Taxi drivers 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, taxi drivers 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 taxi drivers 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
Mail superintendent
2.7
$28k
Painter
2.7
$19k
Meter reader
2.7
$44k
Bus driver
2.7
$34k
Brickmason
2.7
$28k
Taxi driver
2.7
$26k
Truck driver
2.7
$49k
Courier
2.7
$26k
Cargo and freight agent
2.7
$48k
Delivery service driver
2.6
$15k

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

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

Are taxi drivers happy with their salary?

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

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

2.6 out of 5 stars

294 taxi drivers

5 Star
9%

9% of taxi drivers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
14%

14% of taxi drivers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of taxi drivers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of taxi drivers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of taxi drivers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do taxi drivers find their jobs meaningful?

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

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

2.2 out of 5 stars

292 taxi drivers

5 Star
7%

7% of taxi drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
7%

7% of taxi drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of taxi drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of taxi drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
38%

38% of taxi drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Taxi drivers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of taxi drivers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.6 out of 5 stars

314 taxi drivers

5 Star
28%

28% of taxi drivers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of taxi drivers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of taxi drivers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
7%

7% of taxi drivers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of taxi drivers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a taxi driver’s work environment?

As a whole, taxi drivers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.2/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked taxi drivers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.2 out of 5 stars

313 taxi drivers

5 Star
22%

22% of taxi drivers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of taxi drivers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of taxi drivers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of taxi drivers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
15%

15% of taxi drivers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are taxi drivers making the best use of their abilities?

Former taxi drivers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.3/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a taxi driver.

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

2.3 out of 5 stars

313 taxi drivers

5 Star
13%

13% of taxi drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
7%

7% of taxi drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of taxi drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of taxi drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
39%

39% of taxi drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars