Budget analysts 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, budget analysts rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 17% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy budget analysts 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Quality assurance analyst | 2.8 | $58k |
| Energy broker | 2.8 | $55k |
| Sales engineer | 2.8 | $78k |
| Risk management specialist | 2.8 | $90k |
| Supply chain manager | 2.8 | $72k |
| Budget analyst | 2.8 | $67k |
| Quality control inspector | 2.8 | $39k |
| Bank manager | 2.8 | $62k |
| Transportation planner | 2.8 | $62k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are budget analysts happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do budget analysts find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as budget analysts?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are budget analyst’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are budget analysts making the best use of their abilities?
Are budget analysts happy with their salary?
Budget analysts rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most budget analysts having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked budget analysts how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
172 budget analysts
14% of budget analysts rated their compensation 5 stars
30% of budget analysts rated their compensation 4 stars
31% of budget analysts rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of budget analysts rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of budget analysts rated their compensation 1 stars
Do budget analysts find their jobs meaningful?
On average, budget analysts rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. The majority of budget analysts struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked budget analysts how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
171 budget analysts
8% of budget analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
16% of budget analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of budget analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
30% of budget analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
25% of budget analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as budget analysts?
Budget analysts rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of budget analysts find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked budget analysts how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
171 budget analysts
22% of budget analysts rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of budget analysts rated their career fit 4 stars
29% of budget analysts rated their career fit 3 stars
10% of budget analysts rated their career fit 2 stars
7% of budget analysts rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a budget analyst’s work environment?
As a whole, budget analysts rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.3/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked budget analysts how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
172 budget analysts
19% of budget analysts rated their work environment 5 stars
26% of budget analysts rated their work environment 4 stars
34% of budget analysts rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of budget analysts rated their work environment 2 stars
8% of budget analysts rated their work environment 1 stars
Are budget analysts making the best use of their abilities?
Former budget analysts on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.8/5. Budget analysts tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked budget analysts how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
171 budget analysts
11% of budget analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
17% of budget analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
29% of budget analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
30% of budget analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
14% of budget analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars