Cardiologists 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, cardiologists rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 5% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cardiologists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiothoracic surgeon | 4.5 | N/A |
| Sports medicine physician | 4.3 | $201k |
| Surgeon | 4.3 | N/A |
| Gynecologist | 4.2 | N/A |
| Ophthalmologist | 4.1 | $201k |
| Neurosurgeon | 4.1 | N/A |
| Dermatologist | 4.1 | $201k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are cardiologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do cardiologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as cardiologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are cardiologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are cardiologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are cardiologists happy with their salary?
Cardiologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 4.1/5. The majority of cardiologists are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked cardiologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
16 cardiologists
50% of cardiologists rated their compensation 5 stars
25% of cardiologists rated their compensation 4 stars
19% of cardiologists rated their compensation 3 stars
6% of cardiologists rated their compensation 2 stars
Do cardiologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, cardiologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.3/5. Unlike many careers, cardiologists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become cardiologists.
We asked cardiologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
16 cardiologists
63% of cardiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of cardiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
6% of cardiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
6% of cardiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
6% of cardiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as cardiologists?
Cardiologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of cardiologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked cardiologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
19 cardiologists
42% of cardiologists rated their career fit 5 stars
37% of cardiologists rated their career fit 4 stars
16% of cardiologists rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of cardiologists rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a cardiologist’s work environment?
As a whole, cardiologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of cardiologists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a cardiologist.
We asked cardiologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
18 cardiologists
39% of cardiologists rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of cardiologists rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of cardiologists rated their work environment 3 stars
6% of cardiologists rated their work environment 2 stars
Are cardiologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former cardiologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most cardiologists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a cardiologist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked cardiologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
18 cardiologists
39% of cardiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
39% of cardiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
6% of cardiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
11% of cardiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of cardiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars