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Highest Paying Transportation Jobs
The highest paying transportation job is airline pilot, with a median salary of $232,140 a year, followed by air traffic controller ($148,080) and commercial pilot ($123,220). All 30 transportation jobs below are ranked by median pay from the latest BLS wage survey (May 2025).
Highest Paying Transportation Jobs, ranked
of 30 jobs match.
| # | Job | Median | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Airline pilot Transportation and Material Moving | $232,140 | – | $463,830 | Bachelor's degree | 103,560 |
| 2 | Air traffic controller Transportation and Material Moving | $148,080 | $71.19 | $215,610 | Associate's degree | 22,510 |
| 3 | Commercial pilot Transportation and Material Moving | $123,220 | – | $266,620 | Certificate | 47,630 |
| 4 | Captains, mates, and pilot of water vessels Transportation and Material Moving | $92,460 | $44.45 | $170,640 | Certificate | 36,850 |
| 5 | Transportation inspector Transportation and Material Moving | $92,100 | $44.28 | $138,670 | High school diploma | 24,500 |
| 6 | Locomotive engineer Transportation and Material Moving | $81,410 | $39.14 | $109,220 | High school diploma | 33,470 |
| 7 | Railroad conductor and yardmaster Transportation and Material Moving | $78,000 | $37.50 | $109,770 | High school diploma | 46,440 |
| 8 | Crane and tower operator Transportation and Material Moving | $68,080 | $32.73 | $103,570 | High school diploma | 42,890 |
| 9 | Flight attendant Transportation and Material Moving | $63,580 | – | $136,430 | High school diploma | 131,650 |
| 10 | First-line supervisor of transportation and material moving workers Transportation and Material Moving | $62,890 | $30.23 | $96,150 | High school diploma | 623,640 |
| 11 | Bus driver Transportation and Material Moving | $59,050 | $28.39 | $84,700 | High school diploma | 159,240 |
| 12 | Truck driver Transportation and Material Moving | $58,640 | $28.19 | $79,380 | Certificate | 2,062,040 |
| 13 | Sailor and marine oiler Transportation and Material Moving | $51,520 | $24.77 | $83,620 | No formal education | 31,670 |
| 14 | Refuse and recyclable material collector Transportation and Material Moving | $49,690 | $23.89 | $75,900 | No formal education | 147,240 |
| 15 | School bus driver Transportation and Material Moving | $47,920 | $23.04 | $65,730 | High school diploma | 402,930 |
| 16 | Industrial truck and tractor operator Transportation and Material Moving | $46,420 | $22.32 | $62,520 | No formal education | 774,420 |
| 17 | Light truck driver Transportation and Material Moving | $44,860 | $21.57 | $80,310 | High school diploma | 983,300 |
| 18 | Conveyor operator and tender Transportation and Material Moving | $42,420 | $20.39 | $59,470 | No formal education | 22,930 |
| 19 | Taxi driver Transportation and Material Moving | $42,100 | $20.24 | $75,800 | No formal education | 41,050 |
| 20 | Machine feeder and offbearer Transportation and Material Moving | $41,220 | $19.82 | $58,160 | No formal education | 42,330 |
| 21 | Aircraft service attendant Transportation and Material Moving | $40,450 | $19.45 | $57,610 | High school diploma | 31,300 |
| 22 | Warehouse laborer Transportation and Material Moving | $40,240 | $19.35 | $55,140 | No formal education | 2,950,280 |
| 23 | Driver/sales worker Transportation and Material Moving | $38,770 | $18.64 | $59,980 | High school diploma | 409,180 |
| 24 | Passenger attendant Transportation and Material Moving | $37,720 | $18.14 | $46,590 | High school diploma | 27,110 |
| 25 | Stocker and order filler Transportation and Material Moving | $37,330 | $17.95 | $49,260 | No formal education | 2,833,810 |
| 26 | Shuttle driver and chauffeur Transportation and Material Moving | $37,290 | $17.93 | $55,070 | No formal education | 248,530 |
| 27 | Packer and packager, hand Transportation and Material Moving | $36,280 | $17.44 | $47,100 | No formal education | 559,820 |
| 28 | Cleaner of vehicles and equipment Transportation and Material Moving | $35,830 | $17.23 | $47,610 | No formal education | 380,430 |
| 29 | Automotive and watercraft service attendant Transportation and Material Moving | $35,670 | $17.15 | $46,060 | No formal education | 102,010 |
| 30 | Parking attendant Transportation and Material Moving | $35,150 | $16.90 | $44,550 | No formal education | 137,880 |
No job matches those filters.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (published 2026), and Employment Projections education and training assignments (2025). Salaries are yearly medians before tax for wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. The median for all US jobs is $50,980. Jobs with fewer than 20,000 workers nationally are not listed.
About the Highest Paying Jobs
Highest Paying Jobs ranks 515 US jobs by what they actually pay, using the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025, published 2026). Filter the list by field, by the education a job needs to start, or by a minimum salary, and sort it by median pay, average pay, what the top 10% earn, hourly wage or the number of people in the job. Ready-made rankings answer the common questions: the highest paying jobs without a degree, with only a high school diploma, with an associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree, entry-level and trade jobs, the best-paid jobs in healthcare, tech, engineering and ten other fields, and the highest paying jobs in each of the 50 states and Washington DC. Every job links to its own salary page with hourly pay, the full pay range and pay by state.
How to use it
- 1 Start with the full ranking, or pick a ready-made list such as jobs without a degree, a field or your state.
- 2 Narrow it down with the field, education and minimum pay filters, or search for a job.
- 3 Sort by median salary, top 10% pay, hourly wage or most workers.
- 4 Open any job to see its pay range, hourly and monthly pay and salary in every state.
Frequently asked questions
What is the highest paying transportation job?
Airline pilot pays the most, with a median salary of $232,140 a year. The top three are airline pilot ($232,140), air traffic controller ($148,080), commercial pilot ($123,220).
How many transportation jobs pay over $100,000?
3 of the 30 transportation jobs have a median salary of $100,000 or more a year.
Which well-paid transportation job has the most openings?
First-line supervisor of transportation and material moving workers employs the most people among the best-paid transportation jobs, with about 623,640 workers and a median salary of $62,890. More people in a job usually means more openings each year.
Which transportation job pays the most per hour?
Air traffic controller has the highest median hourly wage, $71.19 an hour. Some jobs, such as teachers, are paid by the year only and have no hourly figure.
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