DJs 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, DJs rate their career happiness 4.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 6% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy DJs 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Singer | 4.3 | $63k |
| Music artist | 4.3 | $63k |
| Composer | 4.2 | $49k |
| DJ | 4.1 | $27k |
| Musician | 4.1 | $63k |
| Audio engineer | 3.9 | $60k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are DJs happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do DJs find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as DJs?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are DJ’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are DJs making the best use of their abilities?
Are DJs happy with their salary?
DJs rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. DJs tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked DJs how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
568 DJs
17% of DJs rated their compensation 5 stars
18% of DJs rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of DJs rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of DJs rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of DJs rated their compensation 1 stars
Do DJs find their jobs meaningful?
On average, DJs rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.6/5. Unlike many careers, DJs have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become DJs.
We asked DJs how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
577 DJs
33% of DJs rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
23% of DJs rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
23% of DJs rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
14% of DJs rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of DJs rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as DJs?
DJs rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of DJs find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked DJs how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
643 DJs
46% of DJs rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of DJs rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of DJs rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of DJs rated their career fit 2 stars
2% of DJs rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a DJ’s work environment?
As a whole, DJs rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of DJs enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a DJ.
We asked DJs how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
639 DJs
37% of DJs rated their work environment 5 stars
38% of DJs rated their work environment 4 stars
16% of DJs rated their work environment 3 stars
6% of DJs rated their work environment 2 stars
3% of DJs rated their work environment 1 stars
Are DJs making the best use of their abilities?
Former DJs on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.6/5. Most DJs surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a DJ, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked DJs how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
641 DJs
29% of DJs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
28% of DJs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of DJs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
13% of DJs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of DJs rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars