Retail managers 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, retail managers rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 7% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy retail managers 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
Restaurant manager
2.7
$32k
Account manager
2.7
$67k
Compliance manager
2.7
$83k
Advertising sales agent
2.7
$33k
Credit counselor
2.6
$6k
Retail manager
2.6
$35k
Sales representative
2.5
$41k
Car salesperson
2.4
$60k
Customer service representative
2.3
$18k
Retail salesperson
2.3
$6k

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

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

Are retail managers happy with their salary?

Retail managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Retail managers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked retail managers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.6 out of 5 stars

5828 retail managers

5 Star
7%

7% of retail managers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of retail managers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of retail managers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of retail managers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
24%

24% of retail managers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do retail managers find their jobs meaningful?

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

We asked retail managers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.2 out of 5 stars

5828 retail managers

5 Star
5%

5% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
9%

9% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
29%

29% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
37%

37% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as retail managers?

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

We asked retail managers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.8 out of 5 stars

6102 retail managers

5 Star
30%

30% of retail managers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of retail managers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of retail managers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of retail managers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of retail managers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a retail manager’s work environment?

As a whole, retail managers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked retail managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

6097 retail managers

5 Star
14%

14% of retail managers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of retail managers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of retail managers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of retail managers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of retail managers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are retail managers making the best use of their abilities?

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

We asked retail managers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

6107 retail managers

5 Star
9%

9% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
17%

17% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars