Sommeliers are about average in terms of 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, sommeliers rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 40% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy sommeliers 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
Personal chef
3.6
$43k
Cake designer
3.6
$22k
Brewmaster
3.4
$46k
Sommelier
3.4
$41k
Baker
3.1
$30k
Bartender
3.0
$26k

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

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

Are sommeliers happy with their salary?

Sommeliers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Sommeliers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

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

2.9 out of 5 stars

137 sommeliers

5 Star
7%

7% of sommeliers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of sommeliers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
36%

36% of sommeliers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of sommeliers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
14%

14% of sommeliers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do sommeliers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, sommeliers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.7/5. While most sommeliers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

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

2.7 out of 5 stars

137 sommeliers

5 Star
7%

7% of sommeliers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of sommeliers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of sommeliers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
30%

30% of sommeliers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of sommeliers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Sommeliers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of sommeliers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

4.0 out of 5 stars

141 sommeliers

5 Star
37%

37% of sommeliers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of sommeliers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of sommeliers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
8%

8% of sommeliers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
1%

1% of sommeliers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a sommelier’s work environment?

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

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

3.4 out of 5 stars

143 sommeliers

5 Star
13%

13% of sommeliers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
41%

41% of sommeliers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of sommeliers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
18%

18% of sommeliers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of sommeliers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are sommeliers making the best use of their abilities?

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

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

3.1 out of 5 stars

145 sommeliers

5 Star
14%

14% of sommeliers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
23%

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

3 Star
28%

28% of sommeliers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of sommeliers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of sommeliers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars