Astronomers are one of the happiest 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, astronomers rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 11% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy astronomers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomer | 4.0 | $117k |
| Climate change analyst | 3.6 | $73k |
| Physicist | 3.5 | $126k |
| Scientist | 3.3 | $67k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are astronomers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do astronomers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as astronomers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are astronomer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are astronomers making the best use of their abilities?
Are astronomers happy with their salary?
Astronomers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.8/5. The majority of astronomers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked astronomers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
90 astronomers
32% of astronomers rated their compensation 5 stars
33% of astronomers rated their compensation 4 stars
20% of astronomers rated their compensation 3 stars
8% of astronomers rated their compensation 2 stars
7% of astronomers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do astronomers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, astronomers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, astronomers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become astronomers.
We asked astronomers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
93 astronomers
44% of astronomers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
26% of astronomers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
15% of astronomers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
9% of astronomers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
6% of astronomers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as astronomers?
Astronomers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of astronomers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked astronomers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
100 astronomers
36% of astronomers rated their career fit 5 stars
38% of astronomers rated their career fit 4 stars
15% of astronomers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of astronomers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of astronomers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an astronomer’s work environment?
As a whole, astronomers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of astronomers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an astronomer.
We asked astronomers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
100 astronomers
38% of astronomers rated their work environment 5 stars
40% of astronomers rated their work environment 4 stars
13% of astronomers rated their work environment 3 stars
5% of astronomers rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of astronomers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are astronomers making the best use of their abilities?
Former astronomers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.0/5. Most astronomers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as an astronomer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked astronomers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
99 astronomers
42% of astronomers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of astronomers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of astronomers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
4% of astronomers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of astronomers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars