Commercial pilots 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, commercial pilots rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 17% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy commercial pilots 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | 3.8 | $109k |
| Commercial pilot | 3.8 | $84k |
| Aviation inspector | 3.5 | $78k |
| Ship captain | 3.5 | $85k |
| Military air crew officer | 3.4 | $141k |
| Air traffic controller | 3.3 | $101k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are commercial pilots happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do commercial pilots find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as commercial pilots?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are commercial pilot’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are commercial pilots making the best use of their abilities?
Are commercial pilots happy with their salary?
Commercial pilots rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.6/5. The majority of commercial pilots are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked commercial pilots how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
128 commercial pilots
32% of commercial pilots rated their compensation 5 stars
29% of commercial pilots rated their compensation 4 stars
17% of commercial pilots rated their compensation 3 stars
8% of commercial pilots rated their compensation 2 stars
14% of commercial pilots rated their compensation 1 stars
Do commercial pilots find their jobs meaningful?
On average, commercial pilots rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, commercial pilots have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become commercial pilots.
We asked commercial pilots how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
135 commercial pilots
36% of commercial pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
22% of commercial pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of commercial pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
7% of commercial pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
11% of commercial pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as commercial pilots?
Commercial pilots rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of commercial pilots find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked commercial pilots how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
142 commercial pilots
46% of commercial pilots rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of commercial pilots rated their career fit 4 stars
11% of commercial pilots rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of commercial pilots rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of commercial pilots rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a commercial pilot’s work environment?
As a whole, commercial pilots rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of commercial pilots enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a commercial pilot.
We asked commercial pilots how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
143 commercial pilots
40% of commercial pilots rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of commercial pilots rated their work environment 4 stars
15% of commercial pilots rated their work environment 3 stars
6% of commercial pilots rated their work environment 2 stars
8% of commercial pilots rated their work environment 1 stars
Are commercial pilots making the best use of their abilities?
Former commercial pilots on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most commercial pilots surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a commercial pilot, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked commercial pilots how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
142 commercial pilots
37% of commercial pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
27% of commercial pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
18% of commercial pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
12% of commercial pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
5% of commercial pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars