Writers 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, writers rate their career happiness 4.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 7% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy writers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Writer | 4.1 | $8k |
| Television writer | 4.0 | $36k |
| Blogger | 3.8 | $26k |
| Journalist | 3.4 | $51k |
| Editor | 3.4 | $32k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are writers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do writers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as writers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are writer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are writers making the best use of their abilities?
Are writers happy with their salary?
Writers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.5/5. Most writers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked writers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.5 out of 5 stars
2155 writers
14% of writers rated their compensation 5 stars
11% of writers rated their compensation 4 stars
21% of writers rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of writers rated their compensation 2 stars
32% of writers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do writers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, writers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.2/5. Unlike many careers, writers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become writers.
We asked writers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
2272 writers
54% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
12% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
5% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
4% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as writers?
Writers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of writers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked writers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
2480 writers
51% of writers rated their career fit 5 stars
31% of writers rated their career fit 4 stars
12% of writers rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of writers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of writers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a writer’s work environment?
As a whole, writers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of writers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a writer.
We asked writers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
2458 writers
48% of writers rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of writers rated their work environment 4 stars
15% of writers rated their work environment 3 stars
5% of writers rated their work environment 2 stars
2% of writers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are writers making the best use of their abilities?
Former writers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.1/5. Most writers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a writer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked writers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
2473 writers
47% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
16% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
5% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars