Ranchers 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, ranchers rate their career happiness 3.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 13% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy ranchers 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
Animal breeder
4.0
$19k
Beekeeper
3.9
$29k
Dog trainer
3.9
$26k
Rancher
3.9
$10k
Aquarist
3.8
$28k
Fish and game warden
3.8
$29k
Organic farmer
3.8
$24k

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

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

Are ranchers happy with their salary?

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

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

217 ranchers

5 Star
21%

21% of ranchers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
19%

19% of ranchers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of ranchers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of ranchers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
17%

17% of ranchers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do ranchers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, ranchers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, ranchers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become ranchers.

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

3.7 out of 5 stars

216 ranchers

5 Star
34%

34% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of ranchers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Ranchers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of ranchers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

4.3 out of 5 stars

233 ranchers

5 Star
53%

53% of ranchers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
33%

33% of ranchers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
8%

8% of ranchers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of ranchers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
1%

1% of ranchers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a rancher’s work environment?

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

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

4.2 out of 5 stars

235 ranchers

5 Star
49%

49% of ranchers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of ranchers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of ranchers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
3%

3% of ranchers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
1%

1% of ranchers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are ranchers making the best use of their abilities?

Former ranchers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most ranchers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a rancher, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

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

3.6 out of 5 stars

234 ranchers

5 Star
35%

35% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
18%

18% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
7%

7% of ranchers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars