Television writers 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, television writers rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 10% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy television writers 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
Film director
4.3
$79k
Filmmaker
4.1
$79k
Cinematographer
4.1
$40k
Writer
4.1
$70k
Television writer
4.0
$70k
Announcer
3.9
$38k
Blogger
3.8
$26k
Set designer
3.8
$28k

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

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

Are television writers happy with their salary?

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

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

3.0 out of 5 stars

128 television writers

5 Star
23%

23% of television writers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of television writers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
23%

23% of television writers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of television writers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
17%

17% of television writers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do television writers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, television writers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.8/5. Unlike many careers, television writers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become television writers.

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

3.8 out of 5 stars

132 television writers

5 Star
39%

39% of television writers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of television writers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of television writers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of television writers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of television writers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Television writers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of television writers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

4.1 out of 5 stars

156 television writers

5 Star
42%

42% of television writers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of television writers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of television writers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of television writers rated their career fit 2 stars

How enjoyable is a television writer’s work environment?

As a whole, television writers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.9/5. A solid majority of television writers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a television writer.

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

3.9 out of 5 stars

155 television writers

5 Star
35%

35% of television writers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of television writers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of television writers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
10%

10% of television writers rated their work environment 2 stars

Are television writers making the best use of their abilities?

Former television writers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most television writers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a television writer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

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

3.8 out of 5 stars

155 television writers

5 Star
34%

34% of television writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of television writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of television writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of television writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of television writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars