Air Traffic Controllers salary

SOC 53-2021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$148,080

per year, nationally

Middle half

$104,520–$190,570

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

22,510

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+1.2%

2,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$78,420$215,610

10th: $78,420
25th: $104,520
Median: $148,080
75th: $190,570
90th: $215,610

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where air traffic controllers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Virginia	$191,820	101.1	1,120	1.88×
2	Illinois	$181,560	100.0	990	1.12×
3	Georgia	$178,420	96.3	970	1.37×
4	Colorado	$177,380	103.1	740	1.77×
5	Minnesota	$176,840	98.6	680	1.60×
6	Texas	$170,080	97.1	2,060	1.01×
7	Washington	$162,570	107.0	620	1.20×
8	California	$160,080	110.7	2,290	0.87×
9	Kansas	$159,700	90.1	430	2.04×
10	Indiana	$158,810	93.3	630	1.36×
11	Hawaii	$158,700	110.0	210	2.26×
12	Utah	$158,310	98.9	360	1.44×
13	Tennessee	$157,330	91.9	590	1.24×
14	New Mexico	$148,550	92.2	350	2.78×
15	Florida	$147,530	103.4	1,950	1.35×
16	New York	$144,960	107.9	1,150	0.82×
17	Connecticut	$140,940	103.6	—	—
18	Nevada	$140,920	100.0	210	0.93×
19	Arizona	$136,800	100.7	380	0.81×
20	Pennsylvania	$132,350	97.6	460	0.53×
21	New Jersey	$132,230	108.8	190	0.30×
22	Maryland	$131,290	105.0	70	0.18×
23	North Carolina	$129,230	94.3	410	0.57×
24	Kentucky	$127,800	90.2	230	0.79×
25	Rhode Island	$126,300	102.3	50	0.64×
26	Massachusetts	$125,060	105.8	120	0.22×
27	Alaska	$123,950	102.4	490	10.35×
28	Oklahoma	$123,220	87.8	270	1.08×
29	Missouri	$122,200	90.8	260	0.61×
30	Michigan	$118,930	96.2	360	0.56×
31	Alabama	$114,960	88.8	240	0.79×
32	South Carolina	$112,030	93.7	190	0.57×
33	Nebraska	$111,710	90.1	70	0.46×
34	Arkansas	$109,760	86.9	80	0.44×
35	Vermont	$109,140	98.0	30	0.68×
36	North Dakota	$107,990	89.0	100	1.69×
37	Maine	$107,270	97.0	70	0.77×
38	Montana	$101,380	94.6	60	0.85×
39	Louisiana	$99,810	88.2	230	0.84×
40	Wyoming	$93,580	92.7	40	0.89×
41	Iowa	$90,790	87.8	120	0.55×
42	Mississippi	$88,110	87.0	160	0.92×
43	District of Columbia	$47,760	109.9	820	8.08×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where air traffic controllers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for air traffic controllers

The 37 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$198,590	102.6	220	0.51×
2	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$196,290	106.7	240	1.53×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$193,360	115.6	430	1.24×
4	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$189,780	103.6	850	1.30×
5	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$186,640	100.1	810	1.95×
6	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$186,510	103.1	800	1.36×
7	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$179,670	104.8	620	2.20×
8	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$178,310	100.3	180	0.67×
9	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$175,280	111.1	510	1.69×
10	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$174,870	108.9	1,800	3.96×
11	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$173,020	113.6	690	0.76×
12	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$171,910	95.7	470	2.94×
13	Jacksonville, FL	$170,120	99.5	450	4.09×
14	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$162,140	114.2	720	1.77×
15	Kansas City, MO-KS	$161,700	92.5	430	2.69×
16	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$161,640	100.9	330	2.77×
17	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$161,220	103.3	220	0.65×
18	Anchorage, AK	$160,970	105.4	280	10.73×
19	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$155,540	96.3	60	0.37×
20	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$155,500	100.2	170	1.04×
21	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$150,700	100.9	110	0.50×
22	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$147,800	101.4	170	0.84×
23	Oklahoma City, OK	$146,520	90.4	130	1.32×
24	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	$142,880	99.4	110	3.44×
25	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$136,240	95.4	80	0.49×
26	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$135,720	108.3	100	0.25×
27	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$134,700	102.7	70	0.76×
28	St. Louis, MO-IL	$127,630	95.1	140	0.72×
29	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$126,300	101.8	50	0.46×
30	San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR	$125,780	—	110	1.06×
31	Portland-South Portland, ME	$121,660	101.9	40	0.94×
32	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$119,230	97.9	90	0.84×
33	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$109,140	100.9	30	1.72×
34	Fairbanks-College, AK	$103,230	103.2	80	15.17×
35	Gulfport-Biloxi, MS	$99,800	90.0	50	2.12×
36	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$94,140	106.4	140	0.56×
37	Jackson, MS	$91,710	89.0	30	0.82×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where air traffic controllers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Flight Attendants$63,580
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers$232,140
Commercial Pilots$123,220
Airfield Operations Specialists$56,850