Physiotherapists 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, physiotherapists rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 38% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy physiotherapists 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Community health worker | 3.2 | $47k |
| Physical therapist assistant | 3.2 | $61k |
| MRI technologist | 3.1 | $77k |
| Chiropractor | 3.1 | $75k |
| Dental hygienist | 3.1 | $75k |
| Mental health counselor | 3.1 | $36k |
| Dentist | 3.0 | $160k |
| Rehabilitation counselor | 3.0 | $39k |
| Physician assistant | 3.0 | $122k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are physiotherapists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do physiotherapists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as physiotherapists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are physiotherapist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are physiotherapists making the best use of their abilities?
Are physiotherapists happy with their salary?
Physiotherapists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most physiotherapists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked physiotherapists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
181 physiotherapists
14% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 5 stars
26% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 4 stars
31% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 3 stars
13% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of physiotherapists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do physiotherapists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, physiotherapists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.3/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.
We asked physiotherapists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
183 physiotherapists
16% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
31% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
25% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
17% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
10% of physiotherapists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as physiotherapists?
Physiotherapists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of physiotherapists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked physiotherapists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
207 physiotherapists
27% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 3 stars
10% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 2 stars
7% of physiotherapists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a physiotherapist’s work environment?
As a whole, physiotherapists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of physiotherapists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a physiotherapist.
We asked physiotherapists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
206 physiotherapists
18% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 5 stars
38% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 3 stars
14% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 2 stars
8% of physiotherapists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are physiotherapists making the best use of their abilities?
Former physiotherapists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most physiotherapists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked physiotherapists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
209 physiotherapists
16% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
23% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
23% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
12% of physiotherapists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars