Forensic pathologists 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, forensic pathologists 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 forensic pathologists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiothoracic surgeon | 4.5 | N/A |
| Surgeon | 4.3 | N/A |
| Gynecologist | 4.2 | N/A |
| Ophthalmologist | 4.1 | $201k |
| Coroner | 4.1 | $72k |
| Neurosurgeon | 4.1 | N/A |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are forensic pathologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do forensic pathologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as forensic pathologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are forensic pathologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are forensic pathologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are forensic pathologists happy with their salary?
Forensic pathologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most forensic pathologists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked forensic pathologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
16 forensic pathologists
31% of forensic pathologists rated their compensation 5 stars
13% of forensic pathologists rated their compensation 4 stars
38% of forensic pathologists rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of forensic pathologists rated their compensation 2 stars
6% of forensic pathologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do forensic pathologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, forensic pathologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, forensic pathologists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become forensic pathologists.
We asked forensic pathologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
15 forensic pathologists
47% of forensic pathologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
20% of forensic pathologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of forensic pathologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
13% of forensic pathologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as forensic pathologists?
Forensic pathologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of forensic pathologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked forensic pathologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
16 forensic pathologists
50% of forensic pathologists rated their career fit 5 stars
19% of forensic pathologists rated their career fit 4 stars
25% of forensic pathologists rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of forensic pathologists rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a forensic pathologist’s work environment?
As a whole, forensic pathologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of forensic pathologists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a forensic pathologist.
We asked forensic pathologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
16 forensic pathologists
25% of forensic pathologists rated their work environment 5 stars
31% of forensic pathologists rated their work environment 4 stars
31% of forensic pathologists rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of forensic pathologists rated their work environment 2 stars
Are forensic pathologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former forensic pathologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most forensic pathologists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a forensic pathologist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked forensic pathologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
15 forensic pathologists
47% of forensic pathologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
20% of forensic pathologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
20% of forensic pathologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
7% of forensic pathologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
7% of forensic pathologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars