School principals 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, school principals rate their career happiness 3.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 28% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy school principals 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Career counselor | 3.8 | $48k |
| Professor | 3.6 | $52k |
| School principal | 3.5 | $96k |
| Physical education teacher | 3.5 | $26k |
| School counselor | 3.5 | $38k |
| Graduate teaching assistant | 3.4 | $20k |
| Teacher assistant | 3.3 | $20k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are school principals happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do school principals find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as school principals?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are school principal’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are school principals making the best use of their abilities?
Are school principals happy with their salary?
School principals rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. The majority of school principals are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked school principals how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
379 school principals
25% of school principals rated their compensation 5 stars
30% of school principals rated their compensation 4 stars
22% of school principals rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of school principals rated their compensation 2 stars
11% of school principals rated their compensation 1 stars
Do school principals find their jobs meaningful?
On average, school principals rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, school principals have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become school principals.
We asked school principals how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
378 school principals
36% of school principals rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
32% of school principals rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
17% of school principals rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
8% of school principals rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of school principals rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as school principals?
School principals rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of school principals find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked school principals how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
404 school principals
38% of school principals rated their career fit 5 stars
37% of school principals rated their career fit 4 stars
17% of school principals rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of school principals rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of school principals rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a school principal’s work environment?
As a whole, school principals rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of school principals enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a school principal.
We asked school principals how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
402 school principals
32% of school principals rated their work environment 5 stars
35% of school principals rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of school principals rated their work environment 3 stars
8% of school principals rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of school principals rated their work environment 1 stars
Are school principals making the best use of their abilities?
Former school principals on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most school principals surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a school principal, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked school principals how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
405 school principals
34% of school principals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
33% of school principals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
14% of school principals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of school principals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
4% of school principals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars