Ranchers 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, ranchers rate their career happiness 3.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 13% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy ranchers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Animal breeder | 4.0 | $19k |
| Beekeeper | 3.9 | $29k |
| Dog trainer | 3.9 | $26k |
| Rancher | 3.9 | $10k |
| Aquarist | 3.8 | $28k |
| Fish and game warden | 3.8 | $29k |
| Organic farmer | 3.8 | $24k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are ranchers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do ranchers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as ranchers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are rancher’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are ranchers making the best use of their abilities?
Are ranchers happy with their salary?
Ranchers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most ranchers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked ranchers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
217 ranchers
21% of ranchers rated their compensation 5 stars
19% of ranchers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of ranchers rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of ranchers rated their compensation 2 stars
17% of ranchers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do ranchers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, ranchers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, ranchers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become ranchers.
We asked ranchers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
216 ranchers
34% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
26% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
19% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
13% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as ranchers?
Ranchers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of ranchers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked ranchers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
233 ranchers
53% of ranchers rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of ranchers rated their career fit 4 stars
8% of ranchers rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of ranchers rated their career fit 2 stars
1% of ranchers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a rancher’s work environment?
As a whole, ranchers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.2/5. A solid majority of ranchers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a rancher.
We asked ranchers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
235 ranchers
49% of ranchers rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of ranchers rated their work environment 4 stars
16% of ranchers rated their work environment 3 stars
3% of ranchers rated their work environment 2 stars
1% of ranchers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are ranchers making the best use of their abilities?
Former ranchers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most ranchers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a rancher, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked ranchers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
234 ranchers
35% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
18% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
18% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
7% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars