Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists

About

Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists are most often employed by the Services incidental to transportation industry. The average yearly wage for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists was $112,357 in 2024.

The locations that employ the most Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists are Lorain County (South)--North Ridgeville, Avon Lake & Avon Cities PUMA, OH, Craven & Carteret Counties PUMA, NC, and Matanuska-Susitna & Kenai Peninsula Boroughs PUMA, AK. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists are Coastal Bend COG (Central) & Willacy County PUMA, TX, Escambia County (Southwest) PUMA, FL, and Shelby County (East)--Memphis city (East) & Arlington town (South) PUMA, TN.

Photo by Naval Surface Warriors

Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations Transportation & Material Moving Occupations Transportation Occupations

Employment

Employment and salary information for the Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workforce. Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workforce in 2024 was 41,896 people, of which 20.3% were women and 79.7% were men.

Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists are paid most in Prince William County (North & West)--Linton Hall & Gainesville PUMA, VA but are relatively concentrated in Coastal Bend COG (Central) & Willacy County PUMA, TX.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

33,378

Male Workforce

± 4.48k

8,518

Female Workforce

± 2.27k

The Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workforce in 2024 was 41,896 people (20.3% women and 79.7% men). This implies an average annual growth of −0.709% between 2014 (42,195) and 2024 (41,896).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists.

During 2024, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were Colorado ($156,116), Minnesota ($151,894), and New Hampshire ($148,889).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$112,357

AVERAGE WAGE

#48 in the ranking (2014)

$69,878

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2024, Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists earned an average of $112,357, $42,479 more than the average national salary of $69,878

The graph shows the ranking of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2014.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.346

WAGE GINI

In 2024, Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.346, which is lower than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists and on wages for those in the field. Services incidental to transportation is the industry that employs the most Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists, by average wage, is Administration of economic programs & space research ($151,136).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

41.9k

2024 Workforce

± 5,025

0.876%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 16.9%

This graphic shows the share of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists employed by various industries. Services incidental to transportation employs the largest share of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists at 58.4%, followed by Air transportation with 22.1% and Administration of economic programs & space research with 11.1%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in the US. The workforce of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in 2024 was 41,896 people, with 20.3% woman, and 79.7% men. The average age of male Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in the workforce is 39.8 and of female Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists is 38.3, and the most common race/ethnicity for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in 2024 was 41,896 people, with 20.3% woman, and 79.7% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 35 to 39 years (7,419 people), 40 to 44 years (6,520 people), and 30 to 34 years (6,399 people). Among them they concentrated 49% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2024, 15.4% of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workers were Hispanic and 84.6% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (43.4%), Puerto Rican (24.9)%, and All Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino (5.96)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2024, 71% of the Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workforce were White, of which 19.2% were women and 80.8% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Two or More Races (12%) and Black (8.65%).

Education & Skills

Data on higher education choices for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists is Transportation but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2024 were Transportation.

Among the necessary skills for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists, Monitoring stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists need more than the average amount of Operation and Control.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in 2024 (counting all academic degrees) were Transportation (6,115 people), Business (3,007 people), and Engineering (1,346 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workers were Bachelors Degree (14,437 people), Some college (12,036 people), and Associates Degree (7,033 people).

The graphic shows the Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists need many skills, but most especially Monitoring, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension.

Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists

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