Mechanical engineers 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, mechanical engineers rate their career happiness 3.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 33% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy mechanical engineers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Locomotive engineer | 3.1 | $80k |
| Engineer | 3.1 | $99k |
| Electrical engineer | 3.1 | $100k |
| Avionics technician | 3.0 | $69k |
| Software quality assurance engineer | 3.0 | $90k |
| Mechanical engineer | 3.0 | $95k |
| Ship engineer | 3.0 | $82k |
| Water engineer | 3.0 | $97k |
| Aircraft mechanic | 3.0 | $65k |
| Industrial engineering technician | 2.9 | $60k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are mechanical engineers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do mechanical engineers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as mechanical engineers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are mechanical engineer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are mechanical engineers making the best use of their abilities?
Are mechanical engineers happy with their salary?
Mechanical engineers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. The majority of mechanical engineers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked mechanical engineers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1570 mechanical engineers
19% of mechanical engineers rated their compensation 5 stars
32% of mechanical engineers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of mechanical engineers rated their compensation 3 stars
16% of mechanical engineers rated their compensation 2 stars
9% of mechanical engineers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do mechanical engineers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, mechanical engineers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.7/5. While most mechanical engineers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked mechanical engineers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
1586 mechanical engineers
12% of mechanical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
18% of mechanical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of mechanical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of mechanical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
21% of mechanical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as mechanical engineers?
Mechanical engineers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of mechanical engineers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked mechanical engineers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
1811 mechanical engineers
23% of mechanical engineers rated their career fit 5 stars
41% of mechanical engineers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of mechanical engineers rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of mechanical engineers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of mechanical engineers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a mechanical engineer’s work environment?
As a whole, mechanical engineers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked mechanical engineers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
1796 mechanical engineers
17% of mechanical engineers rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of mechanical engineers rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of mechanical engineers rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of mechanical engineers rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of mechanical engineers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are mechanical engineers making the best use of their abilities?
Former mechanical engineers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most mechanical engineers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked mechanical engineers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
1811 mechanical engineers
14% of mechanical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
24% of mechanical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of mechanical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
24% of mechanical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
10% of mechanical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars