Cost estimators 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, cost estimators rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 10% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cost estimators 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
Securities and commodities broker
2.7
$63k
Financial analyst
2.7
$92k
Compliance manager
2.7
$125k
Advertising sales agent
2.7
$52k
Financial advisor
2.7
$94k
Cost estimator
2.7
$65k
Revenue agent
2.7
$57k
Investment banker
2.7
$73k
Tax preparer
2.7
$46k
Credit counselor
2.6
$48k

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

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

Are cost estimators happy with their salary?

Cost estimators rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most cost estimators having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

334 cost estimators

5 Star
11%

11% of cost estimators rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of cost estimators rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
30%

30% of cost estimators rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of cost estimators rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of cost estimators rated their compensation 1 stars

Do cost estimators find their jobs meaningful?

On average, cost estimators rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of cost estimators struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

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

2.3 out of 5 stars

335 cost estimators

5 Star
6%

6% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
10%

10% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
33%

33% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
30%

30% of cost estimators rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Cost estimators rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of cost estimators don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.

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

3.4 out of 5 stars

344 cost estimators

5 Star
18%

18% of cost estimators rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of cost estimators rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
30%

30% of cost estimators rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of cost estimators rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of cost estimators rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a cost estimator’s work environment?

As a whole, cost estimators rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.2/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

344 cost estimators

5 Star
13%

13% of cost estimators rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of cost estimators rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
31%

31% of cost estimators rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
17%

17% of cost estimators rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of cost estimators rated their work environment 1 stars

Are cost estimators making the best use of their abilities?

Former cost estimators on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Cost estimators tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

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

2.7 out of 5 stars

346 cost estimators

5 Star
9%

9% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
30%

30% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
16%

16% of cost estimators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars