Composers 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, composers rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 4% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy composers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lyricist | 4.3 | $26k |
| Singer | 4.3 | $7k |
| Music artist | 4.3 | $20k |
| Composer | 4.2 | $33k |
| DJ | 4.1 | $27k |
| Musician | 4.1 | $9k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are composers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do composers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as composers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are composer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are composers making the best use of their abilities?
Are composers happy with their salary?
Composers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.4/5. Most composers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked composers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
436 composers
14% of composers rated their compensation 5 stars
9% of composers rated their compensation 4 stars
20% of composers rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of composers rated their compensation 2 stars
37% of composers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do composers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, composers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.2/5. Unlike many careers, composers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become composers.
We asked composers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
456 composers
57% of composers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
21% of composers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
13% of composers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
7% of composers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
3% of composers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as composers?
Composers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of composers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked composers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
498 composers
51% of composers rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of composers rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of composers rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of composers rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of composers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a composer’s work environment?
As a whole, composers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of composers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a composer.
We asked composers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
492 composers
49% of composers rated their work environment 5 stars
28% of composers rated their work environment 4 stars
12% of composers rated their work environment 3 stars
8% of composers rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of composers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are composers making the best use of their abilities?
Former composers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.1/5. Most composers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a composer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked composers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
496 composers
50% of composers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of composers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
14% of composers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
9% of composers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of composers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars