Recreational therapists rate their happiness above average.
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, recreational therapists rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 37% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy recreational 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Counselor | 3.5 | $20k |
| Health educator | 3.5 | $40k |
| Psychologist | 3.5 | $56k |
| School counselor | 3.5 | $38k |
| Massage therapist | 3.4 | $31k |
| Recreational therapist | 3.4 | $46k |
| Clinical psychologist | 3.3 | $80k |
| Drug and alcohol counselor | 3.3 | $32k |
| Kinesiologist | 3.3 | $31k |
| Nutritionist | 3.3 | $32k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are recreational therapists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do recreational therapists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as recreational therapists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are recreational therapist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are recreational therapists making the best use of their abilities?
Are recreational therapists happy with their salary?
Recreational therapists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Recreational therapists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked recreational therapists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
148 recreational therapists
9% of recreational therapists rated their compensation 5 stars
20% of recreational therapists rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of recreational therapists rated their compensation 3 stars
26% of recreational therapists rated their compensation 2 stars
18% of recreational therapists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do recreational therapists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, recreational therapists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, recreational therapists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become recreational therapists.
We asked recreational therapists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
153 recreational therapists
29% of recreational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
36% of recreational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of recreational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
8% of recreational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
3% of recreational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as recreational therapists?
Recreational therapists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of recreational therapists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked recreational therapists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
151 recreational therapists
40% of recreational therapists rated their career fit 5 stars
40% of recreational therapists rated their career fit 4 stars
12% of recreational therapists rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of recreational therapists rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of recreational therapists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a recreational therapist’s work environment?
As a whole, recreational therapists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of recreational therapists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a recreational therapist.
We asked recreational therapists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
152 recreational therapists
21% of recreational therapists rated their work environment 5 stars
38% of recreational therapists rated their work environment 4 stars
29% of recreational therapists rated their work environment 3 stars
9% of recreational therapists rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of recreational therapists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are recreational therapists making the best use of their abilities?
Former recreational therapists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most recreational therapists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked recreational therapists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
153 recreational therapists
16% of recreational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of recreational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
30% of recreational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
21% of recreational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
4% of recreational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars