Sheet metal workers 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, sheet metal workers rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 13% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy sheet metal 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
Electronic assembler
2.8
$28k
Lawn care specialist
2.8
$38k
Quality control inspector
2.8
$49k
Rail transportation worker
2.8
$61k
Tile and marble setter
2.8
$48k
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

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

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

Are sheet metal workers happy with their salary?

Sheet metal workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most sheet metal workers having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.0 out of 5 stars

170 sheet metal workers

5 Star
10%

10% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
15%

15% of sheet metal workers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do sheet metal workers find their jobs meaningful?

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

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

2.4 out of 5 stars

169 sheet metal workers

5 Star
5%

5% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
15%

15% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
33%

33% of sheet metal workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

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

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

3.6 out of 5 stars

185 sheet metal workers

5 Star
26%

26% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
8%

8% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of sheet metal workers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a sheet metal worker’s work environment?

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

184 sheet metal workers

5 Star
16%

16% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of sheet metal workers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are sheet metal workers making the best use of their abilities?

Former sheet metal workers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.8/5. Sheet metal workers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

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

2.8 out of 5 stars

183 sheet metal workers

5 Star
11%

11% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of sheet metal workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars