Special education teachers 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, special education teachers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 41% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy special education teachers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Childcare program administrator | 3.2 | $47k |
| Education administrator | 3.2 | $48k |
| Childcare worker | 3.2 | $27k |
| Distance learning coordinator | 3.2 | $91k |
| Preschool teacher | 3.2 | $30k |
| Special education teacher | 3.1 | $53k |
| Teacher | 3.0 | $61k |
| Kindergarten teacher | 3.0 | $61k |
| Rehabilitation counselor | 3.0 | $39k |
| High school teacher | 3.0 | $62k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are special education teachers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do special education teachers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as special education teachers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are special education teacher’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are special education teachers making the best use of their abilities?
Are special education teachers happy with their salary?
Special education teachers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Special education teachers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked special education teachers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
916 special education teachers
9% of special education teachers rated their compensation 5 stars
18% of special education teachers rated their compensation 4 stars
24% of special education teachers rated their compensation 3 stars
27% of special education teachers rated their compensation 2 stars
22% of special education teachers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do special education teachers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, special education teachers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, special education teachers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become special education teachers.
We asked special education teachers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
917 special education teachers
28% of special education teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
34% of special education teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
21% of special education teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of special education teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of special education teachers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as special education teachers?
Special education teachers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of special education teachers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked special education teachers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
978 special education teachers
37% of special education teachers rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of special education teachers rated their career fit 4 stars
18% of special education teachers rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of special education teachers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of special education teachers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a special education teacher’s work environment?
As a whole, special education teachers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of special education teachers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a special education teacher.
We asked special education teachers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
979 special education teachers
22% of special education teachers rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of special education teachers rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of special education teachers rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of special education teachers rated their work environment 2 stars
6% of special education teachers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are special education teachers making the best use of their abilities?
Former special education teachers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most special education teachers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked special education teachers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.3 out of 5 stars
981 special education teachers
20% of special education teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
26% of special education teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
23% of special education teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
21% of special education teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
9% of special education teachers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars