Medical assistants are about average in terms of 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, medical assistants rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 50% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy medical assistants 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
Paramedic
3.3
$46k
Internist
3.3
$194k
Radiation therapist
3.2
$84k
Community health worker
3.2
$28k
Medical assistant
3.2
$20k
Anesthesiologist assistant
3.2
$41k
Physical therapist assistant
3.2
$18k
Informatics nurse specialist
3.2
$89k

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

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

Are medical assistants happy with their salary?

Medical assistants rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Medical assistants tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

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

2.8 out of 5 stars

2387 medical assistants

5 Star
11%

11% of medical assistants rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of medical assistants rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of medical assistants rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of medical assistants rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
20%

20% of medical assistants rated their compensation 1 stars

Do medical assistants find their jobs meaningful?

On average, medical assistants rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.2/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

2397 medical assistants

5 Star
23%

23% of medical assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
22%

22% of medical assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of medical assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of medical assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of medical assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Medical assistants rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of medical assistants find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

4.0 out of 5 stars

2579 medical assistants

5 Star
42%

42% of medical assistants rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of medical assistants rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of medical assistants rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of medical assistants rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of medical assistants rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a medical assistant’s work environment?

As a whole, medical assistants rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of medical assistants enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a medical assistant.

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

3.6 out of 5 stars

2575 medical assistants

5 Star
28%

28% of medical assistants rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of medical assistants rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of medical assistants rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of medical assistants rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of medical assistants rated their work environment 1 stars

Are medical assistants making the best use of their abilities?

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

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

2595 medical assistants

5 Star
23%

23% of medical assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
22%

22% of medical assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of medical assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of medical assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
13%

13% of medical assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars