Pay for flight attendants in every state, what it comes to after tax, and how far it goes after local prices and rent.
Flight attendants earn a median of $63,580 a year, 24.7% more than the $50,980 median for all jobs. Pay is highest in New York ($126,650) and lowest in Pennsylvania ($39,520). Occupation code 53-2031 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Half of the 131,650 flight attendants in the survey earn between $51,760 and $95,640. The bottom tenth earn under $35,110, the figure the Bureau itself uses as a rough guide to starting pay, and the top tenth more than $136,430. The average is $77,440; it sits above the median because the top earners pull it up.
| Nationally | Per year |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $35,110 |
| Bottom quarter earn less than | $51,760 |
| Median | $63,580 |
| Top quarter earn more than | $95,640 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $136,430 |
The survey publishes no hourly pay for flight attendants, because the job is not usually worked as a full, year-round 2,080 hours; the yearly figures are what they are paid. Convert any salary.
The highest state medians are in New York ($126,650), Utah ($82,730), California ($82,170), Georgia ($78,320) and Connecticut ($78,180). The lowest are in Pennsylvania ($39,520), Florida ($47,320), Nevada ($51,800), Texas ($58,220) and Colorado ($59,500). The survey does not publish a figure for 32 states, usually because too few people do the job there.
Higher pay often comes with higher prices. Adjusted for each state's price level, pay goes furthest in New York ($117,354 at national prices), Utah ($83,681), Georgia ($81,335), Connecticut ($75,456) and California ($74,214).
The most flight attendants work in California (15,840), Texas (13,470) and Florida (13,220). Relative to all jobs, the work is most common in Nevada (2.6 per 1,000 jobs), Colorado (2.5) and Illinois (1.5).
On the national median of $63,580, a single filer in a state with no income tax takes home about $53,267 a year after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, or $2,049 every two weeks. On each state's own median and taxes, take-home ranges from $32,721 in Pennsylvania to $90,927 in New York. Work out your own paycheck.
The typical rent in each state's median county takes a median 30.4% of a flight attendant's gross pay, and stays under the usual 30% guideline in 9 of the 19 states. With 10% down at a 7.03% mortgage rate, a single flight attendant earning the state median could afford the typical home in its median county in 3 of the 19 states, under the 28% guideline. On the national median alone, that guideline stretches to about $179,273. Try it with your own numbers, or see where this pay covers the typical rent.
| Alabama | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Alaska | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Arizona | $61,780 | — | −2.8% | $61,365 | $50,276 | 32.5% | 4,590 |
| Arkansas | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| California | $82,170 | — | +29.2% | $74,214 | $62,556 | 35.8% | 15,840 |
| Colorado | $59,500 | — | −6.4% | $57,738 | $47,370 | 40.7% | 7,110 |
| Connecticut | $78,180 | — | +23.0% | $75,456 | $60,280 | 30.6% | 250 |
| Delaware | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Florida | $47,320 | — | −25.6% | $45,758 | $40,202 | 48.5% | 13,220 |
| Georgia | $78,320 | — | +23.2% | $81,335 | $60,020 | 25.7% | — |
| Hawaii | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Idaho | $62,200 | — | −2.2% | $65,135 | $48,861 | 29.8% | — |
| Illinois | $62,120 | — | −2.3% | $62,146 | $49,018 | 23.2% | 9,350 |
| Indiana | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Iowa | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kansas | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Louisiana | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maine | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maryland | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Massachusetts | $61,510 | — | −3.3% | $58,162 | $48,528 | 47.6% | 4,390 |
| Michigan | $62,490 | — | −1.7% | $64,947 | $49,735 | 25.8% | — |
| Minnesota | $61,230 | — | −3.7% | $62,086 | $47,698 | 25.2% | 4,050 |
| Mississippi | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Missouri | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Montana | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nevada | $51,800 | — | −18.5% | $51,811 | $43,801 | 42.0% | 4,040 |
| New Hampshire | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Jersey | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Mexico | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New York | $126,650 | — | +99.2% | $117,354 | $90,927 | 14.7% | 12,060 |
| North Carolina | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Dakota | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ohio | $62,440 | — | −1.8% | $67,303 | $51,350 | 25.0% | 990 |
| Oklahoma | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oregon | $61,480 | — | −3.3% | $59,481 | $46,519 | 33.4% | 980 |
| Pennsylvania | $39,520 | — | −37.8% | $40,503 | $32,721 | 39.8% | 2,290 |
| Rhode Island | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Carolina | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Dakota | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tennessee | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Texas | $58,220 | — | −8.4% | $59,985 | $48,960 | 30.4% | 13,470 |
| Utah | $82,730 | — | +30.1% | $83,681 | $63,349 | 25.3% | 2,490 |
| Vermont | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Virginia | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3,900 |
| Washington | $74,090 | — | +16.5% | $69,235 | $60,952 | 29.6% | — |
| West Virginia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Click a column to sort it. “After local prices” divides the median by the state's price level (national average = 100). Take-home is for a single filer on the state median with no retirement or health deductions. Rent share is a year of the typical rent in the state's median county against the median pay. A dash means the survey publishes no figure.
Warehouse Laborer $40,240 · Stocker $37,330 · Truck Driver $58,640 · Delivery Driver $44,860 · Forklift Operator $46,420 · School Bus Driver $47,920 · Airline Pilot $232,140