Farmers 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, farmers rate their career happiness 3.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 28% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy farmers 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
Farm manager
3.7
$38k
Wildlife enforcement officer
3.6
$56k
Farm equipment mechanic
3.6
$9k
Rangeland manager
3.5
$64k
Farmer
3.5
$6k
Soil and plant scientist
3.4
$17k
Agronomist
3.4
$42k
Aquacultural manager
3.4
$79k

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

Are farmers happy with their salary?

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

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

2.9 out of 5 stars

1371 farmers

5 Star
15%

15% of farmers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of farmers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of farmers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
23%

23% of farmers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of farmers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do farmers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, farmers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.5/5. Unlike many careers, farmers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become farmers.

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

3.5 out of 5 stars

1385 farmers

5 Star
29%

29% of farmers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of farmers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of farmers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of farmers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of farmers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Farmers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of farmers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

4.1 out of 5 stars

1479 farmers

5 Star
43%

43% of farmers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of farmers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of farmers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of farmers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of farmers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a farmer’s work environment?

As a whole, farmers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of farmers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a farmer.

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

3.9 out of 5 stars

1485 farmers

5 Star
40%

40% of farmers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of farmers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of farmers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
7%

7% of farmers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of farmers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are farmers making the best use of their abilities?

Former farmers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most farmers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

1482 farmers

5 Star
23%

23% of farmers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of farmers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

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

2 Star
18%

18% of farmers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of farmers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars