Cashiers 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, cashiers rate their career happiness 2.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 1% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cashiers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Customer service representative | 2.3 | $18k |
| Retail salesperson | 2.3 | $6k |
| Housekeeper | 2.3 | $4k |
| Stock clerk | 2.2 | $23k |
| Janitor | 2.2 | $4k |
| Cashier | 2.2 | $2k |
| Telemarketer | 1.8 | $20k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are cashiers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do cashiers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as cashiers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are cashier’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are cashiers making the best use of their abilities?
Are cashiers happy with their salary?
Cashiers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.4/5. Most cashiers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked cashiers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
10076 cashiers
5% of cashiers rated their compensation 5 stars
14% of cashiers rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of cashiers rated their compensation 3 stars
24% of cashiers rated their compensation 2 stars
31% of cashiers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do cashiers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, cashiers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 1.7/5. The majority of cashiers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked cashiers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
1.7 out of 5 stars
10094 cashiers
2% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
5% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
12% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
24% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
57% of cashiers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as cashiers?
Cashiers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.3/5. The majority of cashiers don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked cashiers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
10810 cashiers
20% of cashiers rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of cashiers rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of cashiers rated their career fit 3 stars
14% of cashiers rated their career fit 2 stars
14% of cashiers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a cashier’s work environment?
As a whole, cashiers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.7/5. Some cashiers are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked cashiers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
10801 cashiers
9% of cashiers rated their work environment 5 stars
19% of cashiers rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of cashiers rated their work environment 3 stars
25% of cashiers rated their work environment 2 stars
21% of cashiers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are cashiers making the best use of their abilities?
Former cashiers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.0/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a cashier.
We asked cashiers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.0 out of 5 stars
10851 cashiers
6% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
7% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
13% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
26% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
48% of cashiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars