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

Excellent61% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Air Traffic Controller · San Jose
$222,424
Income tax (~40% effective)
United States
– $89,677
Take-home pay
$11,062/mo
$132,747
Living costs (1 person)
$4,340/mo · derived
– $52,080
Savings potential
$6,722/mo · 61% of take-home
$80,667

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

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

How we calculated this

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

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~40%). 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.