Police officers 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, police officers rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 50% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy police officers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Detective | 3.6 | $55k |
| Private detective | 3.5 | $58k |
| Transit police officer | 3.2 | $38k |
| Police officer | 3.2 | $58k |
| Military tactical operations leader | 3.2 | $60k |
| Sheriff | 3.2 | $43k |
| Bailiff | 3.1 | $53k |
| Armored assault vehicle crew member | 3.0 | $35k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are police officers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do police officers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as police officers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are police officer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are police officers making the best use of their abilities?
Are police officers happy with their salary?
Police officers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most police officers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked police officers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
1142 police officers
20% of police officers rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of police officers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of police officers rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of police officers rated their compensation 2 stars
14% of police officers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do police officers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, police officers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Unlike many careers, police officers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become police officers.
We asked police officers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1147 police officers
27% of police officers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
26% of police officers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of police officers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
14% of police officers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
12% of police officers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as police officers?
Police officers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of police officers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked police officers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
1229 police officers
38% of police officers rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of police officers rated their career fit 4 stars
16% of police officers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of police officers rated their career fit 2 stars
7% of police officers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a police officer’s work environment?
As a whole, police officers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of police officers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a police officer.
We asked police officers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
1226 police officers
28% of police officers rated their work environment 5 stars
29% of police officers rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of police officers rated their work environment 3 stars
14% of police officers rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of police officers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are police officers making the best use of their abilities?
Former police officers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most police officers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked police officers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
1226 police officers
24% of police officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of police officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of police officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
20% of police officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
12% of police officers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars