Air Traffic Controller Salary 2026: Pay by Level, State and Facility

Almost every controller in the US works for one employer, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the FAA publishes its pay bands. So unlike most salary pages, this one can show you the actual rule that sets your pay: your training stage, your facility's level and the locality pay area it sits in. Use the calculator below, then read on for pay by title, state, city, bonuses and the raise agreed in October 2026.

How much do air traffic controllers make?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 22,510 air traffic controller jobs in May 2025. Their pay spread, from its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey:

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, occupation 53-2021. Retrieved from the BLS public data API on October 25, 2026.

Where you work matters as much as how long you have worked. BLS puts the median for controllers employed by the federal government at $156,250 in May 2025, against $83,890 for those in "support activities for air transportation," the private firms that include contract towers. The federal government employs 92% of controllers and that private group 4%.

Air traffic controller pay calculator

Air traffic controller salary by title and career stage

FAA controllers move through fixed stages, and each has its own pay band. These are the national bands before locality pay, from the FAA table effective January 11, 2026. Ranges run from the lowest facility level that uses the stage to Level 12.

Sources: FAA pay tables for controllers, MSS and flight service, all effective January 11, 2026. FAA hiring page, updated April 21, 2026. Add locality pay of 17.06% to 46.34% for actual pay.

The developmental bands follow a formula. Under the 2016 FAA-NATCA contract, D1 starts 25% of the way from the AG rate to the CPC minimum, D2 at 50% and D3 at 75%. Each promotion moves you to the next band's minimum or a 6% raise, whichever is greater. The FAA says it takes one to three years after the Academy to certify.

Air traffic controller salary by facility level

Every FAA tower, approach control and en route center has a level from 4 to 12, based on traffic and complexity. The higher the level, the higher the pay band. Here is the certified controller (CPC) band at each level, before and after the lowest locality rate, "Rest of United States" (17.06%):

Source: FAA pay band tables, effective January 11, 2026. Before the 2.8% raise agreed in October 2026.

Which facilities are at the top? The FAA's 2026 to 2028 workforce plan groups the Level 10 to 12 towers as Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Newark, Dulles, Houston Intercontinental, Kennedy, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, La Guardia, Montgomery (San Diego), Chicago O'Hare, Phoenix, Seattle, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. Its Level 10 to 12 approach controls include New York, Potomac, Southern California and Northern California TRACONs. The plan groups facilities in bands and does not give each one's exact level.

Air traffic controller salary by city: locality pay

The FAA adds locality pay on top of base pay, using 59 pay areas in 2026, one of them for posts outside the US. The spread is wide: the same Level 12 certified controller starts at $153,950 in the lowest-paid area and $192,457 in San Francisco. By law, base plus locality pay cannot exceed $228,000, the Level II rate of the Executive Schedule.

Source: FAA pay band tables, effective January 11, 2026.

The cap bites hardest in the costliest areas. In San Francisco the top of the CPC band hits $228,000 from Level 10 up, and in New York, Los Angeles and Houston from Level 11. In 15 locality areas, the top of the Level 12 band is capped.

Air traffic controller salary by state

These are BLS figures, which measure actual wages paid in May 2025 rather than FAA bands. The top 10 states by median wage:

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.

The pattern is the FAA's: states that host big en route centers and Level 12 airports, such as Virginia (Washington Center and Potomac TRACON), Illinois (Chicago) and Georgia (Atlanta), pay the most. The lowest published state medians in May 2025 were Montana ($101,380), Louisiana ($99,810), Wyoming ($93,580), Iowa ($90,790) and Mississippi ($88,110). BLS did not publish a figure for Delaware, Idaho, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, West Virginia or Wisconsin. Its District of Columbia median, $47,760 for 820 jobs, is far below every state, so I would not rely on it.

Highest-paying metro areas for air traffic controllers

Among the metro areas I pulled from BLS, these had the highest median wages in May 2025:

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan statistical areas. I checked 40 large metros; BLS withheld figures for several, including New York and Houston.

Air traffic controller starting salary

New hires are paid while they train at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, at $22.61 an hour according to the FAA's hiring page. The FAA's workforce plan says it raised starting salaries for Academy students by "nearly 30 percent" in fiscal 2025.

After the Academy, every new controller starts at the Academy graduate rate of $47,026 plus locality pay, whatever the facility level. With locality, that is $55,049 in the lowest-paid area and $68,818 in San Francisco in 2026. Pay then rises as you clear D1, D2 and D3 and certify.

On top of that, a 2025 FAA-NATCA agreement pays one-time bonuses through April 30, 2028:

• $5,000 when a new hire finishes Academy training and reaches Academy graduate status.
• $10,000 for Academy graduates assigned to 13 hard-to-staff facilities, including New York Center, Norfolk Tower, Anchorage TRACON and San Juan Center.
• $5,000 for Academy graduates assigned to listed facilities in high-cost metros such as New York, Seattle, Boston, Miami and San Diego.

Overtime, premiums and bonuses

Base and locality pay are only part of a controller's check. Under the 2016 FAA-NATCA contract, controllers also earn:

Source: FAA-NATCA Collective Bargaining Agreement, 2016, Articles 18, 28, 68 and pay appendix.

Experienced controllers can also be paid to stay. Under the same 2025 agreement, a certified controller who is eligible to retire can receive a lump sum of 20% of basic pay for each year they sign on to keep working. The FAA says almost 400 controllers and supervisors took it in fiscal 2025, at a cost of about $12.3 million, and expects almost 500 to be eligible in fiscal 2026.

The 2026 raise: what changed in October

Controllers got 1% in January 2026, the same as most federal workers, and the FAA's January 11, 2026 table reflects that. Congress had approved 3.8% for controllers. Government Executive reported on February 18, 2026 that the $140 million to pay for it was held up by the Homeland Security shutdown, and the law that later funded it let the FAA administrator withhold it until he saw efficiency gains.

On October 16, 2026, the FAA and NATCA announced a deal to pay the remaining 2.8%. The FAA says the increase "takes effect Oct. 18 and is retroactive to the beginning of the year." In return, controllers will badge in and out of facilities, local shift guidelines will follow forecast traffic, and reassignments will focus on the worst-staffed facilities.

The FAA had not published an updated pay table when I checked on October 25, 2026. The calculator above has an "Add 2.8%" view that applies the raise to the January table, still capped at $228,000. That view is my arithmetic, not an FAA figure.

How many hours do controllers work, and when do they retire?

BLS notes that the FAA limits controllers to 10 straight hours on a shift and requires 9 hours of rest before the next one. Night, weekend and rotating shifts are common, which is why the premiums above matter.

The career is short by design. You must apply before age 31, according to the FAA's hiring page. Controllers can retire at 50 with 20 years of service, or at any age with 25 years, and are usually required to retire at 56, according to the FAA's workforce plan.

That plan also shows the size of the workforce behind these pay tables. The FAA had 14,832 controllers on board on September 20, 2025, including 608 at the Academy. It hired 2,028 trainees in fiscal 2025, its most since 2008. As of April 2026 it had about 11,000 certified controllers, with about 4,000 more in training.

Frequently asked questions

What is the highest air traffic controller salary? Base plus locality pay is capped by law at $228,000 in 2026. Certified controllers at Level 10 to 12 facilities in the costliest areas reach it, and overtime and premiums can take total pay above it. BLS says the top 10% earned more than $215,610 in May 2025.

How much do air traffic controllers make per hour? The median was $71.19 an hour in May 2025, per BLS. In FAA terms, the 2026 Level 12 CPC band with the lowest locality rate works out to about $73.77 to $99.58 an hour, using the standard federal 2,087-hour work year.

How much do air traffic controllers make a month? About $12,340 at the May 2025 median of $148,080, before tax.

Do private air traffic controllers make less? Yes. BLS puts the median for its private air transportation support group at $83,890 in May 2025, against $156,250 for federal controllers.

How long until I earn a full salary? The FAA says one to three years after the Academy, while you certify. Until then you are paid on the AG and D1 to D3 bands shown above.

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