---
title: "Train Dispatcher"
description: "Controls train movements across a territory of railroad from a central office, routing trains, setting signals and issuing track authorities."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/train-dispatcher"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Train Dispatcher

**Category:** Office and Administrative Support · **SOC code:** 43-5032 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 43-5032.00

Controls train movements across a territory of railroad from a central office, routing trains, setting signals and issuing track authorities.

Also advertised as: Railroad Dispatcher; Rail Traffic Controller; Railroad Train Dispatcher; Rail Operations Controller.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $50,340 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.20/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $36,030 to $78,140, with the middle half between $42,750 and $62,450
- **Total US employment:** 202,810
- **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:** -0.7% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 16,000 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 33/100 — 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 202,810 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $36,030 |
| 25th | $42,750 |
| 50th (median) | $50,340 |
| 75th | $62,450 |
| 90th | $78,140 |
| Mean (average) | $54,740 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $72,260 | $65,750 | 300 |
| WA | $59,330 | $55,442 | 4,920 |
| MN | $59,220 | $60,048 | 2,760 |
| ND | $57,580 | $64,726 | 600 |
| IL | $57,240 | $57,264 | Not published by BLS |
| DE | $57,170 | $57,280 | 670 |
| AK | $56,730 | $55,423 | 570 |
| VT | $56,360 | $57,535 | 260 |
| NY | $55,810 | $51,714 | 11,160 |
| MA | $55,690 | $52,658 | 3,510 |
| ME | $55,150 | $56,826 | 670 |
| OR | $54,980 | $53,192 | 3,290 |
| NJ | $54,590 | $50,172 | 6,420 |
| CO | $54,070 | $52,469 | 3,470 |
| NE | $53,880 | $59,798 | 1,500 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/train-dispatcher/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/train-dispatcher.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 203,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 202,100 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 1,500 jobs, or -0.7%. Declining: -0.7% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 16,000 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:** Moderate-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) | 47.4% |
| Some College Courses | 25.6% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 7.9% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 7.1% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 7.0% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 5.0% |

## What the work involves

- Route trains across an assigned territory using computer-aided dispatching systems
- Line switches and clear signals remotely to set up train meets and passes
- Issue track warrants and other movement authorities by radio
- Grant and release track time for maintenance-of-way crews
- Coordinate with yardmasters, crews and passenger operations on train priorities
- Respond to emergencies such as crossing accidents and track obstructions
- Record train movements and authorities according to federal and company rules

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.8 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.

- Coordination — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Transportation — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Recognition — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.8 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 | 5.58 |
| R — Realistic | 5.31 |
| E — Enterprising | 3.48 |
| S — Social | 2.69 |
| I — Investigative | 1.42 |
| 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 | 86.9 |
| ISTJ | 85.3 |
| ISFJ | 81.8 |
| ESFJ | 75.5 |
| ESTP | 60.7 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ, ISTJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Dispatcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dispatcher) — median $50,340
- [First-Line Supervisor of Passenger Attendants](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-passenger-attendants) — median $62,840
- [First-Line Supervisor of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-material-moving-machine-and-vehicle-operators) — median $62,840
- [Public Safety Telecommunicator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/public-safety-telecommunicator) — median $53,040
- [Railroad Conductor and Yardmaster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/railroad-conductor-and-yardmaster) — median $78,000
- [Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/production-planning-and-expediting-clerk) — median $59,650
- [Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-cargo-handling-supervisor) — median $58,170
- [First-Line Supervisor of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-helpers-laborers-and-material-movers-hand) — median $62,840
- [First-Line Supervisor of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-mechanics-installers-and-repairers) — median $79,860
- [Power Distributor and Dispatcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/power-distributor-and-dispatcher) — median $106,730

## 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/train-dispatcher