Occupational therapist assistants 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, occupational therapist assistants rate their career happiness 3.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 33% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy occupational therapist 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
Mental health counselor
3.1
$48k
Dentist
3.0
$128k
Rehabilitation counselor
3.0
$41k
School psychologist
3.0
$80k
Occupational therapist assistant
3.0
$52k
Dental assistant
3.0
$18k
Medical transcriptionist
3.0
$18k
Diagnostic medical sonographer
3.0
$43k
Optometrist
3.0
$96k

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

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

Are occupational therapist assistants happy with their salary?

Occupational therapist assistants rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most occupational therapist assistants having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

121 occupational therapist assistants

5 Star
15%

15% of occupational therapist assistants rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of occupational therapist assistants rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of occupational therapist assistants rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of occupational therapist assistants rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
12%

12% of occupational therapist assistants rated their compensation 1 stars

Do occupational therapist assistants find their jobs meaningful?

On average, occupational therapist assistants rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.

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

3.4 out of 5 stars

123 occupational therapist assistants

5 Star
20%

20% of occupational therapist assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of occupational therapist assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
30%

30% of occupational therapist assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of occupational therapist assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of occupational therapist assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

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

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

3.9 out of 5 stars

137 occupational therapist assistants

5 Star
32%

32% of occupational therapist assistants rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of occupational therapist assistants rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
18%

18% of occupational therapist assistants rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
10%

10% of occupational therapist assistants rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of occupational therapist assistants rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an occupational therapist assistant’s work environment?

As a whole, occupational therapist assistants 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 occupational therapist assistants how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

137 occupational therapist assistants

5 Star
17%

17% of occupational therapist assistants rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
33%

33% of occupational therapist assistants rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of occupational therapist assistants rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of occupational therapist assistants rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of occupational therapist assistants rated their work environment 1 stars

Are occupational therapist assistants making the best use of their abilities?

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

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

137 occupational therapist assistants

5 Star
15%

15% of occupational therapist assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of occupational therapist assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
34%

34% of occupational therapist assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of occupational therapist assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of occupational therapist assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars