Physicists rate their happiness above average.
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, physicists rate their career happiness 3.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 31% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy physicists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nanotechnology engineer | 3.9 | $101k |
| Photonics engineer | 3.8 | $101k |
| Remote sensing technician | 3.6 | $49k |
| Mathematician | 3.6 | $108k |
| Physicist | 3.5 | $152k |
| Biochemical engineer | 3.5 | $101k |
| Aerospace engineer | 3.4 | $122k |
| Natural sciences manager | 3.4 | $138k |
| Epidemiologist | 3.4 | $79k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are physicists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do physicists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as physicists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are physicist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are physicists making the best use of their abilities?
Are physicists happy with their salary?
Physicists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most physicists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked physicists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
337 physicists
17% of physicists rated their compensation 5 stars
25% of physicists rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of physicists rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of physicists rated their compensation 2 stars
13% of physicists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do physicists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, physicists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Unlike many careers, physicists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become physicists.
We asked physicists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
356 physicists
27% of physicists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of physicists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of physicists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
16% of physicists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
12% of physicists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as physicists?
Physicists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of physicists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked physicists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
407 physicists
30% of physicists rated their career fit 5 stars
36% of physicists rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of physicists rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of physicists rated their career fit 2 stars
6% of physicists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a physicist’s work environment?
As a whole, physicists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of physicists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a physicist.
We asked physicists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
404 physicists
25% of physicists rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of physicists rated their work environment 4 stars
20% of physicists rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of physicists rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of physicists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are physicists making the best use of their abilities?
Former physicists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most physicists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a physicist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked physicists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
404 physicists
27% of physicists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
30% of physicists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of physicists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
13% of physicists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of physicists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars