SALARY DATA — SOC 53-2021
Air Traffic Controllers
53-0000 Transportation and Material Moving Occupations
The 90/10 ratio for Air Traffic Controllers is 2.75× — the national median is $148,080 but top decile earns $215,610. The spread exists; it's concentrated in geography, specialization, and industry sector. Knowing which end of the band you're on is the whole negotiation.
BLS OEWS reference period: May 2025. Employment: 22,510.
Wage distribution — the receipts
National OEWS annual wage percentiles. "vs. median" column shows each percentile relative to the occupation's own national median — this is where your position in the band lives. Source and series IDs: methodology page.
| Percentile | Annual wage | vs. median | Hourly (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th pct — bottom decile | $78,420 | -47% | ~$38 |
| 25th pct — lower quartile | $104,520 | -29% | ~$50 |
| Median — 50th pct | $148,080 | — | $71.19/hr |
| Mean — average | $146,490 | -1% | $70.43/hr |
| 75th pct — upper quartile | $190,570 | +29% | ~$92 |
| 90th pct — top decile | $215,610 | +46% | ~$104 |
Source: BLS OEWS national estimates. Annual wage ÷ 2,080 hrs = hourly estimate. Hourly-median is direct from OEWS when available; others are estimates only.
What it pays vs. what it buys
The wage is only half the number. Below, the metro median for Air Traffic Controllers is divided by that metro's BEA Regional Price Parity — the federal measure of what a dollar actually buys there. Nominal is what the job pays. Real is what it buys at local prices. Which reorders the answer: Los Angeles ranks #10 of 28 on the paycheck and #19 once you spend it.
| Metro | Nominal | Prices | Real | Rank shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento | $196,290 | 100.3 | $195,765 | +1 |
| Atlanta | $186,640 | 96.7 | $192,985 | +3 |
| Philadelphia | $198,590 | 103.1 | $192,533 | -2 |
| Chicago | $189,780 | 100.5 | $188,811 | — |
| Dallas | $186,510 | 99.7 | $187,006 | +1 |
| San Francisco | $193,360 | 106.2 | $182,097 | -3 |
| Jacksonville | $170,120 | 97.1 | $175,250 | +5 |
| Indianapolis | $171,910 | 99.1 | $173,461 | +3 |
| Kansas City | $161,700 | 93.4 | $173,115 | +5 |
| Minneapolis | $179,670 | 104.4 | $172,108 | -3 |
Top 10 of 28 metros by real wage. Rank shift = places gained or lost against the nominal ranking. Nashville gains 5 places. Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025 metropolitan estimates; BEA Regional Price Parities (national = 100). Metros where BLS suppresses the estimate are omitted rather than shown as zero. Full data at /salaries-metro.json.
Is this job growing or dying?
BLS projects employment in Air Traffic Controllers to move from 24,000 to 24,400 over 2025–2035 — +1.7% , with about 2,100 openings a year once retirements and career changes are counted . Typical entry requirement: associate's degree.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 (2025–2035). Openings count growth and replacement need together, which is why a shrinking occupation can still hire. Full data at /employment-projections.json.
About this page
This page reports national wage data for Air Traffic Controllers (SOC 53-2021) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. OEWS is the federal government's primary source for occupational wage data — a nationally representative survey of employers conducted annually, covering approximately 1.1 million establishments. All figures reflect the most recent May reference period available via the BLS public API.
The headline number is the annual median wage — the wage at which half of all workers in this occupation earn more and half earn less. The median is the right benchmark for most workers because it is not inflated by the top earners the way the mean (average) is. The 90/10 ratio compares the top decile (p90) to the bottom decile (p10): a ratio of 3.0 means workers at the 90th percentile earn three times those at the 10th percentile.
Air Traffic Controllers is classified under 53-0000 Transportation and Material Moving Occupations, placing it alongside other occupations in that sector of the labor market. BLS estimates total national employment in this occupation at approximately 22,510 workers. The wage spread shown in the percentile table is the bargaining-surface map your employer operates from. Most employers know exactly where each of their workers sits in the band; most workers don't. That information asymmetry is what this page is designed to close.
The 90/10 ratio is used as an implicit "bargaining power metric" here, but it measures structural spread — not your individual leverage. High ratio occupations have wide bands and more room to negotiate; narrow-ratio occupations are often governed more by title and tenure than by individual negotiation. Methodology at /methodology#oews-salaries.
OEWS data does not include equity, bonuses, benefits, or total compensation — only base wages. The true compensation gap is wider than what these numbers show. These are the floor numbers, not the ceiling. Federal law in many states also prohibits employers from asking about your current salary during hiring; knowing the market rate is the countermeasure.
Methodology · About Office Blues · Meeting Tax Calculator · Daily Pulse
Raw JSON: /salaries/air-traffic-controllers-53-2021.json · License: CC BY 4.0 · Source: BLS OEWS · Cite as: Office Blues OEWS Salary Data, Air Traffic Controllers, officeblues.net/salaries/air-traffic-controllers-53-2021
The Salary Negotiation Script at /products/salary-negotiation-script uses frameworks like these to build a case — this is the data layer.