Pilots 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, pilots rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 15% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy pilots 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | 3.8 | $202k |
| Commercial pilot | 3.8 | $100k |
| Ship captain | 3.5 | $82k |
| Air crew officer | 3.4 | $202k |
| Air traffic controller | 3.3 | $130k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are pilots happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do pilots find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as pilots?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are pilot’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are pilots making the best use of their abilities?
Are pilots happy with their salary?
Pilots rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. The majority of pilots are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked pilots how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
256 pilots
27% of pilots rated their compensation 5 stars
26% of pilots rated their compensation 4 stars
21% of pilots rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of pilots rated their compensation 2 stars
13% of pilots rated their compensation 1 stars
Do pilots find their jobs meaningful?
On average, pilots rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.6/5. Unlike many careers, pilots have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become pilots.
We asked pilots how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
265 pilots
33% of pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
24% of pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
12% of pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
9% of pilots rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as pilots?
Pilots rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of pilots find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked pilots how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
287 pilots
42% of pilots rated their career fit 5 stars
36% of pilots rated their career fit 4 stars
14% of pilots rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of pilots rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of pilots rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a pilot’s work environment?
As a whole, pilots rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of pilots enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a pilot.
We asked pilots how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
282 pilots
41% of pilots rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of pilots rated their work environment 4 stars
17% of pilots rated their work environment 3 stars
10% of pilots rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of pilots rated their work environment 1 stars
Are pilots making the best use of their abilities?
Former pilots on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most pilots surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a pilot, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked pilots how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
283 pilots
40% of pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
25% of pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
19% of pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
10% of pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of pilots rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars