Firefighters 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, firefighters rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 16% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy firefighters 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Firefighter | 3.8 | $51k |
| Military air crew officer | 3.4 | $202k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are firefighters happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do firefighters find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as firefighters?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are firefighter’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are firefighters making the best use of their abilities?
Are firefighters happy with their salary?
Firefighters rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.3/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most firefighters having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked firefighters how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
718 firefighters
23% of firefighters rated their compensation 5 stars
21% of firefighters rated their compensation 4 stars
25% of firefighters rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of firefighters rated their compensation 2 stars
12% of firefighters rated their compensation 1 stars
Do firefighters find their jobs meaningful?
On average, firefighters rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, firefighters have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become firefighters.
We asked firefighters how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
726 firefighters
41% of firefighters rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
30% of firefighters rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
15% of firefighters rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
9% of firefighters rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
5% of firefighters rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as firefighters?
Firefighters rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of firefighters find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked firefighters how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
785 firefighters
46% of firefighters rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of firefighters rated their career fit 4 stars
14% of firefighters rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of firefighters rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of firefighters rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a firefighter’s work environment?
As a whole, firefighters rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of firefighters enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a firefighter.
We asked firefighters how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
776 firefighters
41% of firefighters rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of firefighters rated their work environment 4 stars
19% of firefighters rated their work environment 3 stars
7% of firefighters rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of firefighters rated their work environment 1 stars
Are firefighters making the best use of their abilities?
Former firefighters on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most firefighters surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a firefighter, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked firefighters how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
778 firefighters
33% of firefighters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
23% of firefighters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of firefighters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
13% of firefighters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
7% of firefighters rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars