Radio talk show hosts 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, radio talk show hosts rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 9% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy radio talk show hosts 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
Choreographer
4.2
$43k
Sculptor
4.1
$30k
Cinematographer
4.1
$40k
Life coach
4.1
$47k
Announcer
3.9
$38k
Recording engineer
3.9
$34k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are radio talk show hosts happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do radio talk show hosts find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as radio talk show hosts?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are radio talk show host’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are radio talk show hosts making the best use of their abilities?

Are radio talk show hosts happy with their salary?

Radio talk show hosts rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.5/5. Most radio talk show hosts do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.

We asked radio talk show hosts how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

70 radio talk show hosts

5 Star
11%

11% of radio talk show hosts rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
7%

7% of radio talk show hosts rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of radio talk show hosts rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
23%

23% of radio talk show hosts rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
30%

30% of radio talk show hosts rated their compensation 1 stars

Do radio talk show hosts find their jobs meaningful?

On average, radio talk show hosts rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.6/5. Unlike many careers, radio talk show hosts have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become radio talk show hosts.

We asked radio talk show hosts how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

72 radio talk show hosts

5 Star
33%

33% of radio talk show hosts rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
22%

22% of radio talk show hosts rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of radio talk show hosts rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of radio talk show hosts rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of radio talk show hosts rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as radio talk show hosts?

Radio talk show hosts rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.2/5. The majority of radio talk show hosts find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked radio talk show hosts how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

4.2 out of 5 stars

80 radio talk show hosts

5 Star
48%

48% of radio talk show hosts rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of radio talk show hosts rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
18%

18% of radio talk show hosts rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
4%

4% of radio talk show hosts rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
1%

1% of radio talk show hosts rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a radio talk show host’s work environment?

As a whole, radio talk show hosts rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.1/5. A solid majority of radio talk show hosts enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a radio talk show host.

We asked radio talk show hosts how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

4.1 out of 5 stars

81 radio talk show hosts

5 Star
41%

41% of radio talk show hosts rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
38%

38% of radio talk show hosts rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
14%

14% of radio talk show hosts rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
5%

5% of radio talk show hosts rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of radio talk show hosts rated their work environment 1 stars

Are radio talk show hosts making the best use of their abilities?

Former radio talk show hosts on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.7/5. Most radio talk show hosts surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a radio talk show host, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

We asked radio talk show hosts how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

81 radio talk show hosts

5 Star
36%

36% of radio talk show hosts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
27%

27% of radio talk show hosts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
17%

17% of radio talk show hosts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
15%

15% of radio talk show hosts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of radio talk show hosts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars