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, writers rate their career happiness 4.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 7% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy 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
Writer
4.1
$8k
Television writer
4.0
$36k
Blogger
3.8
$26k
Journalist
3.4
$51k
Editor
3.4
$32k

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

Are writers happy with their salary?

Writers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.5/5. Most writers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

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

2.5 out of 5 stars

2155 writers

5 Star
14%

14% of writers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
11%

11% of writers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of writers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of writers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
32%

32% of writers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do writers find their jobs meaningful?

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

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

4.2 out of 5 stars

2272 writers

5 Star
54%

54% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
25%

25% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
12%

12% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
5%

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

1 Star
4%

4% of writers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

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

Writers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of writers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

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

4.2 out of 5 stars

2480 writers

5 Star
51%

51% of writers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
31%

31% of writers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
12%

12% of writers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
3%

3% of writers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of writers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a writer’s work environment?

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

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

4.1 out of 5 stars

2458 writers

5 Star
48%

48% of writers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of writers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
15%

15% of writers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of writers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of writers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are writers making the best use of their abilities?

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

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

4.1 out of 5 stars

2473 writers

5 Star
47%

47% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
16%

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

2 Star
5%

5% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of writers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars