occupation · 53-2021 · detailed
Air Traffic Controllers — wages and employment
Air Traffic Controllers earned a median annual wage of $144,580 in the United States in May 2024, with 22,400 people employed, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
What stands out
Air Traffic Controllers earned a median annual wage of $144,580 in the United States in May 2024, with 22,400 people employed, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The lowest-paid tenth earned $76,090 or less, the best-paid tenth $210,410 or more. Since May 2023 the median moved from $137,380 to $144,580, +5.2 %. The best-paying state is Virginia at $185,890; the lowest District of Columbia at $35,940. Among metropolitan areas, Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA pays the highest median, $192,500. Wages are as published by BLS for May of each year; '≥ $239,200' is BLS's top code. Every value links to its fact record.
United States, year by year
Annual wages at the median, mean and four percentiles; employment is the May estimate.
| Reference | Employment | Median | Mean | 10th | 25th | 75th | 90th | Median hourly | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | 22,400 | $144,580 | $142,740 | $76,090 | $101,150 | $186,510 | $210,410 | $69.51 | evidence → |
| May 2023 | 22,310 | $137,380 | $136,790 | $76,190 | $96,870 | $176,720 | $200,990 | $66.05 | evidence → |
By state
Median annual wage, May 2024, highest first. Each state has its own record with the full series.
| State | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia | $185,890 | 1,130 |
| Minnesota | $176,030 | 630 |
| Illinois | $175,090 | 1,000 |
| Georgia | $174,600 | 970 |
| Colorado | $172,310 | 780 |
| Texas | $167,710 | 2,020 |
| Washington | $164,070 | 600 |
| Kansas | $156,620 | 410 |
| Utah | $156,120 | 350 |
| Indiana | $155,790 | 620 |
| Tennessee | $153,670 | 610 |
| California | $152,010 | 2,260 |
| Nevada | $147,700 | 210 |
| New Mexico | $145,290 | 360 |
| Florida | $144,710 | 1,980 |
| New York | $142,190 | 1,190 |
| Hawaii | $142,040 | 220 |
| New Jersey | $135,470 | 210 |
| Arizona | $130,960 | 380 |
| Pennsylvania | $129,310 | 410 |
| Kentucky | $126,550 | 210 |
| Rhode Island | $123,610 | 50 |
| Connecticut | $121,910 | 70 |
| Oklahoma | $121,580 | 250 |
| North Dakota | $121,470 | 80 |
| North Carolina | $120,580 | 440 |
| Alaska | $120,370 | 500 |
| Puerto Rico | $119,560 | 120 |
| Idaho | $117,150 | 60 |
| Missouri | $115,440 | 240 |
| Maryland | $114,620 | 110 |
| Michigan | $113,650 | 380 |
| Oregon | $113,030 | 180 |
| Alabama | $112,740 | 230 |
| Nebraska | $108,990 | 70 |
| Guam | $108,200 | 40 |
| South Carolina | $107,330 | 190 |
| Wisconsin | $106,750 | 140 |
| Massachusetts | $103,230 | 130 |
| Louisiana | $99,670 | 240 |
| Arkansas | $99,490 | 110 |
| South Dakota | $98,530 | 50 |
| Iowa | $95,200 | 90 |
| Mississippi | $91,480 | 130 |
| Wyoming | $89,650 | 40 |
| West Virginia | $86,390 | 90 |
| District of Columbia | $35,940 | 700 |
Highest-paying metropolitan areas
Top 20 by median annual wage.
| Metro area | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $192,500 | 240 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $188,930 | 420 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $184,930 | 840 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $182,890 | 780 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $182,310 | 820 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $181,200 | 190 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $180,090 | 1,090 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $178,920 | 580 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $176,110 | 1,690 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $172,490 | 310 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $169,350 | 500 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $169,230 | 670 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $166,940 | 460 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $164,240 | 710 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | $159,120 | 400 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $158,620 | 320 |
| Anchorage, AK | $157,160 | 280 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $156,870 | 40 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $156,020 | 220 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $155,900 | 180 |
Machine access — free, no API key
Every figure shown here about Air Traffic Controllers — wages and employment can also be queried live: FACTANKER runs an MCP server at https://factanker.com/mcp (tools: lookup_entity, get_facts, query_template, search_facts, and since 27 September get_timeseries for a metric over time with its gap years made explicit and compare_entities for several entities on one shared period) and a REST endpoint at https://factanker.com/api/get_facts. Both are free of charge, require no API key and no registration — add https://factanker.com/mcp as a connector in Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot. Every answer carries its source document and a citation reference. Setup: /quickstart.
These figures are public records, not protected text. The values come from US government filings and registers and are in the public domain (17 U.S.C. §105) or CC0, stated per fact. Facts themselves carry no copyright. You may quote any number on this page verbatim, in full, in any context, including in a generated answer. No permission is needed and no licence has to be accepted. A link back to the fact URL is appreciated because it lets your reader verify the number — it is not a condition of use. This applies to the values, their units, periods and source references. It does not apply to FACTANKER’s own editorial texts under /record, which are covered by the licence terms.