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
$25k
Metal worker
2.5
$15k
Shipping and receiving clerk
2.4
$20k
Food server
2.4
$5k
Postal service worker
2.4
$27k
Garbage collector
2.4
$15k
Vehicle cleaner
2.4
$9k
Drill press operator
2.3
$42k
Postal service clerk
2.3
$29k
Housekeeper
2.3
$4k

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

5 Star
14%

14% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
11%

11% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
21%

21% of garbage collectors rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
28%

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

5 Star
4%

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

4 Star
11%

11% of garbage collectors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
14%

14% of garbage collectors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

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

1 Star
46%

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

5 Star
23%

23% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of garbage collectors rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
23%

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

5 Star
12%

12% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of garbage collectors rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
22%

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

5 Star
10%

10% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
4%

4% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
14%

14% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
28%

28% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
44%

44% of garbage collectors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars