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
Shipping and receiving clerk
2.4
$37k
Food server
2.4
$26k

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

5 Star
11%

11% of exterminators rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
20%

20% of exterminators rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of exterminators rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
28%

28% of exterminators rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
15%

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

5 Star
8%

8% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
6%

6% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
15%

15% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
38%

38% of exterminators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
33%

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

5 Star
28%

28% of exterminators rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of exterminators rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of exterminators rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of exterminators rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
7%

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

5 Star
16%

16% of exterminators rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of exterminators rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of exterminators rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of exterminators rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
12%

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

5 Star
6%

6% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
27%

27% of exterminators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars