Entrepreneurs 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, entrepreneurs 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 entrepreneurs 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 |
| Management consultant | 3.2 | $115k |
| Operations manager | 3.1 | $68k |
| Advertising sales agent | 2.7 | $33k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are entrepreneurs happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do entrepreneurs find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as entrepreneurs?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are entrepreneur’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are entrepreneurs making the best use of their abilities?
Are entrepreneurs happy with their salary?
Entrepreneurs rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most entrepreneurs having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked entrepreneurs how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
4427 entrepreneurs
19% of entrepreneurs rated their compensation 5 stars
19% of entrepreneurs rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of entrepreneurs rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of entrepreneurs rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of entrepreneurs rated their compensation 1 stars
Do entrepreneurs find their jobs meaningful?
On average, entrepreneurs rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, entrepreneurs have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become entrepreneurs.
We asked entrepreneurs how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
4482 entrepreneurs
42% of entrepreneurs rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
28% of entrepreneurs rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of entrepreneurs rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
9% of entrepreneurs rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
4% of entrepreneurs rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of entrepreneurs find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked entrepreneurs how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
4893 entrepreneurs
48% of entrepreneurs rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of entrepreneurs rated their career fit 4 stars
14% of entrepreneurs rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of entrepreneurs rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of entrepreneurs rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an entrepreneur’s work environment?
As a whole, entrepreneurs rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of entrepreneurs enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an entrepreneur.
We asked entrepreneurs how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
4889 entrepreneurs
44% of entrepreneurs rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of entrepreneurs rated their work environment 4 stars
15% of entrepreneurs rated their work environment 3 stars
5% of entrepreneurs rated their work environment 2 stars
2% of entrepreneurs rated their work environment 1 stars
Are entrepreneurs making the best use of their abilities?
Former entrepreneurs on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.0/5. Most entrepreneurs surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as an entrepreneur, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked entrepreneurs how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4890 entrepreneurs
42% of entrepreneurs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of entrepreneurs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
18% of entrepreneurs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
8% of entrepreneurs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of entrepreneurs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars