Singers 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, singers rate their career happiness 4.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 2% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy singers 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
Music producer
4.3
$34k
Lyricist
4.3
$26k
Singer
4.3
$7k
Music artist
4.3
$20k
Actor
4.2
$2k
Performer
4.2
$13k
Composer
4.2
$33k

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

Are singers happy with their salary?

Singers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Singers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

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

3.0 out of 5 stars

996 singers

5 Star
26%

26% of singers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of singers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of singers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of singers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
26%

26% of singers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do singers find their jobs meaningful?

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

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

4.2 out of 5 stars

1041 singers

5 Star
56%

56% of singers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
23%

23% of singers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
14%

14% of singers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of singers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of singers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

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

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

4.3 out of 5 stars

1116 singers

5 Star
56%

56% of singers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of singers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
12%

12% of singers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
4%

4% of singers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of singers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a singer’s work environment?

As a whole, singers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of singers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a singer.

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

4.1 out of 5 stars

1098 singers

5 Star
46%

46% of singers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of singers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of singers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of singers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of singers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are singers making the best use of their abilities?

Former singers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.1/5. Most singers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a singer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

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

4.1 out of 5 stars

1107 singers

5 Star
49%

49% of singers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of singers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
16%

16% of singers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of singers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of singers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars