Luthiers 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, luthiers rate their career happiness 3.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 19% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy luthiers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Piano accompanist | 3.8 | $47k |
| Live sound engineer | 3.8 | $31k |
| Shoemaker | 3.8 | $30k |
| Luthier | 3.7 | $31k |
| Seamstress | 3.7 | $26k |
| Gem worker | 3.7 | $46k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are luthiers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do luthiers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as luthiers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are luthier’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are luthiers making the best use of their abilities?
Are luthiers happy with their salary?
Luthiers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most luthiers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked luthiers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
65 luthiers
15% of luthiers rated their compensation 5 stars
22% of luthiers rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of luthiers rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of luthiers rated their compensation 2 stars
12% of luthiers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do luthiers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, luthiers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.5/5. Unlike many careers, luthiers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become luthiers.
We asked luthiers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
67 luthiers
28% of luthiers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
22% of luthiers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
25% of luthiers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
16% of luthiers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of luthiers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as luthiers?
Luthiers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of luthiers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked luthiers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
74 luthiers
39% of luthiers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of luthiers rated their career fit 4 stars
16% of luthiers rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of luthiers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of luthiers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a luthier’s work environment?
As a whole, luthiers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of luthiers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a luthier.
We asked luthiers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
74 luthiers
34% of luthiers rated their work environment 5 stars
38% of luthiers rated their work environment 4 stars
20% of luthiers rated their work environment 3 stars
7% of luthiers rated their work environment 2 stars
1% of luthiers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are luthiers making the best use of their abilities?
Former luthiers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.7/5. Most luthiers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a luthier, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked luthiers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
73 luthiers
32% of luthiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of luthiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
29% of luthiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
11% of luthiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
4% of luthiers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars