Chief executives 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, chief executives rate their career happiness 3.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 13% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy chief executives 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | 4.0 | $120k |
| Entrepreneur | 4.0 | $50k |
| Chief executive | 3.9 | $162k |
| COO | 3.7 | $79k |
| Franchise owner | 3.4 | $58k |
| Product manager | 3.3 | $119k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are chief executives happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do chief executives find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as chief executives?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are chief executive’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are chief executives making the best use of their abilities?
Are chief executives happy with their salary?
Chief executives rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of chief executives are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked chief executives how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
353 chief executives
28% of chief executives rated their compensation 5 stars
27% of chief executives rated their compensation 4 stars
22% of chief executives rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of chief executives rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of chief executives rated their compensation 1 stars
Do chief executives find their jobs meaningful?
On average, chief executives rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, chief executives have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become chief executives.
We asked chief executives how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
358 chief executives
42% of chief executives rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
24% of chief executives rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of chief executives rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of chief executives rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of chief executives rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as chief executives?
Chief executives rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of chief executives find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked chief executives how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
396 chief executives
51% of chief executives rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of chief executives rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of chief executives rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of chief executives rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of chief executives rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a chief executive’s work environment?
As a whole, chief executives rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of chief executives enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a chief executive.
We asked chief executives how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
395 chief executives
41% of chief executives rated their work environment 5 stars
35% of chief executives rated their work environment 4 stars
14% of chief executives rated their work environment 3 stars
7% of chief executives rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of chief executives rated their work environment 1 stars
Are chief executives making the best use of their abilities?
Former chief executives on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.1/5. Most chief executives surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a chief executive, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked chief executives how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
395 chief executives
47% of chief executives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
27% of chief executives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
16% of chief executives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
7% of chief executives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of chief executives rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars