Travel agent salary: BLS pay by percentile, state, metro and industry

The median travel agent salary was $50,160 a year, or $24.11 an hour, in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The middle half of employed agents earned $41,950 to $63,060. Mean pay is highest in Nevada, Connecticut and the District of Columbia. These figures cover employees only: BLS leaves out the self-employed.

Here is the full BLS pay range, pay by state and metro area, which industries pay most, how employers structure base pay and commission, and what the job outlook looks like.

What is a travel agent salary?

A travel agent salary is the pay an employed travel agent earns from an agency, a travel management company, a cruise line, a club or another employer. It can be a fixed salary, an hourly wage, or a base plus commission and bonuses. BLS wage figures include money earned from commissions.

This page is about employed agents. Self-employed and hosted advisors earn commission and fees instead of a wage, and their income is measured by industry surveys, not BLS. For those numbers, see how much travel agents make. For how commission and fees are paid and when they arrive, see how do travel agents get paid?

A wage is a promise. Commission is a share of a sale. Many employed agents get both.

How much do employed travel agents earn a year?

The median employed travel agent earned $50,160 in May 2025. Half earned more and half earned less. The mean (average) was $54,660, pulled up by the higher earners.

These are the full figures from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. They are May 2025 estimates for occupation code 41-3041, from the OEWS data for travel agents:

The Occupational Outlook Handbook confirms the ends of the range: the lowest 10 percent earned less than $34,610, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $76,660.

For context, BLS puts the median for all occupations at $50,980 and for services sales representatives at $68,190 in May 2025. Travel agents sit just below the all-jobs median.

Who is counted in BLS travel agent salary data?

Only employees. The OEWS survey does not include the self-employed, owners and partners in unincorporated firms. That matters in travel, where many advisors work for themselves.

Two BLS counts look different for this reason:

• OEWS counts 55,110 travel agents on payroll in May 2025.
• The Occupational Outlook Handbook counts about 61,500 travel agent jobs in 2025, including the 12% held by self-employed workers.

So the salary figures on this page describe staff agents. A hosted advisor's income can't be read from them, in either direction.

Which states pay travel agents the most?

Nevada had the highest mean wage for travel agents in May 2025, at $65,270. These are the top five by annual mean wage, from the BLS OEWS state estimates:

The lowest state means were Oklahoma at $37,570 and New Mexico at $41,330. BLS didn't publish a mean for Delaware or Maine. All figures come from the OEWS state data for travel agents.

What this means for job seekers: a high state average doesn't mean many jobs. Nevada's mean is the highest, but most travel agent jobs sit in large states such as Florida, California and Texas.

Travel agent salary by state: 10 large states

Florida employs the most travel agents of the states below, with 9,430 on payroll in May 2025. The table shows the 10 states we pulled, ordered by employment.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, occupation 41-3041. Employees only.

Two things stand out. North Carolina's median is above New York's, even though New York's mean is higher. And Florida, with nearly twice California's headcount, pays slightly less at the median.

Want the rules and setup for a specific state? See the guides for Florida, California and Texas.

Which metro areas pay travel agents the most?

Among the 20 large metro areas we checked, Las Vegas had the highest mean wage, at $64,900. BLS publishes estimates for every metro area. We pulled 20 large metro areas, not all of them, so this is not a full national ranking.

Source: BLS OEWS metropolitan area estimates, May 2025. Each metro is the full metropolitan statistical area, which includes the surrounding counties. BLS lists the counties in each one in its May 2025 area definitions.

Miami stands out for volume. It employs more travel agents than New York, and nearly half of Florida's 9,430. In the rest of the 20 we checked, means ranged from $50,550 in Detroit to $55,390 in Honolulu.

Travel agent salary by industry

Air transportation paid the highest median of the industries below, at $58,260. Most travel agents work in travel arrangement and reservation services, which employs 72% of them and paid a median of $49,650.

Source: BLS OEWS industry estimates for travel agents. Water transportation includes cruise lines. Small industries carry wider error margins.

How are travel agent salary jobs structured?

Three common structures show up in employers' own postings: base pay plus commission, a straight salary, and an hourly wage plus incentives. Here are examples of each, as posted in October 2026.

These are single postings, not market rates. Postings close: Disney's Tampa listing showed as no longer available on October 22, 2026. The pay shown applies only to that role.

Base plus commission (retail agency). The Auto Club Group (AAA) lists its travel agent role as hourly and non-exempt, so you are eligible for overtime. On top of the base, the posting offers unlimited commissions on travel sales, with additional commission opportunities for membership and credit card sales. It adds a quarterly new hire on-pace bonus and a $1,500 to $3,000 signing bonus for people new to the company. The agent also has to achieve assigned travel, membership, and credit card sales goals.

The base varies by location. ACG says it utilizes a geographic pay differential as part of the base salary compensation program, which is why Charlotte and Littleton show different bases for the same job.

Salary (corporate travel). Corporate travel agents, which BLS also calls travel coordinators, primarily make travel arrangements for businesses. They usually work for a travel management company (TMC), the firms that run business travel for companies. BCD Travel's remote senior role lists a salary range and says actual pay depends on your skills, qualifications, experience and geographical location. The posting mentions no commission. It does ask for advanced skills in GDS Sabre and an overnight schedule: 8pm CST to 8am CST during the week and all day Saturday/Sunday.

Hourly plus incentives (supplier call center). Cruise lines and theme parks hire their own reservation sales staff. Princess Cruises' Cruise Vacation Planner role in Fort Lauderdale, for example, offers base hourly pay and monthly sales incentive earning potential, but prints no hourly rate. Disney's Tampa contact center role is an hourly position with an incentive program based on performance. Disney travel agent jobs covers that posting in full.

A guaranteed wage also tells you something about your status. The IRS says a regular wage usually indicates that a worker is an employee, even when the wage or salary is supplemented by a commission. W-2 vs W-9 for travel agents explains what that means for taxes.

How to compare a travel agent job offer with BLS data

Convert everything to the same unit first. BLS reports both annual and hourly wages, so an hourly offer and a salary offer can be compared side by side.

1. Find the base pay. In the ACG Charlotte posting, the base is $32,552. Divided by 2,080 hours, the typical work year BLS uses to turn hourly rates into annual ones, it works out to about $15.65 an hour.
2. List what is conditional. Commission, incentives and bonuses depend on sales or performance. Ask how each is calculated, and whether any part is guaranteed. The ACG posting, for example, describes guaranteed commission payouts without setting out the terms.
3. Compare against the right benchmark. Use your state or metro row, not the national median. North Carolina's median was $56,180 in May 2025, about $6,000 above the national median.
4. Remember what BLS counts as pay. OEWS wages include incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses. They leave out overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. So compare the BLS figure with base plus commission and incentives, not with the base alone, and leave a signing bonus or overtime out.
5. Check the hours and setting. Overtime eligibility, weekend shifts and in-office or remote work change what the pay means in practice.

This is arithmetic on published figures, not a forecast of what any one agent will earn.

What is the job outlook for travel agents?

Flat, with steady openings. BLS projects travel agent employment to show little or no change from 2025 to 2035, from 61,500 jobs to 61,700. All occupations are projected to grow 3% over the same decade.

Even so, BLS projects about 5,900 openings for travel agents each year, on average. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who change careers or retire.

BLS also names a headwind. Travelers' ability to use online resources, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, to research vacations and book their own trips may limit demand for travel agents. BLS adds that AI may also help agents handle administrative and marketing tasks more efficiently.

BLS also notes that most travel agents work full time, although part-time work is common, and that some work extra hours in peak seasons.

For where those openings are listed and the five types of travel agent jobs, see travel agent jobs. For work-from-home roles, see remote travel agent jobs.

Should you take a salaried job or go independent?

Take a salaried job if you want a predictable paycheck, employer benefits, training on the company's systems, and someone else handling accreditation. The ACG posting, for example, lists a 401(k), paid time off and free supplier training. You trade that for set hours and sales targets.

Go independent if you already have people asking you to plan trips, or a host that sends you leads. You choose your hours and products, and your income depends on what you sell. Host agency vs independent compares the two independent routes, and the hub guide, how to become a travel agent, covers training and first steps for both.

Some agents start salaried to learn the trade, then go independent. Others do the reverse.

How Tripdash works for independent advisors

Tripdash is a host agency, not an employer. It certifies travel advisors, sends qualified leads, and includes flight and hotel booking systems, with IATA accreditation, E&O insurance and supplier access. Advisors keep 80%+ of every booking. See how Tripdash works for advisors.

Sources

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Travel Agents, last modified August 27, 2026 (May 2025 wages, 2025–35 projections).
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. OEWS profile: Travel Agents (41-3041), May 2025 estimates (national, state, metro and industry figures, read through the BLS Public Data API).
3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics overview (scope of the survey).
4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Technical notes for OEWS estimates, May 2024 edition, last modified April 2, 2025 (wage definition, 2,080-hour work year).
5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 OEWS metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area definitions, last modified May 15, 2026.
6. U.S. Census Bureau. NAICS 483112, Deep Sea Passenger Transportation, 2022 NAICS (index entry "Cruise lines").
7. AAA The Auto Club Group. Travel Agent, Charlotte (WT Harris), NC, JR18053, posted October 16, 2026, checked October 22, 2026.
8. AAA The Auto Club Group. Travel Agent, Littleton, CO, JR18098, posted October 15, 2026, checked October 22, 2026.
9. BCD Travel. Senior Travel Consultant (remote, US), checked October 22, 2026.
10. Disney Careers. Reservation Sales Agent, Disney Central (Tampa, FL) Bench, Full Time, job 1376332BR, posted October 11, 2026, shown as no longer available October 22, 2026.
11. Princess Cruises. Cruise Vacation Planner, onsite, Fort Lauderdale, FL, job 14132, posted October 5, 2026, checked October 22, 2026.
12. Internal Revenue Service. Financial control, updated January 30, 2026.