Occupational therapists 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 therapists rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 27% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy occupational therapists 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
Dental assistant
3.0
$18k
Diagnostic medical sonographer
3.0
$43k
Optometrist
3.0
$96k
Hearing aid specialist
2.9
$60k
Occupational health specialist
2.9
$73k
Occupational therapist
2.9
$66k
Registered dietitian
2.9
$53k
Respiratory therapist
2.9
$63k
Ophthalmic medical technician
2.9
$21k
Psychiatric aide
2.9
$29k

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

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

Are occupational therapists happy with their salary?

Occupational therapists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.3/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most occupational therapists having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.3 out of 5 stars

258 occupational therapists

5 Star
15%

15% of occupational therapists rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of occupational therapists rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
32%

32% of occupational therapists rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of occupational therapists rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of occupational therapists rated their compensation 1 stars

Do occupational therapists find their jobs meaningful?

On average, occupational therapists 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 therapists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

260 occupational therapists

5 Star
16%

16% of occupational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of occupational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of occupational therapists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
15%

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

1 Star
8%

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

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

Occupational therapists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of occupational therapists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.8 out of 5 stars

277 occupational therapists

5 Star
31%

31% of occupational therapists rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
37%

37% of occupational therapists rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of occupational therapists rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
8%

8% of occupational therapists rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of occupational therapists rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an occupational therapist’s work environment?

As a whole, occupational therapists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of occupational therapists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an occupational therapist.

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

3.4 out of 5 stars

276 occupational therapists

5 Star
15%

15% of occupational therapists rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of occupational therapists rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
30%

30% of occupational therapists rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of occupational therapists rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of occupational therapists rated their work environment 1 stars

Are occupational therapists making the best use of their abilities?

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

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

3.2 out of 5 stars

274 occupational therapists

5 Star
18%

18% of occupational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of occupational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of occupational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
20%

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

1 Star
11%

11% of occupational therapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars