Dancers 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, dancers rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 8% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy dancers 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
Music artist
4.3
$20k
Actor
4.2
$2k
Performer
4.2
$13k
Choreographer
4.2
$5k
Dancer
4.0
$1k
Model
3.8
$14k
Casting director
3.6
$86k
Conductor
3.5
$63k

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

Are dancers happy with their salary?

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

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

2.8 out of 5 stars

1394 dancers

5 Star
19%

19% of dancers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
14%

14% of dancers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of dancers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of dancers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
26%

26% of dancers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do dancers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, dancers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, dancers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become dancers.

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

3.9 out of 5 stars

1440 dancers

5 Star
43%

43% of dancers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of dancers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
17%

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

2 Star
9%

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

1 Star
6%

6% of dancers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

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

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

4.2 out of 5 stars

1541 dancers

5 Star
52%

52% of dancers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of dancers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
13%

13% of dancers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
4%

4% of dancers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of dancers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a dancer’s work environment?

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

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

4.0 out of 5 stars

1547 dancers

5 Star
41%

41% of dancers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of dancers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of dancers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
8%

8% of dancers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of dancers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are dancers making the best use of their abilities?

Former dancers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most dancers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a dancer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

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

3.8 out of 5 stars

1543 dancers

5 Star
39%

39% of dancers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
26%

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

3 Star
20%

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

2 Star
10%

10% of dancers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
6%

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