What percentage of employees are satisfied with their jobs?

It depends on how high the bar is. The Conference Board found 68.9% of US workers satisfied with their jobs in 2026, a record. Pew Research Center found 50% extremely or very satisfied in its October 2024 survey. As of May 2026, only 19% of US employees told Gallup they were extremely satisfied with their company as a place to work.

Is job satisfaction going up or down?

Both, depending on the measure. Overall satisfaction in the Conference Board survey has risen for 16 years in a row, from 42.6% in 2010 to 68.9% in 2026. But Pew found satisfaction fell between 2023 and 2024 on 7 of the 9 job aspects it asked about in both years, including pay, promotion and training.

What are workers least satisfied with?

Pay and promotion. In Pew's 2024 survey, 30% of workers were extremely or very satisfied with their pay and 26% with their chances of promotion. The Conference Board also found dissatisfaction with promotion policy and bonus plans across income levels.

Who is most satisfied at work?

Older, higher-income and self-employed workers. Pew found 67% of workers 65 and older highly satisfied, against 43% of workers under 30, and 60% of self-employed workers against 49% of everyone else. In the Conference Board data, satisfaction ran from 45.3% in households under $25,000 to 76% at $150,000 or more.

Does job satisfaction affect performance?

There is a real but moderate link. A 2001 meta-analysis in Psychological Bulletin, covering 312 samples and 54,417 people, estimated the average true correlation between overall job satisfaction and job performance at 0.30.

What is the difference between job satisfaction and employee engagement?

Job satisfaction is how content people are with their job and its parts, such as pay, coworkers and hours. Engagement is how involved and committed they are in their work. The two move together but are measured differently, so read our employee engagement statistics alongside these.

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Workplace

Job satisfaction statistics for 2026

How satisfied US workers are, with which parts of the job, and where the gaps sit. Every number links to the survey it came from.

KraftyLab TeamUpdated Oct 20267 min read

A woman smiles while sanding a handmade wooden box at a sunlit workbench as a coworker arranges finished pieces behind her

These job satisfaction statistics come from three surveys of US workers: the Conference Board survey that has tracked job satisfaction since 1987, Pew Research Center’s survey of 5,273 workers, and Gallup’s quarterly employee panel, plus one peer-reviewed meta-analysis. The surveys ask different questions, so their headline numbers differ; each one below says which survey it is from.

Key job satisfaction statistics

Six numbers that sum up how US workers feel about their jobs.

68.9%
of US workers were satisfied with their jobs in 2026, the highest since the survey began in 1987.
Conference Board, 2026
50%
of US workers are extremely or very satisfied with their job overall.
Pew Research Center, 2024
19%
of US employees were extremely satisfied with their company as a place to work as of May 2026.
Gallup, May 2026
64%
are extremely or very satisfied with their relationship with coworkers, the best-rated part of the job in Pew's survey.
Pew Research Center, 2024
30%
are extremely or very satisfied with their pay, down from 34% a year earlier.
Pew Research Center, 2024
26%
are extremely or very satisfied with their chances of promotion, down from 33% in 2023.
Pew Research Center, 2024

How satisfied are US workers overall?

Most workers are satisfied. Far fewer are highly satisfied, and the gap between the two is the story.

68.3% satisfied in 2025, so the 2026 record was a small step up. Conference Board, 2026
42.6% the low point, in 2010 after the Great Recession. Satisfaction has risen 16 years in a row since. Conference Board, 2026
59% average satisfaction with the individual parts of the job, well below the overall score. Conference Board, 2026
38% and 12% of US workers are somewhat satisfied, and not too or not at all satisfied, with their job. Pew Research Center, 2024
60% vs 49% of self-employed workers are extremely or very satisfied, compared with everyone else. Pew Research Center, 2024
26% of US employees were extremely satisfied with their company as a place to work in March 2021. Gallup, May 2026

Employee satisfaction statistics by part of the job

From Pew Research Center's October 2024 survey: the share of workers extremely or very satisfied with each part.

59% are extremely or very satisfied with their relationship with their manager or supervisor. Pew Research Center, 2024
58% of workers who commute are extremely or very satisfied with the commute. Pew Research Center, 2024
49% are highly satisfied with their flexibility to choose when they work their hours. Pew Research Center, 2024
37% vs 40% highly satisfied with their flexibility to work remotely, against those dissatisfied with it. Pew Research Center, 2024
37% are highly satisfied with training and ways to build new skills, down from 44% in February 2023. Pew Research Center, 2024
86% and 82% say coworkers and supervisors treat them with respect all or most of the time. Pew Research Center, 2024

Four coworkers laugh over salads and sandwiches at a wooden table on a sunny rooftop terrace above a city skyline

Pay satisfaction statistics

Pay is one of the lowest-rated parts of the job. Among workers unhappy with their pay, these are the reasons they give.

80% of workers unhappy with their pay say a major reason is that it hasn't kept up with the cost of living. Pew Research Center, 2024
71% and 70% say their pay is too low for the quality and for the amount of work they do. Pew Research Center, 2024
54% say a major reason is that they don't earn enough to pay their bills. Pew Research Center, 2024
28% say they are paid less than coworkers who do similar work. Pew Research Center, 2024
1 in 4 vs 32% of blue-collar workers are extremely or very satisfied with their pay, compared with other workers. Pew Research Center, 2025
15% of public K-12 teachers are extremely or very satisfied with their pay; 51% are not too or not at all satisfied. Pew Research Center, 2024

Worker satisfaction by age, income, gender and job

Older, better-paid and self-employed workers report the most satisfaction. Gaps by job type are wide too.

67% vs 43% of workers 65 and older are highly satisfied with their job, against workers under 30. Pew Research Center, 2024
56% and 48% the same share among workers aged 50 to 64, and 30 to 49. Pew Research Center, 2024
76% vs 45.3% satisfied in households earning $150,000 or more, against households under $25,000. Conference Board, 2026
26 of 27 job elements drew higher satisfaction from men than women; work-life balance was the exception. Conference Board, 2026
7.2 points the gender gap on wages, the widest of any element; health plans came next at 7.0. Conference Board, 2026
43% vs 53% of blue-collar workers are extremely or very satisfied with their job, compared with other workers. Pew Research Center, 2025
1 in 3 public K-12 teachers is extremely or very satisfied with their job overall. Pew Research Center, 2024
50% and 35% of workers see their job as a career, and as just a job to get them by. Pew Research Center, 2024

What is changing, and why satisfaction matters

Satisfaction with specific parts of the job slipped between 2023 and 2024 even as the overall score hit a record.

7 of 9 parts of the job Pew asked about in both years drew lower satisfaction in 2024 than in 2023, by 3 to 7 points. Pew Research Center, 2024
39.3% of workers say advanced AI tools improved their job satisfaction; 6.7% say AI use made it worse. Conference Board, 2026
0.30 average true correlation between overall job satisfaction and job performance, across 312 samples and 54,417 people. Psychological Bulletin, 2001

Satisfaction is not the same as engagement. For how involved people are in their work, see our employee engagement statistics.

What to do with these numbers

Use the national figures as a yardstick, then find out where your own team sits.

Ask your own people first. National averages hide your team. A short survey with one overall question and a few on pay, growth and managers tells you where you stand. Start from our survey questions.
Fix the lowest scores, not the easiest ones. Pay and promotion rate lowest in Pew's survey. No team event fixes pay, so be clear about how pay and promotions are decided before you plan perks.
Build on what people already like. Coworker relationships rate highest. Time together that isn't a meeting keeps them strong, and our employee appreciation events are built for it.
Thank people in ways they notice. Name the work and why it mattered. For more ways to do it, see our employee recognition ideas, or send employee appreciation gifts to every desk.
Watch the people who might leave. Satisfaction and staying are not the same thing. Our employee retention statistics cover quits, tenure and why people go.

Two hosted hours your team can share, with today’s prices.

Browse 115+ virtual events, or send your date and headcount and get a free quote within 24 hours. The statistics above are national surveys, not results from KraftyLab events.

Sources

Opened and read at each publisher in October 2026.

The Conference Board, Survey: Job Satisfaction Hits Record High, Despite Growing Divides Across Gender, Income, and AI Use, June 2, 2026, on the Job Satisfaction 2026 report.
Pew Research Center, How Americans Feel About Their Jobs in 2024, December 10, 2024 (survey of 5,273 workers, October 7 to 13, 2024).
Pew Research Center, Americans' job satisfaction in 2024 (chapter 1 of How Americans Feel About Their Jobs in 2024), December 10, 2024.
Pew Research Center, Blue-collar workers are less satisfied at work, less attached to their jobs than other US workers, March 31, 2025.
Pew Research Center, Job satisfaction among public K-12 teachers, April 4, 2024.
Gallup, Employee Engagement indicator: overall satisfaction with the company as a place to work, figures as of May 2026.
Timothy A. Judge, Carl J. Thoresen, Joyce E. Bono and Gregory K. Patton, Psychological Bulletin, The job satisfaction-job performance relationship: a qualitative and quantitative review, 2001.