---
title: "Air Traffic Controller"
description: "Control air traffic on and within vicinity of airport, and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centers, according to established…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/air-traffic-controller"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Air Traffic Controller

**Category:** Transportation and Material Moving · **SOC code:** 53-2021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 53-2021.00

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.

Also advertised as: ATCS (Air Traffic Control Specialist); Center ATC (Center Air Traffic Controller); Certified Professional Controller (CPC); Developmental Air Traffic Controller; Developmental ATCS (Developmental Air Traffic Control Specialist); Enroute ATCS (Enroute Air Traffic Control Specialist); Radar Air Traffic Controller; Terminal ATC Specialist (Terminal Air Traffic Control Specialist).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $148,080 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $71.19/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $78,420 to $215,610, with the middle half between $104,520 and $190,570
- **Total US employment:** 22,510
- **Typical entry education:** Associate's
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +1.7% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 2,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 24/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 22,510 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $78,420 |
| 25th | $104,520 |
| 50th (median) | $148,080 |
| 75th | $190,570 |
| 90th | $215,610 |
| Mean (average) | $146,490 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VA | $191,820 | $189,725 | 1,120 |
| IL | $181,560 | $181,636 | 990 |
| GA | $178,420 | $185,289 | 970 |
| CO | $177,380 | $172,127 | 740 |
| MN | $176,840 | $179,313 | 680 |
| TX | $170,080 | $175,237 | 2,060 |
| WA | $162,570 | $151,916 | 620 |
| CA | $160,080 | $144,581 | 2,290 |
| KS | $159,700 | $177,310 | 430 |
| IN | $158,810 | $170,161 | 630 |
| HI | $158,700 | $144,337 | 210 |
| UT | $158,310 | $160,129 | 360 |
| TN | $157,330 | $171,253 | 590 |
| NM | $148,550 | $161,096 | 350 |
| FL | $147,530 | $142,660 | 1,950 |

30 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 45 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/air-traffic-controller/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/air-traffic-controller.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 24,000 in the 2025–2035 base year to 24,400 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 400 jobs, or +1.7%. Slower than average: 1.7% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 2,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Associate's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Long-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 36.1% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 20.8% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 20.1% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 14.1% |
| Some College Courses | 5.6% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 1.8% |

## What the work involves

- Inform pilots about nearby planes or potentially hazardous conditions, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, or visibility problems.
- Monitor aircraft within a specific airspace, using radar, computer equipment, or visual references.
- Monitor, direct, or sequence the movement of aircraft within an assigned air space or on the ground at airports to minimize delays and maximize safety.
- Alert airport emergency services in cases of emergency or when aircraft are experiencing difficulties.
- Maintain radio or telephone contact with adjacent control towers, terminal control units, or other area control centers to coordinate aircraft movement.
- Direct pilots to runways when space is available or direct them to maintain a traffic pattern until there is space for them to land.
- Contact pilots by radio to provide meteorological, navigational, or other information.
- Provide flight path changes or directions to emergency landing fields for pilots traveling in bad weather or in emergency situations.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Transportation — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Geography — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Selective Attention — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Realistic (R), Enterprising (E).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 4.99 |
| R — Realistic | 4.55 |
| E — Enterprising | 4.29 |
| S — Social | 2.68 |
| I — Investigative | 2.45 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESTJ | 89.7 |
| ISTJ | 85.9 |
| ISFJ | 74.9 |
| ESFJ | 72.1 |
| ESTP | 66.7 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ, ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Airfield Operations Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airfield-operations-specialist) — median $56,850
- [Commercial Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-pilot) — median $123,220
- [Airline Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-pilot) — median $232,140
- [Railroad Conductor and Yardmaster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/railroad-conductor-and-yardmaster) — median $78,000
- [Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-cargo-handling-supervisor) — median $58,170
- [Traffic Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/traffic-technician) — median $59,090
- [Locomotive Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/locomotive-engineer) — median $81,410
- [Dispatcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dispatcher) — median $50,340
- [Aviation Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aviation-inspector) — median $92,100
- [Public Safety Telecommunicator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/public-safety-telecommunicator) — median $53,040

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/air-traffic-controller