Zoo curators 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, zoo curators rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 3% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy zoo curators 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildlife rehabilitator | 4.2 | $28k |
| Animal trainer | 4.2 | N/A |
| Horse trainer | 4.2 | $24k |
| Equestrian | 4.1 | $22k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are zoo curators happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do zoo curators find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as zoo curators?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are zoo curator’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are zoo curators making the best use of their abilities?
Are zoo curators happy with their salary?
Zoo curators rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Zoo curators tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked zoo curators how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
15 zoo curators
27% of zoo curators rated their compensation 5 stars
13% of zoo curators rated their compensation 4 stars
13% of zoo curators rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of zoo curators rated their compensation 2 stars
27% of zoo curators rated their compensation 1 stars
Do zoo curators find their jobs meaningful?
On average, zoo curators rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.3/5. Unlike many careers, zoo curators have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become zoo curators.
We asked zoo curators how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
15 zoo curators
53% of zoo curators rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
27% of zoo curators rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
13% of zoo curators rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
7% of zoo curators rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as zoo curators?
Zoo curators rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.6/5. The majority of zoo curators find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked zoo curators how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.6 out of 5 stars
18 zoo curators
83% of zoo curators rated their career fit 5 stars
6% of zoo curators rated their career fit 4 stars
6% of zoo curators rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of zoo curators rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a zoo curator’s work environment?
As a whole, zoo curators rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.3/5. A solid majority of zoo curators enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a zoo curator.
We asked zoo curators how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
18 zoo curators
61% of zoo curators rated their work environment 5 stars
22% of zoo curators rated their work environment 4 stars
6% of zoo curators rated their work environment 3 stars
6% of zoo curators rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of zoo curators rated their work environment 1 stars
Are zoo curators making the best use of their abilities?
Former zoo curators on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.7/5. Most zoo curators surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a zoo curator, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked zoo curators how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
18 zoo curators
39% of zoo curators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
17% of zoo curators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
17% of zoo curators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
28% of zoo curators rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars