---
title: "Baggage Porter and Bellhop"
description: "Handle baggage for travelers at transportation terminals or for guests at hotels or similar establishments."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/baggage-porter-and-bellhop"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Baggage Porter and Bellhop

**Category:** Personal Care and Service · **SOC code:** 39-6011 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 39-6011.00

Handle baggage for travelers at transportation terminals or for guests at hotels or similar establishments.

Also advertised as: Bell Captain; Bell Person; Bellhop; Bellman; Bellperson; Doorman; Ground Support Agent; Sky Cap.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $37,080 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $17.83/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $27,040 to $51,600, with the middle half between $31,200 and $44,130
- **Total US employment:** 28,510
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.0% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 3,800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 71/100 — 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 28,510 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $27,040 |
| 25th | $31,200 |
| 50th (median) | $37,080 |
| 75th | $44,130 |
| 90th | $51,600 |
| Mean (average) | $38,570 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NY | $48,610 | $45,042 | 3,610 |
| HI | $42,240 | $38,417 | 1,370 |
| NJ | $41,080 | $37,756 | 570 |
| MA | $41,040 | $38,806 | 1,300 |
| WA | $41,010 | $38,322 | 270 |
| OR | $40,660 | $39,338 | 240 |
| IL | $40,390 | $40,407 | 1,480 |
| CA | $40,040 | $36,163 | 2,940 |
| CO | $39,160 | $38,000 | 410 |
| DC | $38,170 | $34,731 | 380 |
| KY | $37,940 | $42,081 | 260 |
| CT | $37,420 | $36,116 | 130 |
| NV | $36,880 | $36,888 | 2,170 |
| ME | $36,870 | $37,991 | 60 |
| AZ | $36,740 | $36,493 | 490 |

35 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 50 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/baggage-porter-and-bellhop/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/baggage-porter-and-bellhop.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 29,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 28,400 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 900 jobs, or -3.0%. Declining: -3.0% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 3,800 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:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-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 |
| --- | --- |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 41.8% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 41.3% |
| Some College Courses | 9.5% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 7.5% |

## What the work involves

- Supply guests or travelers with directions, travel information, and other information, such as available services and points of interest.
- Transfer luggage, trunks, and packages to and from rooms, loading areas, vehicles, or transportation terminals, by hand or using baggage carts.
- Assist travelers and guests with disabilities.
- Greet incoming guests and escort them to their rooms.
- Receive and mark baggage by completing and attaching claim checks.
- Transport guests about premises and local areas, or arrange for transportation.
- Pick up and return items for laundry and valet service.
- Explain the operation of room features, such as locks, ventilation systems, and televisions.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.3 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.

- Service Orientation — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Transportation — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sales and Marketing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Static Strength — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Recognition — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.3 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 Realistic (R), Conventional (C), Social (S).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 4.92 |
| C — Conventional | 4.82 |
| S — Social | 3.51 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.55 |
| I — Investigative | 1.00 |
| 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) |
| --- | --- |
| ISFJ | 83.4 |
| ESTJ | 79.2 |
| ESFJ | 78.9 |
| ISTJ | 74.8 |
| ESTP | 57.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISFJ, ESTJ, ESFJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Concierge](https://nuecareer.com/careers/concierge) — median $38,950
- [Passenger Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/passenger-attendant) — median $37,720
- [Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agent and Travel Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reservation-and-transportation-ticket-agent-and-travel-clerk) — median $44,390
- [Parking Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/parking-attendant) — median $35,150
- [Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hotel-motel-and-resort-desk-clerk) — median $35,070
- [Flight Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/flight-attendant) — median $63,580
- [Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/locker-room-coatroom-and-dressing-room-attendant) — median $36,300
- [Counter and Rental Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/counter-and-rental-clerk) — median $41,300
- [Transportation Security Screener](https://nuecareer.com/careers/transportation-security-screener) — median $66,770
- [Courier and Messenger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/courier-and-messenger) — median $39,200

## 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/
- **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/baggage-porter-and-bellhop