Housekeeping 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, housekeeping cleaners rate their career happiness 2.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 2% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy housekeeping 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
Garbage collector
2.4
$38k
Vehicle cleaner
2.4
$26k
Postal service clerk
2.3
$44k
Customer service representative
2.3
$29k
Retail salesperson
2.3
$23k
Housekeeping cleaner
2.3
$25k
Dyeing machine operator
2.2
$29k
Stock clerk
2.2
$24k
Janitor
2.2
$25k
Cashier
2.2
$21k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are housekeeping cleaners happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do housekeeping cleaners find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as housekeeping cleaners?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are housekeeping cleaner’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are housekeeping cleaners making the best use of their abilities?

Are housekeeping cleaners happy with their salary?

Housekeeping cleaners rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Housekeeping cleaners tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked housekeeping cleaners how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

1693 housekeeping cleaners

5 Star
10%

10% of housekeeping cleaners rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
20%

20% of housekeeping cleaners rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of housekeeping cleaners rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of housekeeping cleaners rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
27%

27% of housekeeping cleaners rated their compensation 1 stars

Do housekeeping cleaners find their jobs meaningful?

On average, housekeeping cleaners rate the meaningfulness of their work a 1.9/5. The majority of housekeeping cleaners struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked housekeeping cleaners how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

1.9 out of 5 stars

1700 housekeeping cleaners

5 Star
4%

4% of housekeeping cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
7%

7% of housekeeping cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
14%

14% of housekeeping cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of housekeeping cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
51%

51% of housekeeping cleaners rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as housekeeping cleaners?

Housekeeping cleaners rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.2/5. The majority of housekeeping cleaners don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.

We asked housekeeping cleaners how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.2 out of 5 stars

1797 housekeeping cleaners

5 Star
19%

19% of housekeeping cleaners rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of housekeeping cleaners rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of housekeeping cleaners rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of housekeeping cleaners rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
17%

17% of housekeeping cleaners rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a housekeeping cleaner’s work environment?

As a whole, housekeeping cleaners rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.9/5. Some housekeeping cleaners are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.

We asked housekeeping cleaners how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

2.9 out of 5 stars

1793 housekeeping cleaners

5 Star
13%

13% of housekeeping cleaners rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of housekeeping cleaners rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of housekeeping cleaners rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of housekeeping cleaners rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of housekeeping cleaners rated their work environment 1 stars

Are housekeeping cleaners making the best use of their abilities?

Former housekeeping cleaners 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 housekeeping cleaner.

We asked housekeeping cleaners how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.0 out of 5 stars

1798 housekeeping cleaners

5 Star
7%

7% of housekeeping cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
7%

7% of housekeeping cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
15%

15% of housekeeping cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of housekeeping cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
46%

46% of housekeeping cleaners rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars