Rail transportation workers 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, rail transportation workers rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 16% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy rail transportation workers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Marine electrician | 2.8 | $77k |
| Highway maintenance worker | 2.8 | $46k |
| Plumber | 2.8 | $60k |
| Pipelayer | 2.8 | $46k |
| Lawn care specialist | 2.8 | $38k |
| Rail transportation worker | 2.8 | $61k |
| Transportation planner | 2.8 | $84k |
| Tile and marble setter | 2.8 | $48k |
| Mail superintendent | 2.7 | $80k |
| Product safety engineer | 2.7 | $99k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are rail transportation workers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do rail transportation workers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as rail transportation workers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are rail transportation worker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are rail transportation workers making the best use of their abilities?
Are rail transportation workers happy with their salary?
Rail transportation workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.8/5. The majority of rail transportation workers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked rail transportation workers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
50 rail transportation workers
34% of rail transportation workers rated their compensation 5 stars
28% of rail transportation workers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of rail transportation workers rated their compensation 3 stars
10% of rail transportation workers rated their compensation 2 stars
4% of rail transportation workers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do rail transportation workers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, rail transportation workers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. The majority of rail transportation workers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked rail transportation workers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
51 rail transportation workers
16% of rail transportation workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
2% of rail transportation workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of rail transportation workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
29% of rail transportation workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
29% of rail transportation workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as rail transportation workers?
Rail transportation workers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of rail transportation workers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked rail transportation workers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
53 rail transportation workers
25% of rail transportation workers rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of rail transportation workers rated their career fit 4 stars
32% of rail transportation workers rated their career fit 3 stars
11% of rail transportation workers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of rail transportation workers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a rail transportation worker’s work environment?
As a whole, rail transportation workers 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 rail transportation workers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
52 rail transportation workers
19% of rail transportation workers rated their work environment 5 stars
25% of rail transportation workers rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of rail transportation workers rated their work environment 3 stars
19% of rail transportation workers rated their work environment 2 stars
12% of rail transportation workers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are rail transportation workers making the best use of their abilities?
Former rail transportation workers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Rail transportation workers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked rail transportation workers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
52 rail transportation workers
15% of rail transportation workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
12% of rail transportation workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
23% of rail transportation workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
27% of rail transportation workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
23% of rail transportation workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars