Grounds maintenance workers are below average when it comes to happiness.

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, grounds maintenance workers rate their career happiness 3.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 30% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy grounds maintenance workers 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
Carpenter
3.0
$23k
Cabinetmaker
3.0
$14k
Metal caster
3.0
$50k
Furniture finisher
3.0
$9k
Landscaper
3.0
$5k
Grounds maintenance worker
3.0
$5k
Stonemason
2.9
$32k
Agricultural and food science technician
2.9
$41k
Quarry rock splitter
2.9
$47k
Agricultural inspector
2.9
$11k

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

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

Are grounds maintenance workers happy with their salary?

Grounds maintenance workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Grounds maintenance workers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked grounds maintenance workers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

372 grounds maintenance workers

5 Star
5%

5% of grounds maintenance workers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
22%

22% of grounds maintenance workers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
33%

33% of grounds maintenance workers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of grounds maintenance workers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
16%

16% of grounds maintenance workers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do grounds maintenance workers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, grounds maintenance workers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of grounds maintenance workers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked grounds maintenance workers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.4 out of 5 stars

373 grounds maintenance workers

5 Star
5%

5% of grounds maintenance workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
15%

15% of grounds maintenance workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of grounds maintenance workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
33%

33% of grounds maintenance workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
25%

25% of grounds maintenance workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as grounds maintenance workers?

Grounds maintenance workers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of grounds maintenance workers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked grounds maintenance workers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

397 grounds maintenance workers

5 Star
22%

22% of grounds maintenance workers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
39%

39% of grounds maintenance workers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of grounds maintenance workers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of grounds maintenance workers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of grounds maintenance workers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a grounds maintenance worker’s work environment?

As a whole, grounds maintenance workers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of grounds maintenance workers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a grounds maintenance worker.

We asked grounds maintenance workers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

394 grounds maintenance workers

5 Star
24%

24% of grounds maintenance workers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
39%

39% of grounds maintenance workers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of grounds maintenance workers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of grounds maintenance workers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of grounds maintenance workers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are grounds maintenance workers making the best use of their abilities?

Former grounds maintenance workers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.5/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a grounds maintenance worker.

We asked grounds maintenance workers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

392 grounds maintenance workers

5 Star
7%

7% of grounds maintenance workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
11%

11% of grounds maintenance workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of grounds maintenance workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
34%

34% of grounds maintenance workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of grounds maintenance workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars