Cartographers 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, cartographers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 42% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy cartographers 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
Geographer
3.2
$85k
Soil and water conservationist
3.2
$64k
Atmospheric scientist
3.2
$95k
Industrial ecologist
3.2
$77k
Meteorologist
3.2
$43k
Cartographer
3.1
$69k
Environmental consultant
2.8
$77k

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

  • Salary: Are cartographers happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do cartographers find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as cartographers?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are cartographer’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are cartographers making the best use of their abilities?

Are cartographers happy with their salary?

Cartographers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most cartographers having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

236 cartographers

5 Star
14%

14% of cartographers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of cartographers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
34%

34% of cartographers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of cartographers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of cartographers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do cartographers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, cartographers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.8/5. While most cartographers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

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

2.8 out of 5 stars

237 cartographers

5 Star
11%

11% of cartographers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of cartographers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of cartographers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of cartographers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of cartographers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Cartographers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of cartographers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.7 out of 5 stars

253 cartographers

5 Star
19%

19% of cartographers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
43%

43% of cartographers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of cartographers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
8%

8% of cartographers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of cartographers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a cartographer’s work environment?

As a whole, cartographers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of cartographers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a cartographer.

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

3.5 out of 5 stars

253 cartographers

5 Star
17%

17% of cartographers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of cartographers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
30%

30% of cartographers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of cartographers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of cartographers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are cartographers making the best use of their abilities?

Former cartographers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most cartographers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

254 cartographers

5 Star
12%

12% of cartographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
26%

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

3 Star
28%

28% of cartographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of cartographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of cartographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars