Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists

Detailed Occupation

Add Comparison

2022 Workforce

41.2k

Average Age

Average Salary

$104,404

Average Male Salary

$107,898

Average Female Salary

$90,500

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 $104,404 in 2022.

The locations that employ the most Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists are Lorain County (South)--North Ridgeville, Avon Lake & Avon Cities PUMA, OH, Kendall County PUMA, IL, and Johnson County (Southwest)--Olathe, Gardner, Spring Hill & Edgerton Cities PUMA, KS. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists are Atlanta Regional Commission (South Central)--Fayette County PUMA, GA, Coffee & Dale Counties PUMA, AL, and Cumberland County (East)--Hope Mills & Spring Lake Towns PUMA, NC.

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 2022 was 41,214 people, of which 20.1% were women and 79.9% were men. Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists are paid most in Hendricks County PUMA, IN but are relatively concentrated in Atlanta Regional Commission (South Central)--Fayette County PUMA, GA.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

32,937

Male Workforce

± 4.46k

8,277

Female Workforce

± 2.23k

The Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workforce in 2022 was 41,214 people (20.1% women and 79.9% men). This implies an average annual growth of −2.32% between 2014 (42,195) and 2022 (41,214).

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 2022, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were New Hampshire ($138,488), Delaware ($133,701), and Indiana ($133,694).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$104,404

AVERAGE WAGE

#59 in the ranking (2022)

$64,683

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2022, Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists earned an average of $104,404, $39,721 more than the average national salary of $64,683

The graph shows the ranking of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2022.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.343

WAGE GINI

In 2022, Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.343, which is lower than the national average of 0.478. 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 Navigational, measuring, electromedical, & control instruments manufacturing ($156,835).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

41.2k

2022 Workforce

± 4,984

1.83%

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 65.5%, followed by Air transportation with 23.1% and Administration of economic programs & space research with 11.4%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in the US. The workforce of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in 2022 was 41,214 people, with 20.1% woman, and 79.9% men. The average age of male Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists in the workforce is 40.5 and of female Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists is 37.9, 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 2022 was 41,214 people, with 20.1% woman, and 79.9% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 30 to 34 years (7,265 people), 35 to 39 years (6,947 people), and 25 to 29 years (5,563 people). Among them they concentrated 48.3% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2022, 15% of Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workers were Hispanic and 85% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (60.1%), Puerto Rican (32.6)%, and All Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino (7.33)%

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

Races

In 2022, 73% of the Air traffic controllers & airfield operations specialists workforce were White, of which 18.6% were women and 81.4% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black (9.74%) and Two or More Races (9.58%).

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 2022 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 2022 (counting all academic degrees) were Transportation (5,651 people), Business (3,242 people), and Engineering (1,252 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 (14,076 people), Some college (12,475 people), and Associates Degree (6,797 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.