Hairdressers are below average when it comes to happiness.
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, hairdressers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 39% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy hairdressers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Esthetician | 3.3 | $21k |
| Professional painter | 3.2 | $17k |
| Spa manager | 3.2 | $38k |
| Tailor | 3.2 | $42k |
| Nail technician | 3.1 | $9k |
| Hairdresser | 3.1 | $19k |
| Sewing machine operator | 3.0 | $3k |
| Receptionist | 2.6 | $10k |
| Maitre d' | 2.5 | $1k |
| Retail salesperson | 2.3 | $6k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are hairdressers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do hairdressers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as hairdressers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are hairdresser’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are hairdressers making the best use of their abilities?
Are hairdressers happy with their salary?
Hairdressers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Most hairdressers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked hairdressers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
1578 hairdressers
10% of hairdressers rated their compensation 5 stars
16% of hairdressers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of hairdressers rated their compensation 3 stars
27% of hairdressers rated their compensation 2 stars
23% of hairdressers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do hairdressers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, hairdressers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.8/5. While most hairdressers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked hairdressers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
1586 hairdressers
13% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
22% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
22% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as hairdressers?
Hairdressers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of hairdressers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked hairdressers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
1688 hairdressers
40% of hairdressers rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of hairdressers rated their career fit 4 stars
15% of hairdressers rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of hairdressers rated their career fit 2 stars
6% of hairdressers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a hairdresser’s work environment?
As a whole, hairdressers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked hairdressers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1701 hairdressers
22% of hairdressers rated their work environment 5 stars
29% of hairdressers rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of hairdressers rated their work environment 3 stars
14% of hairdressers rated their work environment 2 stars
10% of hairdressers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are hairdressers making the best use of their abilities?
Former hairdressers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most hairdressers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked hairdressers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
1702 hairdressers
21% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
20% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
14% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars