How Much Do Air Traffic Controllers Make in 2021 (including Starting Salary)

Stan T.Career, SalaryLeave a Comment

Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries

Air Traffic Controllers

Air Traffic Controllers control air traffic on and within vicinity of airport, and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centers, according to established procedures and policies. Authorize, regulate, and control commercial airline flights according to government or company regulations to expedite and ensure flight safety.

Salary
$127440
Becoming One
Medium
Education
No degree required
Job Satisfaction
Job Growth
Low

Personality



Table of contents
  1. Average salary
  2. Starting salary
  3. Salary rank
  4. Salary range
  5. Highest paying states
  6. Highest paying industries

Average salary

Annual salary
$127440 per year
Hourly wage
$61 per hour

Starting salary

Entry-level annual salary
$72,760 to $90,950 per year
Entry-level hourly wage
$35 to $44 per hour

Entry-level Air Traffic Controllers with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $72,760 to $90,950 per year or $35 to $44 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.

Salary rank

Salary rank
A

We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Air Traffic Controllers to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.

Salary range

Level Hourly Annual
Highest (Top 10%) $89 $184,780
Senior (Top 25%) $78 $161,820
Middle (Mid 50%) $63 $130,420
Junior (Bottom 25%) $44 $90,950
No experience (Bottom 10%) $35 $72,760

Highest paying states

State Hourly Annual
NH $71 $147,710
GA $69 $144,450
IL $69 $143,480
CA $68 $141,530
MN $68 $141,410
NY $68 $140,580
TX $67 $139,530
CO $66 $136,430
OH $65 $134,210
WA $64 $132,490

Another simple way to increase your salary as an Air Traffic Controller is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like NH doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at NH might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.

According to BLS, the highest paid Air Traffic Controllers are in the states of NH, GA, IL, CA and MN.

Highest paying industries

Salary by industry Annual Hourly
Federal Executive Branch $130400 $62.69
Support Activities for Air Transportation $97320 $46.79
Scheduled Air Transportation $90970 $43.74
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services $85360 $41.04
Local Government $79640 $38.29
Nonscheduled Air Transportation $77010 $37.02
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing $76910 $36.97

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