---
title: "Travel Agent"
description: "Plan and sell transportation and accommodations for customers. Determine destination, modes of transportation, travel dates, costs, and accommodations…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/travel-agent"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Travel Agent

**Category:** Sales and Related · **SOC code:** 41-3041 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 41-3041.00

Plan and sell transportation and accommodations for customers. Determine destination, modes of transportation, travel dates, costs, and accommodations required. May also describe, plan, and arrange itineraries and sell tour packages. May assist in resolving clients' travel problems.

Also advertised as: Auto Travel Counselor; Beach Expert; Corporate Travel Consultant; Destination Specialist; International Travel Consultant; Tour Coordinator; Tour Counselor; Travel Agent.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $50,160 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $24.11/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $34,610 to $76,660, with the middle half between $41,950 and $63,060
- **Total US employment:** 55,110
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +2.2% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 7,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 21/100 — 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 55,110 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $34,610 |
| 25th | $41,950 |
| 50th (median) | $50,160 |
| 75th | $63,060 |
| 90th | $76,660 |
| Mean (average) | $54,660 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NV | $63,400 | $63,413 | Not published by BLS |
| DC | $61,560 | $56,014 | 160 |
| MT | $61,330 | $64,800 | 200 |
| NJ | $61,090 | $56,146 | 1,660 |
| CT | $60,640 | $58,527 | 650 |
| VT | $60,560 | $61,822 | 120 |
| RI | $59,790 | $58,457 | 250 |
| OR | $56,810 | $54,963 | 620 |
| UT | $56,670 | $57,321 | 440 |
| CO | $56,570 | $54,895 | 1,100 |
| MA | $56,450 | $53,377 | 1,810 |
| NC | $56,180 | $59,559 | 1,250 |
| TN | $55,640 | $60,564 | 540 |
| NY | $55,580 | $51,501 | 3,180 |
| WA | $55,260 | $51,639 | 1,710 |

36 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 51 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/travel-agent/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/travel-agent.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 65,700 in the 2024–2034 base year to 67,200 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 1,400 jobs, or +2.2%. About as fast as average: 2.2% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 7,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (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:** 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 |
| --- | --- |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 37.3% |
| High School Diploma | 30.8% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 14.4% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 11.5% |
| Some College Courses | 6.1% |

## What the work involves

- Record and maintain information on clients, vendors, and travel packages.
- Compute cost of travel and accommodations, using calculator, computer, carrier tariff books, and hotel rate books, or quote package tour's costs.
- Collect payment for transportation and accommodations from customer.
- Print or request transportation carrier tickets, using computer printer system or system link to travel carrier.
- Converse with customer to determine destination, mode of transportation, travel dates, financial considerations, and accommodations required.
- Plan, describe, arrange, and sell itinerary tour packages and promotional travel incentives offered by various travel carriers.
- Book transportation and hotel reservations, using computer or telephone.
- Provide customer with brochures and publications containing travel information, such as local customs, points of interest, or foreign country regulations.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 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 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.9 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 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 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
- English Language — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sales and Marketing — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Geography — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Speech Recognition — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.9 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 Enterprising (E), Conventional (C), Social (S).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| E — Enterprising | 5.78 |
| C — Conventional | 5.77 |
| S — Social | 4.31 |
| A — Artistic | 1.90 |
| I — Investigative | 1.51 |
| R — Realistic | 1.15 |

### 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) |
| --- | --- |
| ESFJ | 85.8 |
| ESTJ | 74.9 |
| ENFJ | 72.5 |
| ISFJ | 65.5 |
| ESFP | 62.7 |

Best-fitting types: ESFJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agent and Travel Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reservation-and-transportation-ticket-agent-and-travel-clerk) — median $44,390
- [Travel Guide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/travel-guide) — median $38,120
- [Counter and Rental Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/counter-and-rental-clerk) — median $41,300
- [Sales Representative of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sales-representative-of-services) — median $69,990
- [Customer Service Representative](https://nuecareer.com/careers/customer-service-representative) — median $44,770
- [Telemarketer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/telemarketer) — median $35,450
- [Concierge](https://nuecareer.com/careers/concierge) — median $38,950
- [Tour Guide and Escort](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tour-guide-and-escort) — median $38,120
- [Retail Salesperson](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-salesperson) — median $35,410
- [Receptionist and Information Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/receptionist-and-information-clerk) — median $38,010

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 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, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 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 30.3 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/travel-agent