Architects are about average in terms of happiness.
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, architects rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 41% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy architects 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Model maker | 3.6 | $19k |
| Interior designer | 3.5 | $36k |
| Industrial designer | 3.5 | $62k |
| Graphic designer | 3.4 | $33k |
| Urban planner | 3.1 | $62k |
| Architect | 3.1 | $48k |
| Drafter | 2.9 | $45k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are architects happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do architects find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as architects?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are architect’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are architects making the best use of their abilities?
Are architects happy with their salary?
Architects rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Architects tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked architects how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
1489 architects
9% of architects rated their compensation 5 stars
18% of architects rated their compensation 4 stars
31% of architects rated their compensation 3 stars
24% of architects rated their compensation 2 stars
19% of architects rated their compensation 1 stars
Do architects find their jobs meaningful?
On average, architects rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.9/5. While most architects aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked architects how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
1530 architects
16% of architects rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
20% of architects rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
25% of architects rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
23% of architects rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
17% of architects rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as architects?
Architects rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of architects find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked architects how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
1698 architects
27% of architects rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of architects rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of architects rated their career fit 3 stars
10% of architects rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of architects rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an architect’s work environment?
As a whole, architects rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked architects how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1687 architects
18% of architects rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of architects rated their work environment 4 stars
29% of architects rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of architects rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of architects rated their work environment 1 stars
Are architects making the best use of their abilities?
Former architects on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most architects are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked architects how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
1694 architects
16% of architects rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
26% of architects rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
28% of architects rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
20% of architects rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
10% of architects rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars