Butchers 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, butchers 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 butchers 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 | $36k |
| Recreational vehicle service technician | 2.6 | $45k |
| Derrick operator | 2.6 | $65k |
| Drywall installer | 2.6 | $13k |
| Roofer | 2.6 | $12k |
| Butcher | 2.6 | $13k |
| Glazier | 2.6 | $29k |
| Exterminator | 2.5 | $43k |
| Forklift operator | 2.5 | $25k |
| Metal worker | 2.5 | $15k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are butchers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do butchers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as butchers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are butcher’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are butchers making the best use of their abilities?
Are butchers happy with their salary?
Butchers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Butchers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked butchers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
279 butchers
7% of butchers rated their compensation 5 stars
17% of butchers rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of butchers rated their compensation 3 stars
24% of butchers rated their compensation 2 stars
25% of butchers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do butchers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, butchers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.1/5. The majority of butchers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked butchers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.1 out of 5 stars
279 butchers
6% of butchers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
9% of butchers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
16% of butchers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
25% of butchers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
44% of butchers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as butchers?
Butchers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of butchers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked butchers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
299 butchers
20% of butchers rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of butchers rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of butchers rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of butchers rated their career fit 2 stars
11% of butchers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a butcher’s work environment?
As a whole, butchers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.0/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked butchers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
300 butchers
16% of butchers rated their work environment 5 stars
25% of butchers rated their work environment 4 stars
24% of butchers rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of butchers rated their work environment 2 stars
20% of butchers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are butchers making the best use of their abilities?
Former butchers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.4/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a butcher.
We asked butchers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
298 butchers
11% of butchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
11% of butchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
20% of butchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
26% of butchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
32% of butchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars