Construction painters 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, construction painters rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 13% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy construction painters 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lawn care specialist | 2.8 | $37k |
| Rail transportation worker | 2.8 | $49k |
| Tile and marble setter | 2.8 | $43k |
| Mail superintendent | 2.7 | $77k |
| Sheet metal worker | 2.7 | $49k |
| Construction painter | 2.7 | $35k |
| Meter reader | 2.7 | $42k |
| Bus driver | 2.7 | $42k |
| Brickmason | 2.7 | $48k |
| Tool and die maker | 2.7 | $54k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are construction painters happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do construction painters find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as construction painters?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are construction painter’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are construction painters making the best use of their abilities?
Are construction painters happy with their salary?
Construction painters rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most construction painters having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked construction painters how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
581 construction painters
10% of construction painters rated their compensation 5 stars
27% of construction painters rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of construction painters rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of construction painters rated their compensation 2 stars
13% of construction painters rated their compensation 1 stars
Do construction painters find their jobs meaningful?
On average, construction painters rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of construction painters struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked construction painters how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.3 out of 5 stars
580 construction painters
9% of construction painters rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
10% of construction painters rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of construction painters rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of construction painters rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
36% of construction painters rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as construction painters?
Construction painters rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of construction painters find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked construction painters how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
617 construction painters
21% of construction painters rated their career fit 5 stars
38% of construction painters rated their career fit 4 stars
25% of construction painters rated their career fit 3 stars
10% of construction painters rated their career fit 2 stars
7% of construction painters rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a construction painter’s work environment?
As a whole, construction painters 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 construction painters how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
616 construction painters
15% of construction painters rated their work environment 5 stars
29% of construction painters rated their work environment 4 stars
29% of construction painters rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of construction painters rated their work environment 2 stars
12% of construction painters rated their work environment 1 stars
Are construction painters making the best use of their abilities?
Former construction painters 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 construction painter.
We asked construction painters how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
620 construction painters
7% of construction painters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
15% of construction painters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of construction painters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
30% of construction painters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
26% of construction painters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars