Physiotherapists 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, physiotherapists rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 38% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy physiotherapists 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
Community health worker
3.2
$47k
Physical therapist assistant
3.2
$61k
MRI technologist
3.1
$77k
Chiropractor
3.1
$75k
Dental hygienist
3.1
$75k
Mental health counselor
3.1
$36k
Dentist
3.0
$160k
Rehabilitation counselor
3.0
$39k
Physician assistant
3.0
$122k

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

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

Are physiotherapists happy with their salary?

Physiotherapists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most physiotherapists having generally positive views of their salary.

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

181 physiotherapists

5 Star
14%

14% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
31%

31% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
15%

15% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 1 stars

Do physiotherapists find their jobs meaningful?

On average, physiotherapists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.3/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.

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

3.3 out of 5 stars

183 physiotherapists

5 Star
16%

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

4 Star
31%

31% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
17%

17% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Physiotherapists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of physiotherapists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

3.6 out of 5 stars

207 physiotherapists

5 Star
27%

27% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
33%

33% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
10%

10% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a physiotherapist’s work environment?

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

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

3.4 out of 5 stars

206 physiotherapists

5 Star
18%

18% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
38%

38% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 1 stars

Are physiotherapists making the best use of their abilities?

Former physiotherapists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most physiotherapists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

209 physiotherapists

5 Star
16%

16% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
23%

23% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
12%

12% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars