Physical therapists are about average in terms of 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, physical therapists rate their career happiness 3.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 45% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy physical therapists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Recreational therapist | 3.4 | $46k |
| Athletic trainer | 3.3 | $21k |
| Exercise physiologist | 3.3 | $57k |
| Kinesiologist | 3.3 | $31k |
| Nutritionist | 3.3 | $32k |
| Physical therapist | 3.3 | $61k |
| Community health worker | 3.2 | $28k |
| Physical therapist assistant | 3.2 | $18k |
| MRI technologist | 3.1 | $84k |
| Chiropractor | 3.1 | $56k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are physical therapists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do physical therapists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as physical therapists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are physical therapist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are physical therapists making the best use of their abilities?
Are physical therapists happy with their salary?
Physical therapists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.3/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most physical therapists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked physical therapists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
369 physical therapists
17% of physical therapists rated their compensation 5 stars
31% of physical therapists rated their compensation 4 stars
22% of physical therapists rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of physical therapists rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of physical therapists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do physical therapists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, physical therapists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.5/5. Unlike many careers, physical therapists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become physical therapists.
We asked physical therapists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
369 physical therapists
27% of physical therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
30% of physical therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of physical therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
13% of physical therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
8% of physical therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as physical therapists?
Physical therapists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of physical therapists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked physical therapists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
386 physical therapists
38% of physical therapists rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of physical therapists rated their career fit 4 stars
20% of physical therapists rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of physical therapists rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of physical therapists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a physical therapist’s work environment?
As a whole, physical therapists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of physical therapists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a physical therapist.
We asked physical therapists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
386 physical therapists
26% of physical therapists rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of physical therapists rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of physical therapists rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of physical therapists rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of physical therapists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are physical therapists making the best use of their abilities?
Former physical therapists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.5/5. Most physical therapists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a physical therapist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked physical therapists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
381 physical therapists
23% of physical therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
28% of physical therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
26% of physical therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
17% of physical therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of physical therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars