The people at AmeriCorps decided to ask the question, “What are the most fulfilling jobs in America?”

The process was simple:

In 2021 and in 2023, the researchers … asked whether you agree or disagree with these four statements:

  • I am proud to be working for my employer.
  • My main satisfaction in life comes from work.
  • My workplace contributes to the community.
  • I contribute to the community through my work.

Guess who came out on top.

From The Washington Post (gift article):

Looking a bit deeper at about 100 occupations for which we have detailed data, we see clergy were most likely to strongly agree on every question.

When we did our column on the happiest jobs, readers such as the Rev. Elizabeth Rees in Alexandria, Virginia, who left the legal profession to become an Episcopal priest, asked why we had ignored the spiritual angle. We didn’t have enough responses to isolate clergy in that particular dataset, but the clues were there. As Rees pointed out,
Americans rank religious and spiritual activities as the happiest, most meaningful and least stressful things we do.

And if we look at places instead of activities, houses of worship top the rankings in all three measures. So we maybe should have seen the clergy coming.

To understand why religious workers would be so dang happy, we tracked down economist Olga Popova at the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, part of a publicly funded web of German research powerhouses. From her perch in Regensburg on Bavaria’s Danube plain, Popova wrote the book — or, more specifically, the book chapter — on religion and happiness research.

She and other scholars have found a strong relationship between religion and well-being. And they’ve found that active participation in religion — beyond simple affiliation with a mosque or temple — increases the well-being boost. And nobody participates more actively in religion than the clergy!

Furthermore, Popova said, clergy may gain a greater sense of purpose through their deeper engagement with doctrine. In particular, research shows religion better equips folks to handle some of life’s trials and tribulations.

“It’s plausible that clergy, through their constant work of helping others cope, develop a heightened ability to contextualize their own struggles,” she said. “By guiding parishioners through difficult times, clergy may acquire valuable skills and insights that buffer their own well-being.”

But of course, religious work may also attract the sort of people who prioritize living fulfilling lives.

“Individuals drawn to religious careers are more likely to possess certain personality traits, such as altruism or a strong sense of purpose, that are independently linked to well-being,” Popova told us.

Read it all. 

And vocation directors: take note!