Roofers 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, roofers rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 6% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy roofers 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
Hazardous materials removal worker
2.6
$46k
Traffic technician
2.6
$49k
Recreational vehicle service technician
2.6
$44k
Derrick operator
2.6
$47k
Drywall installer
2.6
$48k
Roofer
2.6
$47k
Butcher
2.6
$36k
Glazier
2.6
$47k
Exterminator
2.5
$38k
Forklift operator
2.5
$38k

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

Are roofers happy with their salary?

Roofers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most roofers having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

226 roofers

5 Star
13%

13% of roofers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of roofers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of roofers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of roofers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
13%

13% of roofers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do roofers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, roofers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of roofers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

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

2.3 out of 5 stars

229 roofers

5 Star
9%

9% of roofers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
11%

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

3 Star
20%

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

2 Star
25%

25% of roofers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
35%

35% of roofers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

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

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

3.4 out of 5 stars

243 roofers

5 Star
24%

24% of roofers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of roofers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of roofers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of roofers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
12%

12% of roofers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a roofer’s work environment?

As a whole, roofers 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 roofers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

245 roofers

5 Star
18%

18% of roofers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of roofers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of roofers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
17%

17% of roofers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
15%

15% of roofers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are roofers making the best use of their abilities?

Former roofers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a roofer.

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

2.7 out of 5 stars

244 roofers

5 Star
15%

15% of roofers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
16%

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

3 Star
19%

19% of roofers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of roofers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
26%

26% of roofers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars