Sheriffs 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, sheriffs rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 45% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy sheriffs 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Private detective | 3.5 | $58k |
| Transit police officer | 3.2 | $38k |
| Police officer | 3.2 | $58k |
| Military tactical operations leader | 3.2 | $60k |
| Sheriff | 3.2 | $43k |
| Bailiff | 3.1 | $53k |
| Armored assault vehicle crew member | 3.0 | $35k |
| Infantry soldier | 3.0 | $31k |
| Probation officer | 2.9 | $39k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are sheriffs happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do sheriffs find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as sheriffs?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are sheriff’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are sheriffs making the best use of their abilities?
Are sheriffs happy with their salary?
Sheriffs rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Sheriffs tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked sheriffs how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
47 sheriffs
15% of sheriffs rated their compensation 5 stars
17% of sheriffs rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of sheriffs rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of sheriffs rated their compensation 2 stars
17% of sheriffs rated their compensation 1 stars
Do sheriffs find their jobs meaningful?
On average, sheriffs rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.3/5. Unlike many careers, sheriffs have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become sheriffs.
We asked sheriffs how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
47 sheriffs
28% of sheriffs rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
28% of sheriffs rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
11% of sheriffs rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
11% of sheriffs rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
23% of sheriffs rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as sheriffs?
Sheriffs rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of sheriffs find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked sheriffs how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
50 sheriffs
34% of sheriffs rated their career fit 5 stars
40% of sheriffs rated their career fit 4 stars
10% of sheriffs rated their career fit 3 stars
12% of sheriffs rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of sheriffs rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a sheriff’s work environment?
As a whole, sheriffs rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of sheriffs enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a sheriff.
We asked sheriffs how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
48 sheriffs
21% of sheriffs rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of sheriffs rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of sheriffs rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of sheriffs rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of sheriffs rated their work environment 1 stars
Are sheriffs making the best use of their abilities?
Former sheriffs on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most sheriffs are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked sheriffs how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
50 sheriffs
20% of sheriffs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
26% of sheriffs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
26% of sheriffs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
8% of sheriffs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
20% of sheriffs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars