Preschool teachers 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, preschool teachers rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 47% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy preschool teachers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher assistant | 3.3 | $20k |
| Nanny | 3.3 | $9k |
| Childcare program administrator | 3.2 | $31k |
| Educational administrator | 3.2 | $65k |
| Childcare worker | 3.2 | $2k |
| Preschool teacher | 3.2 | $9k |
| Special education teacher | 3.1 | $54k |
| Teacher | 3.0 | $38k |
| Kindergarten teacher | 3.0 | $26k |
| High school teacher | 3.0 | $47k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are preschool teachers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do preschool teachers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as preschool teachers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are preschool teacher’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are preschool teachers making the best use of their abilities?
Are preschool teachers happy with their salary?
Preschool teachers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.3/5. Most preschool teachers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked preschool teachers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.3 out of 5 stars
1939 preschool teachers
6% of preschool teachers rated their compensation 5 stars
11% of preschool teachers rated their compensation 4 stars
21% of preschool teachers rated their compensation 3 stars
30% of preschool teachers rated their compensation 2 stars
32% of preschool teachers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do preschool teachers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, preschool teachers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Unlike many careers, preschool teachers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become preschool teachers.
We asked preschool teachers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1958 preschool teachers
23% of preschool teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
29% of preschool teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
25% of preschool teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
15% of preschool teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
9% of preschool teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as preschool teachers?
Preschool teachers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of preschool teachers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked preschool teachers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
2093 preschool teachers
36% of preschool teachers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of preschool teachers rated their career fit 4 stars
18% of preschool teachers rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of preschool teachers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of preschool teachers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a preschool teacher’s work environment?
As a whole, preschool teachers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of preschool teachers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a preschool teacher.
We asked preschool teachers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
2084 preschool teachers
22% of preschool teachers rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of preschool teachers rated their work environment 4 stars
26% of preschool teachers rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of preschool teachers rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of preschool teachers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are preschool teachers making the best use of their abilities?
Former preschool teachers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Preschool teachers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked preschool teachers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
2099 preschool teachers
16% of preschool teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of preschool teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of preschool teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
23% of preschool teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
13% of preschool teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars