Geographers 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, geographers rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 47% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy geographers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Biologist | 3.3 | $83k |
| Geospatial information scientist | 3.3 | $90k |
| Geodesist | 3.3 | $62k |
| Geologist | 3.3 | $84k |
| Scientist | 3.3 | $87k |
| Geographer | 3.2 | $85k |
| Soil and water conservationist | 3.2 | $64k |
| Atmospheric scientist | 3.2 | $95k |
| Industrial ecologist | 3.2 | $77k |
| Meteorologist | 3.2 | $43k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are geographers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do geographers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as geographers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are geographer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are geographers making the best use of their abilities?
Are geographers happy with their salary?
Geographers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most geographers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked geographers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
208 geographers
10% of geographers rated their compensation 5 stars
28% of geographers rated their compensation 4 stars
29% of geographers rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of geographers rated their compensation 2 stars
12% of geographers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do geographers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, geographers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.0/5. While most geographers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked geographers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
215 geographers
17% of geographers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
22% of geographers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of geographers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of geographers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
14% of geographers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as geographers?
Geographers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of geographers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked geographers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
236 geographers
23% of geographers rated their career fit 5 stars
39% of geographers rated their career fit 4 stars
26% of geographers rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of geographers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of geographers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a geographer’s work environment?
As a whole, geographers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of geographers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a geographer.
We asked geographers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
229 geographers
18% of geographers rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of geographers rated their work environment 4 stars
32% of geographers rated their work environment 3 stars
10% of geographers rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of geographers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are geographers making the best use of their abilities?
Former geographers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most geographers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked geographers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
232 geographers
15% of geographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
30% of geographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of geographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
19% of geographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
9% of geographers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars