How Much Do Travel Agents Earn? Wages, Employment and Commission Economics of US Travel Agents from BLS OEWS Data and Industry Price Schedules, 2003–2025

Travel agents are often assumed to be a low-paid and disappearing occupation. We describe their pay and employment with the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for May 2003 to May 2025, deflated by the CPI-U, and set them beside published commission rates, client fees and entry costs. In May 2025 the median US travel agent earned USD 50,160 a year (USD 24.11 an hour), 1.6% below the median of all occupations, and the mean was USD 54,660. The distribution was compressed: the 10th percentile, USD 34,610, exceeded that of all workers, while the 90th, USD 76,660, was far below it. The nominal median rose 85% from USD 27,150 in 2003, but in 2025 dollars only 6%, with real gains concentrated between 2017 and 2020. Payroll employment fell 47%, from 103,840 in 2003 to 55,110 in 2025, including a 44% drop between 2019 and 2021; the official projection, which includes the self-employed, shows little or no change to 2035. State means ranged from USD 37,570 in Oklahoma to USD 65,270 in Nevada, and 82.4% of payroll agents worked in travel arrangement and reservation services. Industry schedules put ocean-cruise commission at about 16% and domestic air at 0–5%, so USD 5,000 of sales yields USD 800 on a cruise and at most USD 250 on domestic flights, before a host-agency split that typically leaves the agent 60–90%. Fixed-fee clients typically paid about USD 1,611.