Clergy members rate their happiness above average.

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, clergy members rate their career happiness 3.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 26% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy clergy members 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
Life coach
4.1
$47k
Career counselor
3.8
$48k
American sign language interpreter
3.6
$41k
Clergy member
3.6
$36k
Counselor
3.5
$20k
Arbitrator
3.5
$49k
Piano tuner
3.5
$41k
School counselor
3.5
$38k

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

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

Are clergy members happy with their salary?

Clergy members rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Clergy members tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

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

2.8 out of 5 stars

980 clergy members

5 Star
14%

14% of clergy members rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of clergy members rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of clergy members rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of clergy members rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
20%

20% of clergy members rated their compensation 1 stars

Do clergy members find their jobs meaningful?

On average, clergy members rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.2/5. Unlike many careers, clergy members have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become clergy members.

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

4.2 out of 5 stars

992 clergy members

5 Star
50%

50% of clergy members rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of clergy members rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
10%

10% of clergy members rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
4%

4% of clergy members rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of clergy members rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Clergy members rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of clergy members find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

4.0 out of 5 stars

1063 clergy members

5 Star
39%

39% of clergy members rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
37%

37% of clergy members rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
14%

14% of clergy members rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of clergy members rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of clergy members rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a clergy member’s work environment?

As a whole, clergy members rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of clergy members enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a clergy member.

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

3.8 out of 5 stars

1059 clergy members

5 Star
30%

30% of clergy members rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of clergy members rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of clergy members rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
10%

10% of clergy members rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of clergy members rated their work environment 1 stars

Are clergy members making the best use of their abilities?

Former clergy members on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most clergy members surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a clergy member, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

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

3.6 out of 5 stars

1066 clergy members

5 Star
28%

28% of clergy members rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of clergy members rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of clergy members rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of clergy members rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of clergy members rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars