Set designers 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, set designers rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 17% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy set designers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Announcer | 3.9 | $27k |
| Recording engineer | 3.9 | $34k |
| Calligrapher | 3.8 | $75k |
| Tattoo artist | 3.8 | $39k |
| Art director | 3.8 | $64k |
| Set designer | 3.8 | $28k |
| Videographer | 3.8 | $50k |
| Exhibit designer | 3.7 | $54k |
| Executive film producer | 3.6 | $60k |
| Camera operator | 3.6 | $20k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are set designers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do set designers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as set designers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are set designer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are set designers making the best use of their abilities?
Are set designers happy with their salary?
Set designers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Set designers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked set designers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
269 set designers
11% of set designers rated their compensation 5 stars
22% of set designers rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of set designers rated their compensation 3 stars
24% of set designers rated their compensation 2 stars
17% of set designers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do set designers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, set designers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Unlike many careers, set designers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become set designers.
We asked set designers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
273 set designers
27% of set designers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
23% of set designers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
25% of set designers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
15% of set designers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
10% of set designers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as set designers?
Set designers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of set designers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked set designers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
271 set designers
45% of set designers rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of set designers rated their career fit 4 stars
15% of set designers rated their career fit 3 stars
8% of set designers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of set designers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a set designer’s work environment?
As a whole, set designers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of set designers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a set designer.
We asked set designers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
272 set designers
32% of set designers rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of set designers rated their work environment 4 stars
19% of set designers rated their work environment 3 stars
9% of set designers rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of set designers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are set designers making the best use of their abilities?
Former set designers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.7/5. Most set designers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a set designer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked set designers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
272 set designers
31% of set designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
26% of set designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
26% of set designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of set designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of set designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars