Occupation · SOC 53-2021
Air Traffic Controllers Salary
Air Traffic Controllers earn a median of $148,080 a year in the United States, which is $71.19 an hour. The mean is $146,490, and 22,510 people are employed in the occupation.
Also searched as ATCAir Traffic Controller
The full pay range
A single average hides most of what a reader wants to know. BLS publishes the whole distribution, so here it is: each row is the annual salary at that point in the pay range for air traffic controllers.
Annual salary by percentile May 2025
| Percentile | Annual salary | Typically |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $78,420 | entry level, or a lower-paying region |
| 25th percentile | $104,520 | early career |
| Median (50th) | $148,080 | half earn more, half earn less |
| 75th percentile | $190,570 | experienced |
| 90th percentile | $215,610 | top of the field |
Air Traffic Controllers salary by state
These are the 5 states that employ enough air traffic controllers for BLS to report a reliable figure, ordered by median pay. A state missing here either employs too few to publish or falls below the threshold this site uses.
Median pay by state May 2025
| State | Median | Hourly | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | $191,820 | $92.22 | 1,120 |
| Texas | $170,080 | $81.77 | 2,060 |
| California | $160,080 | $76.96 | 2,290 |
| Florida | $147,530 | $70.93 | 1,950 |
| New York | $144,960 | $69.69 | 1,150 |
Common questions
How much do air traffic controllers make?
The median salary for air traffic controllers in the United States is $148,080 a year, which is $71.19 an hour. The mean is $146,490. Median and mean differ because a small number of very high earners pull the mean upward, so the median is the better answer to what the job typically pays.
What is the highest salary for an air traffic controller?
The highest-paid 10 percent of air traffic controllers earn $215,610 or more. That is the highest figure the survey publishes for this occupation; there is no reported maximum, and individual earnings above it are not broken out.
How many people work as air traffic controllers in the US?
22,510, as of the May 2025 release. That covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed, who are not surveyed.
How much do air traffic controllers make a month?
About $12,340 a month before tax, which is the published annual median of $148,080 divided by twelve. BLS publishes annual and hourly wages rather than monthly, so treat this as arithmetic on the annual figure, not a separate measurement.
Do air traffic controllers make $100,000 a year?
Typically, yes. The median is $148,080, so more than half of air traffic controllers earn six figures, and the top 10 percent earn $215,610 or more.
How much does an ATC make?
ATC is a common name for air traffic controllers, classified by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics under SOC code 53-2021. The median salary is $148,080 a year, or $71.19 an hour. The same job is also called Air Traffic Controller.
Which state pays air traffic controllers the most?
Of the 5 states with enough air traffic controller employment to report reliably, Virginia has the highest median at $191,820, against a national median of $148,080. A higher median is not automatically more money in hand, because cost of living varies at least as much as pay does.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure above is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 release, for SOC code 53-2021. Nothing here is interpolated or averaged by this site. The survey covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed. See how to read these figures for what that means in practice.