Americans Feel Good About Job Security—But Not Pay

Amid low unemployment nationwide, U.S. workers feel good about their level of job security, and relatively few expect to look for a new job in the coming months, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in December.

Still, only half of workers say they are extremely or very satisfied with their job overall. And a much smaller share is highly satisfied with their pay: 30%, down from 34% a year earlier.

The survey, conducted in October among 5,273 employed U.S. adults, found that White workers and older workers have the highest job satisfaction. Fifty-five percent of White workers report being extremely or very satisfied, compared with 44% of Hispanic workers, 43% of Black workers, and 42% of Asian workers. Among workers ages 65 and older, two-thirds say they are highly satisfied with their job while just 43% of workers ages 18 to 29 say the same.

Workers with middle and upper family incomes are more likely than those with lower incomes to express high levels of job satisfaction (53% and 54% vs. 42%).

Among the 29% of workers who are not too or not at all satisfied with their pay, the top reason given is that their wages haven’t kept up with increases in cost of living, and 54% say a major reason they are dissatisfied is that they don’t earn enough to pay their bills.

Lower-income workers who are dissatisfied with their pay are far more likely than those with middle and upper incomes to cite the fact that they don’t earn enough to pay their bills (69% vs. 51% and 30%).

Workers are now much more likely than they were in 2022 to say it would be difficult for them to get the kind of job they’d want if they were to look for a new one—52% of workers say this would be difficult, compared with 37% in 2022.