Real estate agents are below average when it comes to 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, real estate agents rate their career happiness 3.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 34% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy real estate agents 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Online merchant | 3.2 | $75k |
| Search marketing strategist | 3.2 | $90k |
| Marketing manager | 3.1 | $135k |
| Advertising manager | 3.1 | $127k |
| Digital marketing specialist | 3.1 | $39k |
| Real estate agent | 3.0 | $48k |
| Travel agent | 3.0 | $44k |
| Public relations specialist | 3.0 | $63k |
| Market research analyst | 2.9 | $64k |
| Fundraiser | 2.9 | $61k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are real estate agents happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do real estate agents find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as real estate agents?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are real estate agent’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are real estate agents making the best use of their abilities?
Are real estate agents happy with their salary?
Real estate agents rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most real estate agents having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked real estate agents how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
2640 real estate agents
13% of real estate agents rated their compensation 5 stars
24% of real estate agents rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of real estate agents rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of real estate agents rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of real estate agents rated their compensation 1 stars
Do real estate agents find their jobs meaningful?
On average, real estate agents rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.7/5. While most real estate agents aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked real estate agents how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
2650 real estate agents
10% of real estate agents rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
16% of real estate agents rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of real estate agents rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
27% of real estate agents rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
21% of real estate agents rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as real estate agents?
Real estate agents rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of real estate agents find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked real estate agents how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
2885 real estate agents
29% of real estate agents rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of real estate agents rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of real estate agents rated their career fit 3 stars
11% of real estate agents rated their career fit 2 stars
6% of real estate agents rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a real estate agent’s work environment?
As a whole, real estate agents rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of real estate agents enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a real estate agent.
We asked real estate agents how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
2874 real estate agents
23% of real estate agents rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of real estate agents rated their work environment 4 stars
24% of real estate agents rated their work environment 3 stars
13% of real estate agents rated their work environment 2 stars
8% of real estate agents rated their work environment 1 stars
Are real estate agents making the best use of their abilities?
Former real estate agents on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Real estate agents tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked real estate agents how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
2877 real estate agents
14% of real estate agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
22% of real estate agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
28% of real estate agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
24% of real estate agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
13% of real estate agents rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars