- Pay gap between men and women for their dream job is over $166,000 USD
- 41% of Americans want to be business owners
- Americans dream of having 52 days of annual leave
When it comes to the dream salary, men have much greater expectations than women. The average dream salary for men was $444,958, whereas our female respondents would be thrilled, on average, with a salary of $278,637—a vast difference of $166,321. In an attempt to quantify exactly what the modern-day American dream job looked like, MidAmerica Nazarene University recently surveyed 2,000 people and asked them everything about their ideal job. The survey covered all employment factors—salary, location, industry, benefits and more.
Of the respondents, 41% said they want to be business owners, but would be unwilling if it required them to work more than 60 hours per week. Only 12% of our survey participants said they wanted C-suite titles, whereas 23% said they wanted a mid-level management role and 18% said they dreamed of having an associate position within a company.
As far as work locations go, the survey indicated that America’s dream job would be in California. Respondents said they wanted to live less than two miles from work and commute by car and work from 9 – 5 at a company that has fewer than 30 employees. The majority of survey respondents indicated they would not mind some travel—saying they would want to travel twice a month and that they would prefer to work in the entertainment industry.
As for co-worker relationships, a majority of respondents preferred to keep things professional and do not necessarily want to become besties. Further, a one-hour lunch break would be ideal in their dream job. Despite the dream job having a lot of perks in an industry they love, survey respondents voted overwhelmingly for a large amount of paid time off at a whopping 52 days per year—the average American worker only gets 15—and for 38 hours work-weeks. Lastly, they indicated that they would like the option of working remotely 11 days a month—because sometimes you do not want to get out of your pyjamas.
The most important perks to men at their dream job are 401k matching, help with student loans, a gym membership, office snacks, and the ability to work remotely. The most important perks to women are not all that different, but they also included having a flexible schedule and unlimited vacation time.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
