Mining machine operators 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, mining machine operators rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 11% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy mining machine operators 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
Sheet metal worker
2.7
$53k
Painter
2.7
$46k
Meter reader
2.7
$46k
Brickmason
2.7
$59k
Tool and die maker
2.7
$57k
Mining machine operator
2.7
$60k
Machinist
2.7
$48k
Truck driver
2.7
$48k
Construction worker
2.7
$38k
Cargo and freight agent
2.7
$47k

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

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

Are mining machine operators happy with their salary?

Mining machine operators rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of mining machine operators are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.

We asked mining machine operators how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

3.5 out of 5 stars

60 mining machine operators

5 Star
18%

18% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
37%

37% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of mining machine operators rated their compensation 1 stars

Do mining machine operators find their jobs meaningful?

On average, mining machine operators rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.2/5. The majority of mining machine operators struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked mining machine operators how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.2 out of 5 stars

60 mining machine operators

5 Star
3%

3% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
32%

32% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
32%

32% of mining machine operators rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as mining machine operators?

Mining machine operators rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of mining machine operators find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked mining machine operators how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

62 mining machine operators

5 Star
23%

23% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of mining machine operators rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a mining machine operator’s work environment?

As a whole, mining machine operators rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.0/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked mining machine operators how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.0 out of 5 stars

61 mining machine operators

5 Star
11%

11% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
23%

23% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
13%

13% of mining machine operators rated their work environment 1 stars

Are mining machine operators making the best use of their abilities?

Former mining machine operators 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 mining machine operator.

We asked mining machine operators how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

62 mining machine operators

5 Star
11%

11% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
31%

31% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
26%

26% of mining machine operators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars