Drywall installers 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, drywall installers rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 7% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy drywall installers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery service driver | 2.6 | $15k |
| Hazardous materials removal worker | 2.6 | $36k |
| Traffic technician | 2.6 | $47k |
| 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 |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are drywall installers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do drywall installers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as drywall installers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are drywall installer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are drywall installers making the best use of their abilities?
Are drywall installers happy with their salary?
Drywall installers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most drywall installers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked drywall installers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
141 drywall installers
11% of drywall installers rated their compensation 5 stars
30% of drywall installers rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of drywall installers rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of drywall installers rated their compensation 2 stars
14% of drywall installers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do drywall installers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, drywall installers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of drywall installers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked drywall installers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
142 drywall installers
9% of drywall installers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
11% of drywall installers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of drywall installers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
21% of drywall installers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
37% of drywall installers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as drywall installers?
Drywall installers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.3/5. The majority of drywall installers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked drywall installers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
156 drywall installers
21% of drywall installers rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of drywall installers rated their career fit 4 stars
25% of drywall installers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of drywall installers rated their career fit 2 stars
15% of drywall installers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a drywall installer’s work environment?
As a whole, drywall installers 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 drywall installers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
158 drywall installers
18% of drywall installers rated their work environment 5 stars
23% of drywall installers rated their work environment 4 stars
23% of drywall installers rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of drywall installers rated their work environment 2 stars
19% of drywall installers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are drywall installers making the best use of their abilities?
Former drywall installers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.5/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a drywall installer.
We asked drywall installers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
157 drywall installers
10% of drywall installers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
16% of drywall installers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
20% of drywall installers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
24% of drywall installers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
31% of drywall installers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars