Web developers are about average in terms of 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, web developers rate their career happiness 3.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 43% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy web developers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Database architect | 3.3 | $90k |
| Broadcast engineer | 3.3 | $45k |
| Computer and information research scientist | 3.3 | $118k |
| Web designer | 3.3 | $37k |
| Data scientist | 3.3 | $88k |
| Web developer | 3.3 | $69k |
| Computer repair technician | 3.3 | $47k |
| Front-End developer | 3.3 | $51k |
| Computer programmer | 3.2 | $85k |
| Network administrator | 3.2 | $47k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are web developers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do web developers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as web developers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are web developer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are web developers making the best use of their abilities?
Are web developers happy with their salary?
Web developers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most web developers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked web developers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
2218 web developers
16% of web developers rated their compensation 5 stars
28% of web developers rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of web developers rated their compensation 3 stars
17% of web developers rated their compensation 2 stars
9% of web developers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do web developers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, web developers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.9/5. While most web developers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked web developers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
2258 web developers
13% of web developers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of web developers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
28% of web developers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
24% of web developers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
17% of web developers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as web developers?
Web developers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of web developers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked web developers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
2595 web developers
24% of web developers rated their career fit 5 stars
41% of web developers rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of web developers rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of web developers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of web developers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a web developer’s work environment?
As a whole, web developers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.7/5. A solid majority of web developers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a web developer.
We asked web developers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
2581 web developers
23% of web developers rated their work environment 5 stars
39% of web developers rated their work environment 4 stars
24% of web developers rated their work environment 3 stars
10% of web developers rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of web developers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are web developers making the best use of their abilities?
Former web developers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most web developers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked web developers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
2579 web developers
18% of web developers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of web developers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
28% of web developers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
18% of web developers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
7% of web developers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars