Air Traffic Controllers · SOC 53-2021

Air Traffic Controllers Salary in the Salt Lake City Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metro area

Figures describe the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Salt Lake City city limits.

Median annual wage$161,640
Median hourly wage$77.71

Air Traffic Controllers in the Salt Lake City-Murray, UT metro area earned a median of $161,640 per year ($77.71 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $76,560 at the 10th percentile to $191,670 at the 90th. BLS estimates 330 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Air Traffic Controllers in the Salt Lake City metro area earn more than $161,640 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $142,380 and $173,120.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$76,560$142,380$161,640$173,120$191,670
Hourly$36.81$68.45$77.71$83.23$92.15

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Salt Lake City metro areathis metro area
    $161,640 median for Salt Lake City metro area; middle half earns $142,380 to $173,120
  • Utahstate (UT)
    $158,310 median for Utah; middle half earns $140,130 to $169,520
  • $148,080 median for United States; middle half earns $104,520 to $190,570

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +2% vs Utah overall and +9% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$91,710$127,337$162,963$198,590Jackson, MS — $91,710Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $94,140Gulfport-Biloxi, MS — $99,800Fairbanks-College, AK — $103,230Burlington-South Burlington, VT — $109,140Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $119,230Portland-South Portland, ME — $121,660San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $125,780Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $126,300St. Louis, MO-IL — $127,630Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $134,700Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $135,720Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $136,240Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL — $142,880Oklahoma City, OK — $146,520Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $147,800Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $150,700Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $155,500Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $155,540Anchorage, AK — $160,970Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $161,220Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $161,640Kansas City, MO-KS — $161,700Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $162,140Jacksonville, FL — $170,120Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $171,910Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $173,020Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $174,870Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $175,280Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $178,310Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $179,670Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $186,510Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $186,640Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $189,780San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $193,360Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $196,290Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $198,590

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Salt Lake City metro area has the 16th-highest published median for this occupation among the 37 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Highest-paying metro areas for air traffic controllerss · Highest-paying occupations in Salt Lake City Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.