Garbage collectors 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, garbage collectors rate their career happiness 2.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 3% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy garbage collectors 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Forklift operator | 2.5 | $38k |
| Metal worker | 2.5 | $36k |
| Shipping and receiving clerk | 2.4 | $37k |
| Food server | 2.4 | $26k |
| Postal service worker | 2.4 | $52k |
| Garbage collector | 2.4 | $38k |
| Vehicle cleaner | 2.4 | $29k |
| Drill press operator | 2.3 | $39k |
| Postal service clerk | 2.3 | $52k |
| Housekeeper | 2.3 | $29k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are garbage collectors happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do garbage collectors find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as garbage collectors?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are garbage collector’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are garbage collectors making the best use of their abilities?
Are garbage collectors happy with their salary?
Garbage collectors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Garbage collectors tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked garbage collectors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
71 garbage collectors
14% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 5 stars
25% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 4 stars
11% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 2 stars
28% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 1 stars
Do garbage collectors find their jobs meaningful?
On average, garbage collectors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.0/5. The majority of garbage collectors struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked garbage collectors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.0 out of 5 stars
71 garbage collectors
4% of garbage collectors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
11% of garbage collectors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
14% of garbage collectors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
24% of garbage collectors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
46% of garbage collectors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as garbage collectors?
Garbage collectors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.1/5. The majority of garbage collectors don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked garbage collectors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
78 garbage collectors
23% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 5 stars
23% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 4 stars
19% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 3 stars
12% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 2 stars
23% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a garbage collector’s work environment?
As a whole, garbage collectors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.9/5. Some garbage collectors are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked garbage collectors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
78 garbage collectors
12% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 3 stars
19% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 2 stars
22% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 1 stars
Are garbage collectors making the best use of their abilities?
Former garbage collectors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.1/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a garbage collector.
We asked garbage collectors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.1 out of 5 stars
78 garbage collectors
10% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
4% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
14% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
28% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
44% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars