiers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of cashiers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of cashiers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of cashiers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of cashiers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a cashier’s work environment?

As a whole, cashiers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.7/5. Some cashiers are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.

We asked cashiers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

10801 cashiers

5 Star
9%

9% of cashiers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of cashiers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of cashiers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of cashiers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of cashiers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are cashiers making the best use of their abilities?

Former cashiers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.0/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a cashier.

We asked cashiers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.0 out of 5 stars

10851 cashiers

5 Star
6%

6% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
7%

7% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
13%

13% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
48%

48% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars