Lyricists 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, lyricists rate their career happiness 4.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 1% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy lyricists 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
Music producer
4.3
$34k
Lyricist
4.3
$26k
Singer
4.3
$7k
Music artist
4.3
$20k
Performer
4.2
$13k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are lyricists happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do lyricists find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as lyricists?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are lyricist’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are lyricists making the best use of their abilities?

Are lyricists happy with their salary?

Lyricists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Most lyricists do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

We asked lyricists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.6 out of 5 stars

362 lyricists

5 Star
19%

19% of lyricists rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
9%

9% of lyricists rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of lyricists rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of lyricists rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
37%

37% of lyricists rated their compensation 1 stars

Do lyricists find their jobs meaningful?

On average, lyricists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.3/5. Unlike many careers, lyricists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become lyricists.

We asked lyricists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

4.3 out of 5 stars

387 lyricists

5 Star
59%

59% of lyricists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of lyricists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
11%

11% of lyricists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
4%

4% of lyricists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of lyricists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as lyricists?

Lyricists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.4/5. The majority of lyricists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked lyricists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

4.4 out of 5 stars

419 lyricists

5 Star
58%

58% of lyricists rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of lyricists rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
11%

11% of lyricists rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
2%

2% of lyricists rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
1%

1% of lyricists rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a lyricist’s work environment?

As a whole, lyricists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.3/5. A solid majority of lyricists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a lyricist.

We asked lyricists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

4.3 out of 5 stars

407 lyricists

5 Star
56%

56% of lyricists rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of lyricists rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of lyricists rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
4%

4% of lyricists rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
1%

1% of lyricists rated their work environment 1 stars

Are lyricists making the best use of their abilities?

Former lyricists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.2/5. Most lyricists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a lyricist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

We asked lyricists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

4.2 out of 5 stars

411 lyricists

5 Star
52%

52% of lyricists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of lyricists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of lyricists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of lyricists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of lyricists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars