Pet adoption counselors 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, pet adoption counselors rate their career happiness 4.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 6% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy pet adoption counselors 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
Horse trainer
4.2
$24k
Equestrian
4.1
$22k
Zoologist
4.1
$65k
Life coach
4.1
$47k
Animal breeder
4.0
$40k

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

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

Are pet adoption counselors happy with their salary?

Pet adoption counselors rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Pet adoption counselors tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked pet adoption counselors how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

36 pet adoption counselors

5 Star
11%

11% of pet adoption counselors rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
17%

17% of pet adoption counselors rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of pet adoption counselors rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
28%

28% of pet adoption counselors rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
22%

22% of pet adoption counselors rated their compensation 1 stars

Do pet adoption counselors find their jobs meaningful?

On average, pet adoption counselors rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.2/5. Unlike many careers, pet adoption counselors have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become pet adoption counselors.

We asked pet adoption counselors how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

4.2 out of 5 stars

38 pet adoption counselors

5 Star
66%

66% of pet adoption counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of pet adoption counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
8%

8% of pet adoption counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of pet adoption counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of pet adoption counselors rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as pet adoption counselors?

Pet adoption counselors rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.4/5. The majority of pet adoption counselors find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked pet adoption counselors how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

4.4 out of 5 stars

38 pet adoption counselors

5 Star
61%

61% of pet adoption counselors rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of pet adoption counselors rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
13%

13% of pet adoption counselors rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
3%

3% of pet adoption counselors rated their career fit 2 stars

How enjoyable is a pet adoption counselor’s work environment?

As a whole, pet adoption counselors rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.2/5. A solid majority of pet adoption counselors enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a pet adoption counselor.

We asked pet adoption counselors how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

4.2 out of 5 stars

38 pet adoption counselors

5 Star
53%

53% of pet adoption counselors rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of pet adoption counselors rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
13%

13% of pet adoption counselors rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of pet adoption counselors rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of pet adoption counselors rated their work environment 1 stars

Are pet adoption counselors making the best use of their abilities?

Former pet adoption counselors on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.9/5. Most pet adoption counselors surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a pet adoption counselor, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

We asked pet adoption counselors how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.9 out of 5 stars

38 pet adoption counselors

5 Star
42%

42% of pet adoption counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of pet adoption counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of pet adoption counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of pet adoption counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of pet adoption counselors rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars