Vehicle cleaners 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, vehicle cleaners rate their career happiness 2.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 3% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy vehicle cleaners 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Teller | 2.5 | $19k |
| Maitre d' | 2.5 | $1k |
| Shipping and receiving clerk | 2.4 | $20k |
| Postal service worker | 2.4 | $27k |
| Garbage collector | 2.4 | $15k |
| Vehicle cleaner | 2.4 | $9k |
| Drill press operator | 2.3 | $42k |
| Postal service clerk | 2.3 | $29k |
| Customer service representative | 2.3 | $18k |
| Retail salesperson | 2.3 | $6k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are vehicle cleaners happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do vehicle cleaners find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as vehicle cleaners?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are vehicle cleaner’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are vehicle cleaners making the best use of their abilities?
Are vehicle cleaners happy with their salary?
Vehicle cleaners rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.4/5. Most vehicle cleaners do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked vehicle cleaners how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
140 vehicle cleaners
5% of vehicle cleaners rated their compensation 5 stars
15% of vehicle cleaners rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of vehicle cleaners rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of vehicle cleaners rated their compensation 2 stars
31% of vehicle cleaners rated their compensation 1 stars
Do vehicle cleaners find their jobs meaningful?
On average, vehicle cleaners rate the meaningfulness of their work a 1.7/5. The majority of vehicle cleaners struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked vehicle cleaners how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
1.7 out of 5 stars
139 vehicle cleaners
2% of vehicle cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
4% of vehicle cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
13% of vehicle cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
25% of vehicle cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
56% of vehicle cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as vehicle cleaners?
Vehicle cleaners rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of vehicle cleaners don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked vehicle cleaners how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
153 vehicle cleaners
21% of vehicle cleaners rated their career fit 5 stars
27% of vehicle cleaners rated their career fit 4 stars
29% of vehicle cleaners rated their career fit 3 stars
14% of vehicle cleaners rated their career fit 2 stars
8% of vehicle cleaners rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a vehicle cleaner’s work environment?
As a whole, vehicle cleaners rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.9/5. Some vehicle cleaners are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked vehicle cleaners how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
152 vehicle cleaners
11% of vehicle cleaners rated their work environment 5 stars
26% of vehicle cleaners rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of vehicle cleaners rated their work environment 3 stars
26% of vehicle cleaners rated their work environment 2 stars
14% of vehicle cleaners rated their work environment 1 stars
Are vehicle cleaners making the best use of their abilities?
Former vehicle cleaners on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.2/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a vehicle cleaner.
We asked vehicle cleaners how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
153 vehicle cleaners
9% of vehicle cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
7% of vehicle cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
19% of vehicle cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
29% of vehicle cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
37% of vehicle cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars