Graphic designers rate their happiness above average.
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, graphic designers rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 39% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy graphic designers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| UX designer | 3.5 | $65k |
| Multimedia animator | 3.5 | $79k |
| Industrial designer | 3.5 | $77k |
| App developer | 3.5 | $71k |
| Graphic designer | 3.4 | $51k |
| Web designer | 3.3 | $37k |
| Desktop publisher | 3.2 | $47k |
| Architect | 3.1 | $80k |
| Drafter | 2.9 | $60k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are graphic designers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do graphic designers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as graphic designers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are graphic designer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are graphic designers making the best use of their abilities?
Are graphic designers happy with their salary?
Graphic designers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Graphic designers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked graphic designers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
6421 graphic designers
10% of graphic designers rated their compensation 5 stars
19% of graphic designers rated their compensation 4 stars
31% of graphic designers rated their compensation 3 stars
24% of graphic designers rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of graphic designers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do graphic designers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, graphic designers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.0/5. While most graphic designers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked graphic designers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
6524 graphic designers
14% of graphic designers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
21% of graphic designers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
28% of graphic designers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
23% of graphic designers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
15% of graphic designers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as graphic designers?
Graphic designers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of graphic designers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked graphic designers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
7208 graphic designers
30% of graphic designers rated their career fit 5 stars
39% of graphic designers rated their career fit 4 stars
21% of graphic designers rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of graphic designers rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of graphic designers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a graphic designer’s work environment?
As a whole, graphic designers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of graphic designers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a graphic designer.
We asked graphic designers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
7154 graphic designers
24% of graphic designers rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of graphic designers rated their work environment 4 stars
26% of graphic designers rated their work environment 3 stars
11% of graphic designers rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of graphic designers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are graphic designers making the best use of their abilities?
Former graphic designers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most graphic designers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked graphic designers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
7191 graphic designers
19% of graphic designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
28% of graphic designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
29% of graphic designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
17% of graphic designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
7% of graphic designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars