Air Traffic Control
Everything OPM FedScope (June 2026) reports about the Air Traffic Control occupation series (code 2152): headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison.
The verdict
Air Traffic Control is a major federal occupation: 21,627 employees (1.1% of the federal civilian workforce) in the Transportation Group family. At an average salary of $153,037 it pays well above the federal average, and headcount edged up from the prior period.
- Headcount change
- +0.4%
- Pay change
- +0.7%
- Avg tenure
- 13.7 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 20
FedScope read on Air Traffic Control (dense series)
Headcount moved up versus the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition. Pay moved up between the two reporting periods, a modest shift, consistent with routine locality pay and grade-level movement. On length of service, this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
The Transportation Group family (code 21) groups Air Traffic Control together with 19 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Air Traffic Control postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Transportation Group family. The Transportation Group family totals 42,428 employees, and Air Traffic Control accounts for 51.0% of them. Its average salary ranks in the top half (87th percentile) of pay among Transportation Group occupations.
Salary context · rich-pay series
How Air Traffic Control pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$153,037
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
+30.4%
Where Air Traffic Control ranks on rich federal pay
Air Traffic Control earns more on average than 90% of federal occupation series (485 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Air Traffic Control sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Air Traffic Control.
Related Occupations in Transportation Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation Specialist | 8,313 | $123,621 | 16.6 yrs |
| Transportation Clerk and Assistant | 2,525 | $55,598 | 11.3 yrs |
| Aircraft Operation | 2,432 | $149,284 | 15.2 yrs |
| Transportation Operations | 1,900 | $105,349 | 16.3 yrs |
| Traffic Management | 1,400 | $119,205 | 15.8 yrs |
| Dispatching | 1,378 | $58,047 | 10.9 yrs |
| Technical Systems Program Manager | 672 | $191,580 | 24.5 yrs |
| Railroad Safety | 497 | $119,966 | 14.1 yrs |
| Motor Carrier Safety | 467 | $94,322 | 12 yrs |
| Aircrew Technician | 374 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Air Traffic Control outside the Transportation Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (21,627 here).
Similar rich average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($153,037 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Air Traffic Control pay in context with the pay-rank chart above, then compare it with another occupation.
- Turn an average salary into a grade: the GS pay grade tables show how grades and steps map to pay.
- Browse the Transportation Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Air Traffic Control postings on USAJOBS.
OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.