While waiters, salespeople and cashiers are among the least satisfied with their jobs according to a recent survey, many Happy Valley workers gladly disagree.

The survey, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, polled more than 27,000 people in 128 job categories to find the happiest workers in the most satisfying professions.

According to the survey, participants were asked to rate how happy they were in general and then how satisfied they are with their jobs, choosing from "very satisfied, moderately satisfied, a little dissatisfied or very dissatisfied."

The top three most satisfying professions are clergy, physical therapists and firefighters, and the three least satisfying professions are roofers, waiters/servers and laborers, according to the survey. The survey reports only 25 percent of cashiers, 23.9 percent of apparel clothing salespersons and 27 percent of servers being very satisfied with their job.

However, State College student-workers seem to be an exception to this study.

"I love it here," said Metro employee Chelsea Diehl (sophomore-communications). "People may not like working retail if there's not good management, or if they don't get paid enough."

Diehl said she had worked at a retail job she didn't like, but she found Metro, 320 E. College Ave., to be "one of the best places to work."

Meghan Wikler (sophomore-recreation, park and tourism management) said she has been working at Dee's Restaurant, 234 E. College Ave., since February.

"I love working here," she said. "There's a lot of regulars you get to know. Good people, good music, good food."

Some downtown employees, like Amanda Vozar (sophomore-kinesiology), said it could be the sociable college environment that makes working in downtown State College better.

"I think people are friendlier [downtown]," said Vozar, who has been working at Got Used Bookstore, 206 E. College Ave., for the past five months.

"I like working here," she said. "It's really laid back. The atmosphere is nice."

The average amount of workers very satisfied with their job was 47 percent, the study showed.

Also, according to the study, the jobs with lower prestige had lower ratings (34 percent), and the jobs with higher prestige had higher ratings (56 percent). The survey also showed that the prestige of a job didn't always relate to its rating of satisfaction. Physicians, who rank the highest in job prestige, reported 57 percent are very satisfied with their jobs, not making the top 12 list of most satisfying jobs, according to the survey.