Cartoonists 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, cartoonists rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 10% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cartoonists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sculptor | 4.1 | $55k |
| Potter | 4.0 | $28k |
| Cartoonist | 4.0 | $30k |
| Game artist | 3.9 | $90k |
| Illustrator | 3.9 | $15k |
| Calligrapher | 3.8 | $75k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are cartoonists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do cartoonists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as cartoonists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are cartoonist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are cartoonists making the best use of their abilities?
Are cartoonists happy with their salary?
Cartoonists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Cartoonists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked cartoonists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
355 cartoonists
17% of cartoonists rated their compensation 5 stars
16% of cartoonists rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of cartoonists rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of cartoonists rated their compensation 2 stars
18% of cartoonists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do cartoonists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, cartoonists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, cartoonists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become cartoonists.
We asked cartoonists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
372 cartoonists
42% of cartoonists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of cartoonists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of cartoonists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
9% of cartoonists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
4% of cartoonists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as cartoonists?
Cartoonists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of cartoonists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked cartoonists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
408 cartoonists
46% of cartoonists rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of cartoonists rated their career fit 4 stars
16% of cartoonists rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of cartoonists rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of cartoonists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a cartoonist’s work environment?
As a whole, cartoonists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of cartoonists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a cartoonist.
We asked cartoonists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
399 cartoonists
37% of cartoonists rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of cartoonists rated their work environment 4 stars
19% of cartoonists rated their work environment 3 stars
8% of cartoonists rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of cartoonists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are cartoonists making the best use of their abilities?
Former cartoonists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most cartoonists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a cartoonist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked cartoonists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
405 cartoonists
39% of cartoonists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
26% of cartoonists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of cartoonists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
8% of cartoonists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of cartoonists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars