Actors 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, actors rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 3% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy actors 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
Singer
4.3
$7k
Actor
4.2
$2k
Performer
4.2
$13k
Comedian
4.2
$31k
Choreographer
4.2
$5k
Dancer
4.0
$1k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

Are actors happy with their salary?

Actors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Actors tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked actors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.9 out of 5 stars

2265 actors

5 Star
20%

20% of actors rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
14%

14% of actors rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of actors rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of actors rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
24%

24% of actors rated their compensation 1 stars

Do actors find their jobs meaningful?

On average, actors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.0/5. Unlike many careers, actors have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become actors.

We asked actors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

4.0 out of 5 stars

2331 actors

5 Star
46%

46% of actors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of actors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of actors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of actors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of actors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as actors?

Actors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of actors find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked actors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

4.2 out of 5 stars

2535 actors

5 Star
52%

52% of actors rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of actors rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
12%

12% of actors rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
4%

4% of actors rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of actors rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an actor’s work environment?

As a whole, actors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of actors enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an actor.

We asked actors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

4.0 out of 5 stars

2516 actors

5 Star
43%

43% of actors rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of actors rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of actors rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
7%

7% of actors rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of actors rated their work environment 1 stars

Are actors making the best use of their abilities?

Former actors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most actors surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as an actor, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

We asked actors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.9 out of 5 stars

2518 actors

5 Star
41%

41% of actors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of actors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of actors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of actors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of actors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars