Craft artists 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, craft artists rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 8% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy craft artists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Glass blower | 4.2 | $34k |
| Cinematographer | 4.1 | $40k |
| Craft artist | 4.0 | $5k |
| Potter | 4.0 | $28k |
| Costume designer | 4.0 | $26k |
| Illustrator | 3.9 | $15k |
| Sewer | 3.9 | $29k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are craft artists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do craft artists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as craft artists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are craft artist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are craft artists making the best use of their abilities?
Are craft artists happy with their salary?
Craft artists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Craft artists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked craft artists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
1191 craft artists
12% of craft artists rated their compensation 5 stars
13% of craft artists rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of craft artists rated their compensation 3 stars
23% of craft artists rated their compensation 2 stars
26% of craft artists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do craft artists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, craft artists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, craft artists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become craft artists.
We asked craft artists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
1237 craft artists
35% of craft artists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
28% of craft artists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of craft artists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of craft artists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
6% of craft artists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as craft artists?
Craft artists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of craft artists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked craft artists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
1352 craft artists
50% of craft artists rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of craft artists rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of craft artists rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of craft artists rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of craft artists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a craft artist’s work environment?
As a whole, craft artists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of craft artists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a craft artist.
We asked craft artists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
1345 craft artists
43% of craft artists rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of craft artists rated their work environment 4 stars
18% of craft artists rated their work environment 3 stars
5% of craft artists rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of craft artists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are craft artists making the best use of their abilities?
Former craft artists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most craft artists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a craft artist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked craft artists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
1350 craft artists
36% of craft artists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of craft artists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of craft artists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
9% of craft artists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
5% of craft artists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars