Nurse anesthetists 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, nurse anesthetists rate their career happiness 3.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 16% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy nurse anesthetists 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
Dermatologist
4.1
$201k
Pediatrician
4.0
$171k
Anesthesiologist
4.0
N/A
Orthopaedic surgeon
3.8
N/A
Nurse anesthetist
3.8
$175k
Radiologist
3.7
$201k
Orthodontist
3.6
N/A
Nurse educator
3.4
$75k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are nurse anesthetists happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do nurse anesthetists find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as nurse anesthetists?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are nurse anesthetist’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are nurse anesthetists making the best use of their abilities?

Are nurse anesthetists happy with their salary?