Fish and game wardens 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, fish and game wardens rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 18% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy fish and game wardens 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
Beekeeper
3.9
$29k
Rancher
3.9
$10k
Aquarist
3.8
$28k
Fish and game warden
3.8
$29k
Organic farmer
3.8
$24k
Zoo educator
3.7
$25k
Farm manager
3.7
$38k
Wildlife enforcement officer
3.6
$56k

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

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

Are fish and game wardens happy with their salary?

Fish and game wardens rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.6/5. The majority of fish and game wardens are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.

We asked fish and game wardens how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

17 fish and game wardens

5 Star
35%

35% of fish and game wardens rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of fish and game wardens rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
18%

18% of fish and game wardens rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of fish and game wardens rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
12%

12% of fish and game wardens rated their compensation 1 stars

Do fish and game wardens find their jobs meaningful?

On average, fish and game wardens rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.6/5. Unlike many careers, fish and game wardens have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become fish and game wardens.

We asked fish and game wardens how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

17 fish and game wardens

5 Star
47%

47% of fish and game wardens rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
12%

12% of fish and game wardens rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
12%

12% of fish and game wardens rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of fish and game wardens rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of fish and game wardens rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as fish and game wardens?

Fish and game wardens rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of fish and game wardens find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked fish and game wardens how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.9 out of 5 stars

19 fish and game wardens

5 Star
58%

58% of fish and game wardens rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
11%

11% of fish and game wardens rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
11%

11% of fish and game wardens rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of fish and game wardens rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
16%

16% of fish and game wardens rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a fish and game warden’s work environment?

As a whole, fish and game wardens rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of fish and game wardens enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a fish and game warden.

We asked fish and game wardens how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.9 out of 5 stars

19 fish and game wardens

5 Star
53%

53% of fish and game wardens rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of fish and game wardens rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of fish and game wardens rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of fish and game wardens rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of fish and game wardens rated their work environment 1 stars

Are fish and game wardens making the best use of their abilities?

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

We asked fish and game wardens how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

19 fish and game wardens

5 Star
42%

42% of fish and game wardens rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of fish and game wardens rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of fish and game wardens rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of fish and game wardens rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of fish and game wardens rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars