Photojournalists 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, photojournalists rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 11% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy photojournalists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cinematographer | 4.1 | $40k |
| Photojournalist | 4.0 | $36k |
| Photographer | 3.9 | $12k |
| Blogger | 3.8 | $26k |
| Videographer | 3.8 | $50k |
| Exhibit designer | 3.7 | $54k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are photojournalists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do photojournalists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as photojournalists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are photojournalist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are photojournalists making the best use of their abilities?
Are photojournalists happy with their salary?
Photojournalists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Photojournalists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked photojournalists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
167 photojournalists
11% of photojournalists rated their compensation 5 stars
13% of photojournalists rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of photojournalists rated their compensation 3 stars
31% of photojournalists rated their compensation 2 stars
17% of photojournalists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do photojournalists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, photojournalists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, photojournalists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become photojournalists.
We asked photojournalists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
170 photojournalists
34% of photojournalists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
29% of photojournalists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of photojournalists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
12% of photojournalists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
4% of photojournalists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as photojournalists?
Photojournalists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of photojournalists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked photojournalists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
193 photojournalists
47% of photojournalists rated their career fit 5 stars
37% of photojournalists rated their career fit 4 stars
12% of photojournalists rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of photojournalists rated their career fit 2 stars
1% of photojournalists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a photojournalist’s work environment?
As a whole, photojournalists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of photojournalists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a photojournalist.
We asked photojournalists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
191 photojournalists
38% of photojournalists rated their work environment 5 stars
39% of photojournalists rated their work environment 4 stars
17% of photojournalists rated their work environment 3 stars
5% of photojournalists rated their work environment 2 stars
2% of photojournalists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are photojournalists making the best use of their abilities?
Former photojournalists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most photojournalists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a photojournalist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked photojournalists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
193 photojournalists
37% of photojournalists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
32% of photojournalists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
13% of photojournalists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
17% of photojournalists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
2% of photojournalists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars