Are car salespeople happy?

Car salespeople 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, car salespeople rate their career happiness 2.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 3% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy car salespeople are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

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

Are car salespeople happy with their salary?

Car salespeople rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Car salespeople tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked car salespeople how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

1384 car salespeople

10% of car salespeople rated their compensation 5 stars

22% of car salespeople rated their compensation 4 stars

29% of car salespeople rated their compensation 3 stars

19% of car salespeople rated their compensation 2 stars

20% of car salespeople rated their compensation 1 stars

Do car salespeople find their jobs meaningful?

On average, car salespeople rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.0/5. The majority of car salespeople struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked car salespeople how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.0 out of 5 stars

1395 car salespeople

5% of car salespeople rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

7% of car salespeople rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

16% of car salespeople rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

26% of car salespeople rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

46% of car salespeople rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as car salespeople?

Car salespeople rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of car salespeople find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked car salespeople how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

1452 car salespeople

26% of car salespeople rated their career fit 5 stars

28% of car salespeople rated their career fit 4 stars

19% of car salespeople rated their career fit 3 stars

13% of car salespeople rated their career fit 2 stars

14% of car salespeople rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a car salesperson’s work environment?

As a whole, car salespeople rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.8/5. Some car salespeople are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.

We asked car salespeople how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

1447 car salespeople

11% of car salespeople rated their work environment 5 stars

21% of car salespeople rated their work environment 4 stars

27% of car salespeople rated their work environment 3 stars

22% of car salespeople rated their work environment 2 stars

19% of car salespeople rated their work environment 1 stars

Are car salespeople making the best use of their abilities?

Former car salespeople 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 car salesperson.

We asked car salespeople how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

1450 car salespeople

8% of car salespeople rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

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

24% of car salespeople rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

28% of car salespeople rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

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