Exterminators 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, exterminators rate their career happiness 2.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 5% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy exterminators 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Derrick operator | 2.6 | $47k |
| Drywall installer | 2.6 | $48k |
| Roofer | 2.6 | $47k |
| Butcher | 2.6 | $36k |
| Glazier | 2.6 | $47k |
| Exterminator | 2.5 | $38k |
| Forklift operator | 2.5 | $38k |
| Metal worker | 2.5 | $36k |
| Correctional officer | 2.4 | $48k |
| Shipping/Receiving clerk | 2.4 | $37k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are exterminators happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do exterminators find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as exterminators?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are exterminator’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are exterminators making the best use of their abilities?
Are exterminators happy with their salary?
Exterminators rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Exterminators tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked exterminators how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
127 exterminators
11% of exterminators rated their compensation 5 stars
20% of exterminators rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of exterminators rated their compensation 3 stars
28% of exterminators rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of exterminators rated their compensation 1 stars
Do exterminators find their jobs meaningful?
On average, exterminators rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.2/5. The majority of exterminators struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked exterminators how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
128 exterminators
8% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
6% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
15% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
38% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
33% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as exterminators?
Exterminators rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of exterminators find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked exterminators how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
130 exterminators
28% of exterminators rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of exterminators rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of exterminators rated their career fit 3 stars
12% of exterminators rated their career fit 2 stars
7% of exterminators rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an exterminator’s work environment?
As a whole, exterminators 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 exterminators how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
129 exterminators
16% of exterminators rated their work environment 5 stars
29% of exterminators rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of exterminators rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of exterminators rated their work environment 2 stars
12% of exterminators rated their work environment 1 stars
Are exterminators making the best use of their abilities?
Former exterminators on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.4/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being an exterminator.
We asked exterminators how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
129 exterminators
6% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
13% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
26% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
27% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars