Filmmakers 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, filmmakers rate their career happiness 4.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 6% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy filmmakers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Film director | 4.3 | $69k |
| Filmmaker | 4.1 | $18k |
| Cinematographer | 4.1 | $40k |
| Television writer | 4.0 | $36k |
| Announcer | 3.9 | $27k |
| Art director | 3.8 | $64k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are filmmakers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do filmmakers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as filmmakers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are filmmaker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are filmmakers making the best use of their abilities?
Are filmmakers happy with their salary?
Filmmakers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Filmmakers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked filmmakers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
944 filmmakers
17% of filmmakers rated their compensation 5 stars
14% of filmmakers rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of filmmakers rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of filmmakers rated their compensation 2 stars
20% of filmmakers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do filmmakers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, filmmakers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, filmmakers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become filmmakers.
We asked filmmakers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
971 filmmakers
43% of filmmakers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of filmmakers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of filmmakers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of filmmakers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
5% of filmmakers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as filmmakers?
Filmmakers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of filmmakers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked filmmakers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
1071 filmmakers
44% of filmmakers rated their career fit 5 stars
36% of filmmakers rated their career fit 4 stars
14% of filmmakers rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of filmmakers rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of filmmakers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a filmmaker’s work environment?
As a whole, filmmakers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of filmmakers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a filmmaker.
We asked filmmakers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
1061 filmmakers
40% of filmmakers rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of filmmakers rated their work environment 4 stars
17% of filmmakers rated their work environment 3 stars
10% of filmmakers rated their work environment 2 stars
2% of filmmakers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are filmmakers making the best use of their abilities?
Former filmmakers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most filmmakers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a filmmaker, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked filmmakers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
1064 filmmakers
41% of filmmakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
28% of filmmakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
17% of filmmakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
10% of filmmakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
4% of filmmakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars