Accountants 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, accountants rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 6% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy accountants 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Investment banker | 2.7 | $79k |
| Tax preparer | 2.7 | $43k |
| Credit counselor | 2.6 | $6k |
| Credit analyst | 2.6 | $67k |
| Customs broker | 2.6 | $67k |
| Accountant | 2.6 | $56k |
| Actuary | 2.5 | $121k |
| Financial clerk | 2.5 | $39k |
| Loan officer | 2.5 | $62k |
| Underwriter | 2.5 | $57k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are accountants happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do accountants find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as accountants?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are accountant’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are accountants making the best use of their abilities?
Are accountants happy with their salary?
Accountants rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most accountants having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked accountants how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
5203 accountants
12% of accountants rated their compensation 5 stars
28% of accountants rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of accountants rated their compensation 3 stars
18% of accountants rated their compensation 2 stars
12% of accountants rated their compensation 1 stars
Do accountants find their jobs meaningful?
On average, accountants rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of accountants struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked accountants how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.3 out of 5 stars
5219 accountants
7% of accountants rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
11% of accountants rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
19% of accountants rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
27% of accountants rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
36% of accountants rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as accountants?
Accountants rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.3/5. The majority of accountants don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked accountants how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
5620 accountants
17% of accountants rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of accountants rated their career fit 4 stars
27% of accountants rated their career fit 3 stars
16% of accountants rated their career fit 2 stars
10% of accountants rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an accountant’s work environment?
As a whole, accountants rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked accountants how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
5615 accountants
14% of accountants rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of accountants rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of accountants rated their work environment 3 stars
20% of accountants rated their work environment 2 stars
11% of accountants rated their work environment 1 stars
Are accountants making the best use of their abilities?
Former accountants on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Accountants tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked accountants how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
5652 accountants
10% of accountants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
18% of accountants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of accountants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
28% of accountants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
19% of accountants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars