Hairdressers are below average when it comes to happiness.

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, hairdressers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 39% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy hairdressers 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
Esthetician
3.3
$37k
Professional painter
3.2
$37k
Spa manager
3.2
$38k
Tailor
3.2
$31k
Nail technician
3.1
$29k
Hairdresser
3.1
$30k
Sewing machine operator
3.0
$30k
Receptionist
2.6
$30k
Maitre d'
2.5
$25k
Retail salesperson
2.3
$29k

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

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

Are hairdressers happy with their salary?

Hairdressers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Most hairdressers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

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

2.6 out of 5 stars

1579 hairdressers

5 Star
10%

10% of hairdressers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
16%

16% of hairdressers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of hairdressers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of hairdressers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
23%

23% of hairdressers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do hairdressers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, hairdressers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.8/5. While most hairdressers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

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

2.8 out of 5 stars

1587 hairdressers

5 Star
13%

13% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of hairdressers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Hairdressers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of hairdressers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.9 out of 5 stars

1689 hairdressers

5 Star
40%

40% of hairdressers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of hairdressers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
15%

15% of hairdressers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of hairdressers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of hairdressers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a hairdresser’s work environment?

As a whole, hairdressers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

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

3.4 out of 5 stars

1702 hairdressers

5 Star
22%

22% of hairdressers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of hairdressers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of hairdressers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of hairdressers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of hairdressers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are hairdressers making the best use of their abilities?

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

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

1703 hairdressers

5 Star
21%

21% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of hairdressers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
14%

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