Transportation Inspectors salary

SOC 53-6051 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$92,100

per year, nationally

Middle half

$58,780–$108,890

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

24,500

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+1.7%

2,500 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.

$40,330$138,670

10th: $40,330
25th: $58,780
Median: $92,100
75th: $108,890
90th: $138,670

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

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

Where transportation inspectors 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	Alaska	$123,120	102.4	170	3.28×
2	Iowa	$116,850	87.8	60	0.26×
3	Oklahoma	$111,070	87.8	470	1.73×
4	Hawaii	$108,270	110.0	150	1.51×
5	Alabama	$108,140	88.8	670	2.01×
6	North Dakota	$106,330	89.0	60	0.90×
7	Washington	$104,250	107.0	490	0.87×
8	Kansas	$103,380	90.1	210	0.92×
9	Florida	$101,470	103.4	1,630	1.04×
10	Texas	$101,440	97.1	2,290	1.03×
11	Maryland	$100,700	105.0	250	0.58×
12	Georgia	$95,030	96.3	880	1.15×
13	New York	$93,420	107.9	3,720	2.44×
14	Minnesota	$92,860	98.6	310	0.67×
15	Connecticut	$91,520	103.6	330	1.22×
16	District of Columbia	$89,960	109.9	150	1.35×
17	Arkansas	$85,130	86.9	120	0.56×
18	North Carolina	$84,470	94.3	380	0.48×
19	Kentucky	$83,970	90.2	260	0.82×
20	California	$83,000	110.7	1,790	0.62×
21	Colorado	$81,820	103.1	460	1.01×
22	Pennsylvania	$81,550	97.6	340	0.35×
23	South Carolina	$80,490	93.7	440	1.22×
24	Indiana	$80,330	93.3	250	0.49×
25	Massachusetts	$79,650	105.8	—	—
26	Tennessee	$78,430	91.9	420	0.82×
27	Oregon	$78,110	103.4	250	0.80×
28	Louisiana	$77,460	88.2	130	0.42×
29	Ohio	$77,010	92.8	430	0.50×
30	Wisconsin	$75,260	94.1	120	0.26×
31	South Dakota	$70,080	88.6	100	1.37×
32	Virginia	$68,610	101.1	330	0.50×
33	Missouri	$64,690	90.8	380	0.83×
34	Utah	$64,480	98.9	210	0.78×
35	Maine	$63,750	97.0	90	0.92×
36	New Mexico	$63,690	92.2	230	1.69×
37	Montana	$62,810	94.6	180	2.29×
38	Arizona	$62,250	100.7	830	1.63×
39	West Virginia	$58,670	89.5	90	0.77×
40	Idaho	$54,330	95.5	170	1.25×
41	Nevada	$50,060	100.0	430	1.75×
42	New Jersey	$49,250	108.8	930	1.37×
43	Illinois	$47,990	100.0	1,130	1.18×
44	Michigan	$35,890	96.2	540	0.78×

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 transportation inspectors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for transportation inspectors

The 40 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	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$140,880	104.8	180	0.58×
2	Anchorage, AK	$131,060	105.4	110	4.03×
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$129,480	111.1	270	0.84×
4	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$126,710	101.4	290	1.30×
5	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$126,010	103.1	890	1.39×
6	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$121,410	105.8	280	1.11×
7	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$120,000	95.4	120	0.70×
8	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$115,920	92.2	70	0.77×
9	Columbia, SC	$115,210	93.7	40	0.66×
10	Oklahoma City, OK	$109,990	90.4	160	1.48×
11	Urban Honolulu, HI	$108,270	111.0	130	1.90×
12	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$107,840	105.4	160	0.82×
13	Longview, TX	$107,670	89.5	30	1.73×
14	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$107,640	100.1	480	1.06×
15	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$107,330	95.7	80	0.45×
16	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$106,330	93.1	110	1.00×
17	Boise City, ID	$105,370	98.4	100	1.62×
18	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$105,370	92.9	110	1.86×
19	Baton Rouge, LA	$105,370	90.8	50	0.74×
20	Wichita, KS	$104,370	88.9	50	1.07×
21	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$104,080	115.6	120	0.32×
22	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$103,490	104.5	140	0.64×
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$103,360	108.3	—	—
24	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$101,040	113.6	560	0.56×
25	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$100,420	100.9	120	0.52×
26	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$100,100	114.2	820	1.84×
27	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$99,240	100.3	40	1.06×
28	Birmingham, AL	$98,470	91.6	50	0.55×
29	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$97,170	108.9	300	0.61×
30	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$95,760	96.9	40	0.32×
31	Jackson, MS	$95,310	89.0	40	0.94×
32	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$94,550	95.5	40	0.42×
33	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$93,420	112.6	4,000	2.67×
34	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$92,570	98.6	480	0.92×
35	Pittsburgh, PA	$91,620	94.7	80	0.45×
36	Albuquerque, NM	$90,200	95.5	70	1.14×
37	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$89,330	92.7	30	0.53×
38	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$89,230	94.7	90	0.53×
39	Rochester, NY	$89,230	97.0	40	0.53×
40	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$87,840	100.9	120	0.95×

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 transportation inspectors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Parking Attendants$35,150
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants$35,670
Aircraft Service Attendants$40,450
Passenger Attendants$37,720
Transportation Workers, All Other$45,650
Traffic Technicians$59,090
Bridge and Lock Tenders$57,700