How Much Do Travel Agents Make (2026 Data)

How much do travel agents make in 2026? The typical US agent earns $50,160¹ a year, almost exactly the middle of American pay. What makes the job unusual is the path to that number: the trade has lost nearly half its payroll jobs in two decades, from 103,840² in 2003 to 55,110¹ in 2025, while the agents who stayed saw their pay outpace prices only in a burst between 2017 and 2020.³

The numbers below cover the full pay ledger: the percentiles from the bottom tenth to the top tenth, a 23-year wage and job series with inflation taken out, every state and the major metro areas, the industries that hire agents, the commission rates that fund most of the income, what clients actually pay, what it costs to get started, Disney specialists, and how US pay compares with Britain and Canada. Figures from agencies and marketplaces are marked as industry figures in the chart source lines.

The national numbers

Median, mean and the spread

The middle travel agent in the United States earned $50,160¹ in May 2025, or $24.11¹ an hour. The mean was higher, $54,660¹, because a minority of well-paid agents pulls the average up: the gap between the two is $4,500³. These figures include commission income, which is a large part of pay for many agents.⁴

The spread inside one job title is wide. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $34,610¹, the 25th percentile sat at $41,950¹, the 75th at $63,060¹, and the top 10% earned more than $76,660¹: the 90th-percentile agent makes 2.2³ times what the 10th-percentile agent makes.¹

By the hour, the same scale runs from $16.64¹ at the 10th percentile, $20.17¹ at the 25th, $30.32¹ at the 75th and $36.86¹ at the 90th. Annual figures are the hourly rates multiplied by a 2,080-hour year, so they show full-time-equivalent pay: part-time agents earn less in a year than these annual figures suggest.¹

Against every other job

Set against the whole US labor market, the typical agent sits in the middle. The median for all occupations was $50,980¹ in May 2025, so the median agent earns 1.6%³ less than the median American worker. The shape of the pay scale is what differs: at the bottom, agents out-earn the workforce ($34,610¹ against $31,200¹ at the 10th percentile), while at the top the workforce pulls far ahead, $128,560¹ against $76,660¹ at the 90th percentile. The job has a floor above the national one and a ceiling well below it.¹

Two decades of travel agent pay

The median, year by year

The median wage has risen in all but one year of the series, from $27,150² in May 2003 to $50,160¹ in May 2025, an 85%³ increase. The only dip came in 2013, when the median slipped from $34,600² to $34,530². The last ten years alone added 41%³, from $35,660² in 2015.²

After inflation

Prices rose almost as fast. Restated in 2025 dollars with the consumer price index, the 2003 median is worth $47,504³, so the real gain over 22 years is only 6%³. From 2003 to 2017 real pay moved sideways between $45,711³ (2008) and $48,907³ (2016). It then rose to a peak of $52,680³ in 2020 and fell back to $49,725³ by 2024 as prices ran ahead of raises.

In 2025 the median was back at $50,160¹, still below the 2020 peak once inflation is counted.⁵

The practical reading for an agent: most of the nominal raise since 2003 has gone to keeping up with prices, and the real gains that did arrive came in a burst between 2017 and 2020 rather than as a steady climb.³

Jobs: the long decline

Employment tells the opposite story. Payroll jobs for travel agents fell from 103,840² in 2003 to 64,250² by 2013, recovered slightly to 69,480² in 2018, then collapsed in the pandemic from 66,670² in 2019 to 37,190² in 2021, a 44%³ drop in two years. The rebound stopped at 59,150² in 2024, and the 2025 count of 55,110¹ is 47%³ below 2003.²

The wage survey counts payroll jobs only. Counting self-employed agents too, the occupation held 61,500⁴ jobs in 2025, of which 12%⁴ were self-employed and 72%⁴ worked in travel arrangement and reservation services. The official projection is 61,700⁴ jobs in 2035, little or no change, with about 5,900⁴ openings a year as agents retire or leave for other work.⁴

Our own straight-line trend of the 2003-2025 payroll decline points much lower: about 29,000³ payroll jobs by 2035, well below the official 61,700⁴, which also counts self-employed agents and projects little or no change. A shorter fit over 2013-2025, which gives less weight to the early losses, points to about 39,600³. Carried on to 2050, the long fit would reach zero, which is why the trend is shown as a table and not drawn on the chart.³

Where the gains went

The mean wage climbed from $29,110² to $54,660¹ over the same years, and every percentile band moved up. The bottom rose fastest: the 10th percentile more than doubled, from $16,620² to $34,610¹, while the 90th percentile went from $43,440² to $76,660¹.² The pandemic years did not move the bands together. From May 2020 to May 2021, while payroll jobs fell 33%³, the 10th percentile jumped from $25,230² to $28,280², but the 25th percentile slipped from $32,010² to $31,200² and the 75th from $56,520² to $54,840².²

Across the four bands, the 90th percentile is the most volatile line: it jumped to $74,220² in 2021, fell to $64,100² in 2022, and reached a new high of $76,660¹ in 2025.²

The complete series, with the inflation-adjusted median alongside the current-dollar figures, is below for anyone who wants to check a single year.³

Where travel agents earn the most

States

Nevada has the highest average travel agent wage of any state, $65,270⁶ a year, though its employment count is not published.⁶ Connecticut follows at $63,810⁶, then the District of Columbia at $63,740⁶ and New York at $61,270⁶. At the other end, Oklahoma pays the lowest average, $37,570⁶, followed by New Mexico at $41,330⁶ and South Carolina at $41,640⁶.⁶ Of the 49 areas with a published mean, 20³ have a mean above the national mean of $54,660¹.³

The states with the most agents are a different list. Florida employs 9,430⁶, 17%³ of all US payroll agents, at an average of $54,630⁶; California has 4,760⁶ and Texas 4,310⁶.⁶ New York, Massachusetts, Washington and New Jersey are on both lists: New York has 3,180⁶ agents at $61,270⁶, Massachusetts 1,810⁶ at $58,810⁶, Washington 1,710⁶ at $60,690⁶ and New Jersey 1,660⁶ at $59,240⁶.⁶

Mapped, the high averages cluster in the Northeast from New Jersey to Massachusetts, in Nevada, Colorado and Montana, and in Washington and Oregon, while much of the South and the southern Plains sits below the national mean.⁶

The full state table adds the location quotient, which compares each state's share of jobs held by travel agents with the national share. Florida's 2.68⁶ means agents make up 2.68 times as large a share of its jobs as of US jobs overall; Hawaii follows at 2.59⁶.⁶

Metro areas

Among metro areas, Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury in Connecticut pays the highest average, $66,650⁷, ahead of Bozeman, Montana, at $66,150⁷ and Las Vegas at $64,900⁷.⁷ Most top-paying metros are small markets: Bozeman has 60⁷ agents and New Haven 50⁷. Seattle is the one large market near the top, with 1,320⁷ agents averaging $62,210⁷.

The metros with the most agents are the big travel hubs. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach leads with 4,560⁷, followed by New York with 3,610⁷ and Orlando with 2,190⁷.⁷ Pay in these hubs sits close to the national mean: $55,940⁷ in Miami and $54,550⁷ in Orlando, with New York higher at $61,450⁷.

Concentration shows where the trade is a local industry. In the Southwest Missouri nonmetropolitan area, the share of jobs held by travel agents is 9.49⁷ times the national share, the highest location quotient of any area, yet the average wage there is $41,370⁷.⁷ Springfield, Missouri, is similar at 4.51⁷ and $44,240⁷; the big hubs Miami (4.56⁷) and Orlando (4.38⁷) combine dense employment with pay close to the national mean.

Oklahoma City pays $31,150⁷ across 320⁷ agents, the lowest of any mainland metro with a published figure, and Columbia, South Carolina, pays $34,010⁷.⁷

Which industries pay travel agents best

Travel arrangement and reservation services employ 45,410⁸ of the 55,110¹ payroll agents, 82.4%³ of the total, at an average of $54,340⁸ and a median of $49,650⁴.⁸ The next-largest employer is management of companies and enterprises (corporate head offices), with 2,690⁸ agents averaging $61,440⁸. Deep sea, coastal and Great Lakes water transportation employs 1,640⁸ at $45,950⁸.

Software publishers pay the highest industry average, $65,780⁸, followed by promoters of performing arts, sports and similar events at $63,920⁸; neither has a published employment count.⁸ Real estate pays the lowest industry average, $39,590⁸.⁸

What travel agents charge clients

How much does a travel agent cost

Clients who pay a fixed fee to hire a travel agent pay from about $420⁹ to $6,175⁹ nationally, and typically about $1,611⁹.⁹ Where a price falls in that range depends on how complex the itinerary is.⁹

Many agents charge nothing for a standard vacation, because the hotel, cruise line or tour operator pays them a commission that is already built into the price.⁹ Fees appear where there is no commission to earn. One advisor puts airfare-only fees at $25⁹ to $75⁹ per ticket; another advisor's schedule charges $50⁹ per domestic ticket and $100⁹ per international ticket, $100 and up for excursion-only planning, and a flat $100 planning deposit on custom itineraries that is refunded once the trip is booked.⁹

How much do travel agents charge to plan a trip

For trip planning itself, the rule of thumb is that commission-paying products (cruises, tours, resort packages) carry little or no planning fee, while flights, excursions and complex custom trips are where a fee or deposit applies.⁹ Supplier commission is built into the price the client would pay anyway, so booking a full package through an agent usually costs the same as booking direct.¹⁰

How much does a AAA travel agent cost

For AAA members, using a club travel agent is usually free, because the service is part of the membership and the agents are paid by travel suppliers. Some clubs charge small service fees for airfare-only bookings, custom itineraries or document preparation, and these may be waived when a full vacation package is booked.¹¹

Commission: where the income comes from

How much commission do travel agents make

Commission rates depend on what is sold. Cruise lines pay 10%¹⁰ to 20%¹⁰ of the fare, and the average for ocean cruises is about 16%¹⁰. Tour operators pay 10% to 20%, and most hotels 8%¹⁰ to 15%¹⁰ of the room rate.¹⁰ All-inclusive resorts pay 10%¹² to 18%¹² and rental cars around 10%, while group tours often pay 16%¹² to 18%¹².¹² Travel insurance is among the richest lines at 20%¹⁰ to 37%¹⁰ depending on the provider.¹⁰

How much does a travel agent make per booking

Per booking, the product mix decides almost everything. A $5,000¹⁰ cruise at 16% pays the agency $800¹⁰, and an agent on a 70/30 split with a host agency keeps $560¹⁰ of it.¹⁰ The same money spent on a domestic flight at the top of the 0% to 5% range would pay $250³, and one major US airline pays a flat $2¹⁰ per segment instead of a percentage.¹⁰

That gap shows how much commission travel agents make on flights: 0%¹² to 5%¹² on domestic tickets and 5% to 15%¹² on international ones, depending on airline, route and cabin, which is why flight-only bookings are the ones that carry a service fee.¹²

Host agencies and the split

Many new agents work through a host agency, which collects the supplier commission and passes on a share. Hosts typically keep 10%¹³ to 40%¹³ of the commission and charge $30¹³ to $100¹³ a month or $200¹³ to $600¹³ a year in dues.¹³

So how much do Fora travel agents make? Fora advisors start on a 70/30 split in their favor, rising to 80/20 once they book $300,000¹² a year and 90/10 at $2 million¹².¹² Membership costs $299¹⁴ a year or $99¹⁴ a quarter, so paying quarterly costs $97³ more over a year.¹⁴ And how much does it cost to join Avoya Travel? The initial affiliation setup is $495¹⁵, followed by a license fee of $79¹⁵ a month.¹⁵

Many suppliers also pay on a sliding scale. An example tiered program pays 10%¹⁰ on the first $49,999¹⁰ of annual sales, 13%¹⁰ from $50,000¹⁰, 14%¹⁰ from $250,000¹⁰ and 15%¹⁰ from $500,000¹⁰. Commission is normally paid after the client travels, not at booking, so a new agent can wait months for the first payment.¹⁰

What it costs to become a travel agent

How much does it cost to become a travel agent

A high school diploma is the typical entry education, and certification is optional, though employers may prefer certified candidates.⁴ The entry-level Travel Agent Proficiency test costs $95¹⁷; the Certified Travel Associate program costs $599¹⁸; and the Verified Travel Advisor program costs $399¹⁷ for association members, $598¹⁷ for non-member independent contractors and $729¹⁷ for non-member advisors, with a $179¹⁷ recertification every two years.¹⁷ Cruise-line association membership costs $139¹⁹ a year for an individual agent and $429¹⁹ for an agency.¹⁹

How much does it cost to start a travel agency

Running a home-based agency adds business costs. Errors-and-omissions insurance runs $300¹³ to $1,000¹³ a year and general liability $500¹³ to $1,000¹³; a business entity costs $50¹³ to $500¹³ to form.¹³ All in, a minimal start costs $1,500¹³ to $3,000¹³, an average one $3,000 to $7,000¹³, and a premium launch $7,000 to $15,000¹³ or more, with monthly running costs of $200¹³ to $1,000¹³ after launch.¹³

How much is a travel agent license

Most states do not license travel agents at all. A handful require sellers of travel to register: California, Florida, Washington, Hawaii and Iowa, at $100¹³ to $700¹³.¹³ California's annual registration fee is $100²⁰ per business location, and some sellers must also keep a trust account or post a bond.²⁰ In Florida, an independent agent working under a registered host files a statement of exemption costing around $50¹⁶.¹⁶

Disney specialists

How much do Disney travel agents make

Disney specialists are paid by commission only. Most part-time Disney agents earn $8,000¹⁶ to $12,000¹⁶ a year; full-time agents working 40 to 60 hours a week typically earn $40,000¹⁶ to $60,000¹⁶, and top performers $70,000¹⁶ to $150,000¹⁶ or more.¹⁶ The first year is lean: most new agents book 15 to 25 trips and earn $4,500¹⁶ to $7,500¹⁶.¹⁶ In the second year, with 30 to 60 bookings, the typical range rises to $15,000¹⁶ to $30,000¹⁶ as repeat clients and referrals arrive.¹⁶

How much commission do Disney travel agents make

Walt Disney World and Disneyland packages pay a flat 10%¹⁶ commission to the agency. Disney Cruise Line pays 10%¹⁶ to 16%¹⁶ on a ladder set by the agency's annual cruise sales, which is why agents join large hosts: the host's pooled volume reaches the upper tiers.¹⁶

How much do Disney travel agents make per booking

On an average 2026 Walt Disney World vacation for a family of four, priced at $6,785¹⁶, Disney pays $678.50¹⁶ in commission. The agent's take depends on the host split: $339¹⁶ at 50/50, $475¹⁶ at 70/30 and $543¹⁶ at 80/20.¹⁶ A $10,000¹⁶ Disney cruise pays the agency $1,000¹⁶ to $1,600¹⁶ depending on its tier.¹⁶

Annual income is bookings times commission times split, minus costs. Worked through for four stages of a part-time Disney business, net income runs from about $3,500¹⁶ in the first year to $57,000¹⁶ for a top performer booking 100¹⁶ trips.¹⁶

Travel agent pay in Britain and Canada

British travel agents earn from about £22,000²¹ a year as starters to £34,000²¹ when experienced, or $29,015³ to $44,841³ at the 2025 average exchange rate.²² Canadian travel consultants earn a median of C$24.00²³ an hour, with the low end at C$17.50²³ and the high end at C$35.00²³.²³ Over a 2,080-hour year the Canadian median comes to C$49,920³, about $35,731³.²²

The US median of $50,160¹ is above both. The comparison is approximate: the US figure includes commission and covers payroll agents only, the Canadian figure is an hourly wage converted at full-time hours, and the British figures are typical salaries rather than a survey median.³

Inside Canada, pay varies by province and territory. Nunavut has the highest median, C$34.21²³ an hour, followed by Yukon at C$29.78²³; no figure is published for the Northwest Territories.²³ Among the provinces, British Columbia has the highest median, C$27.00²³, and Quebec the lowest, C$21.63²³.²³

What the numbers mean

For a traveler, the cost of an agent is usually hidden in the supplier's price. A cruise, tour or resort package booked through an agent generally costs the same as booking direct, because the commission comes out of the supplier's margin.¹⁰ Fees show up mainly for flights, excursions and heavily customized trips, and clients who pay a fixed fee to hire an agent typically pay about $1,611⁹.⁹

For someone weighing the career, the median of $50,160¹ describes an employed agent in the middle of the scale, but the self-employed route starts much lower: a part-time Disney specialist's first year brings $4,500¹⁶ to $7,500¹⁶, with startup costs of $1,500¹³ or more.¹⁶ The levers visible in the data are the product mix (cruises and tours over flights), the host split, and location.¹²

For the trade, the long series describes a smaller occupation with modestly higher real pay. There are about half as many payroll agents as in 2003, and the projection to 2035 shows no regrowth, yet about 5,900⁴ openings a year still come up as agents leave.⁴

For employers, pay has kept rising while payroll jobs shrank: the median has risen every year since 2014.² In Miami, Orlando and New York, the busiest hubs, pay sits close to or above the national mean; in Miami and Orlando that holds despite a deep local supply of agents.⁷

Conclusions

1. Travel agent pay is middle-of-the-road, not low. The median of $50,160 is within 1.6% of the median for all US workers, and the bottom tenth of agents earns more than the bottom tenth of all workers.
2. Most of the raise went to inflation. Nominal pay rose 85% since 2003, but after inflation the gain is 6%, and real pay barely moved from its 2003 level until 2017.
3. Fewer agents, a higher floor. Payroll jobs fell 47% since 2003 and 44% in the pandemic alone, while the 10th percentile more than doubled; in 2021, as jobs fell 33%, the 10th percentile rose but the 25th and 75th fell.
4. Where you sell matters as much as how much. State averages span $37,570 to $65,270, and the areas where agents are most concentrated, such as Southwest Missouri and Orlando, pay close to or below the national mean.
5. Income is a product mix decision. An ocean cruise pays about 16% commission and a domestic flight 0% to 5%, so $5,000 of sales pays $800 on a cruise but at most $250 on domestic flights; the host split then decides the take-home share.