Comedians 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, comedians rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 4% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy comedians 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Actor | 4.2 | $49k |
| Performer | 4.2 | $37k |
| Comedian | 4.2 | $31k |
| Announcer | 3.9 | $38k |
| Casting director | 3.6 | $79k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are comedians happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do comedians find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as comedians?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are comedian’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are comedians making the best use of their abilities?
Are comedians happy with their salary?
Comedians rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Most comedians do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked comedians how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
92 comedians
22% of comedians rated their compensation 5 stars
10% of comedians rated their compensation 4 stars
17% of comedians rated their compensation 3 stars
16% of comedians rated their compensation 2 stars
35% of comedians rated their compensation 1 stars
Do comedians find their jobs meaningful?
On average, comedians rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.0/5. Unlike many careers, comedians have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become comedians.
We asked comedians how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
98 comedians
50% of comedians rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of comedians rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
19% of comedians rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
5% of comedians rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
6% of comedians rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as comedians?
Comedians rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of comedians find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked comedians how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
105 comedians
53% of comedians rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of comedians rated their career fit 4 stars
10% of comedians rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of comedians rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of comedians rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a comedian’s work environment?
As a whole, comedians rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of comedians enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a comedian.
We asked comedians how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
103 comedians
46% of comedians rated their work environment 5 stars
24% of comedians rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of comedians rated their work environment 3 stars
7% of comedians rated their work environment 2 stars
2% of comedians rated their work environment 1 stars
Are comedians making the best use of their abilities?
Former comedians on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most comedians surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a comedian, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked comedians how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
105 comedians
44% of comedians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of comedians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
19% of comedians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
7% of comedians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of comedians rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars