Animal caretakers 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, animal caretakers rate their career happiness 3.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 19% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy animal caretakers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dog trainer | 3.9 | $26k |
| Aquarist | 3.8 | $28k |
| Animal caretaker | 3.7 | $29k |
| Zoo educator | 3.7 | $25k |
| Veterinarian | 3.7 | $100k |
| Dog walker | 3.7 | $26k |
| Wildlife enforcement officer | 3.6 | $56k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are animal caretakers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do animal caretakers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as animal caretakers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are animal caretaker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are animal caretakers making the best use of their abilities?
Are animal caretakers happy with their salary?
Animal caretakers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Animal caretakers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked animal caretakers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
667 animal caretakers
17% of animal caretakers rated their compensation 5 stars
18% of animal caretakers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of animal caretakers rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of animal caretakers rated their compensation 2 stars
19% of animal caretakers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do animal caretakers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, animal caretakers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.6/5. Unlike many careers, animal caretakers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become animal caretakers.
We asked animal caretakers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
672 animal caretakers
33% of animal caretakers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of animal caretakers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of animal caretakers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
12% of animal caretakers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
10% of animal caretakers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as animal caretakers?
Animal caretakers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of animal caretakers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked animal caretakers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
729 animal caretakers
46% of animal caretakers rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of animal caretakers rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of animal caretakers rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of animal caretakers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of animal caretakers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an animal caretaker’s work environment?
As a whole, animal caretakers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of animal caretakers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an animal caretaker.
We asked animal caretakers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
733 animal caretakers
35% of animal caretakers rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of animal caretakers rated their work environment 4 stars
17% of animal caretakers rated their work environment 3 stars
9% of animal caretakers rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of animal caretakers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are animal caretakers making the best use of their abilities?
Former animal caretakers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most animal caretakers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked animal caretakers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
734 animal caretakers
26% of animal caretakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
22% of animal caretakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
23% of animal caretakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
16% of animal caretakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
13% of animal caretakers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars