Can a Air Traffic Controller afford to live in San Diego?

Excellent55% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Air Traffic Controller · San Diego
$150,898
Income tax (~36% effective)
United States
– $54,582
Take-home pay
$8,026/mo
$96,316
Living costs (1 person)
$3,580/mo · derived
– $42,960
Savings potential
$4,446/mo · 55% of take-home
$53,356

Single professional, after-tax. Salary − tax − living costs = what you could save each year.

Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in San Diego? →Compare San Diego with another city →

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Air Traffic Controller, adjusted for San Diego.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~36%). Official calculator.

• Living costs: derived from cost-of-living index for a single professional.

Planning estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026. Your situation will differ.