Illustrators 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, illustrators rate their career happiness 3.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 12% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy illustrators 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sculptor | 4.1 | $30k |
| Craft artist | 4.0 | $36k |
| Cartoonist | 4.0 | $30k |
| Illustrator | 3.9 | $61k |
| Tattoo artist | 3.8 | $39k |
| Art director | 3.8 | $101k |
| Art therapist | 3.7 | $48k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are illustrators happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do illustrators find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as illustrators?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are illustrator’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are illustrators making the best use of their abilities?
Are illustrators happy with their salary?
Illustrators rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Illustrators tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked illustrators how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
729 illustrators
11% of illustrators rated their compensation 5 stars
16% of illustrators rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of illustrators rated their compensation 3 stars
27% of illustrators rated their compensation 2 stars
19% of illustrators rated their compensation 1 stars
Do illustrators find their jobs meaningful?
On average, illustrators rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, illustrators have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become illustrators.
We asked illustrators how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
752 illustrators
35% of illustrators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
26% of illustrators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of illustrators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
11% of illustrators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
6% of illustrators rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as illustrators?
Illustrators rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of illustrators find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked illustrators how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
806 illustrators
42% of illustrators rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of illustrators rated their career fit 4 stars
17% of illustrators rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of illustrators rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of illustrators rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an illustrator’s work environment?
As a whole, illustrators rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of illustrators enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an illustrator.
We asked illustrators how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
797 illustrators
36% of illustrators rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of illustrators rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of illustrators rated their work environment 3 stars
6% of illustrators rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of illustrators rated their work environment 1 stars
Are illustrators making the best use of their abilities?
Former illustrators on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most illustrators surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as an illustrator, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked illustrators how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
800 illustrators
37% of illustrators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of illustrators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
21% of illustrators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
10% of illustrators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
4% of illustrators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars