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.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
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
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 |