Nursery 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, nursery workers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 37% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy nursery 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
Horticulturist
3.6
$73k
Greenhouse technician
3.6
$41k
Nursery worker
3.1
$30k
Landscaper
3.0
$49k
Grounds maintenance worker
3.0
$34k

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

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

Are nursery workers happy with their salary?

Nursery workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.5/5. Most nursery workers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

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

2.5 out of 5 stars

345 nursery workers

5 Star
6%

6% of nursery workers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of nursery workers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of nursery workers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of nursery workers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
28%

28% of nursery workers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do nursery workers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, nursery workers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.7/5. While most nursery workers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

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

2.7 out of 5 stars

344 nursery workers

5 Star
10%

10% of nursery workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of nursery workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of nursery workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of nursery workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of nursery workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Nursery workers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of nursery workers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.8 out of 5 stars

375 nursery workers

5 Star
30%

30% of nursery workers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of nursery workers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of nursery workers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of nursery workers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of nursery workers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a nursery worker’s work environment?

As a whole, nursery workers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of nursery workers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a nursery worker.

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

3.5 out of 5 stars

373 nursery workers

5 Star
19%

19% of nursery workers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
33%

33% of nursery workers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of nursery workers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of nursery workers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of nursery workers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are nursery workers making the best use of their abilities?

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

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

2.7 out of 5 stars

372 nursery workers

5 Star
10%

10% of nursery workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of nursery workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of nursery workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of nursery workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
20%

20% of nursery workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars