Flagging and Traffic Control Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Flagging and Traffic Control maps to BLS occupations averaging about $75,289, with roughly 184,800 workers nationwide in those roles. About 7,392 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $4,530.
Key Statistics
Flagging and Traffic Control: what the data shows
Common questions about flagging and traffic control degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a flagging and traffic control degree?
A Flagging and Traffic Control program is classified under NCES CIP 49.0207.
A program that prepares individuals to control the movement of traffic through construction and maintenance zones and to protect the safety of work crews, drivers, and pedestrians. Includes instruction in flagging duties and responsibilities, the traffic control zone, flagging signals, pavement markers, freeway flagging, utility flagging, emergency response flagging, and night traffic control
IPEDS counted 7,392 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of flagging and traffic control degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 49.02 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation (CIP 49.0202)
- Forklift Operation/Operator (CIP 49.0209)
- Mobil Crane Operator/Operation (CIP 49.0206)
- Railroad and Railway Transportation (CIP 49.0208)
- Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor (CIP 49.0205)
How long does it take to get a flagging and traffic control degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 49.0207 in our file:
- 1,939 Associate (19.1% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 7,392 Bachelor's (72.8% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 817 Master's (8.1% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Air Traffic Controllers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 49.0207, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a flagging and traffic control degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Flagging and Traffic Control to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Air Traffic Controllers | 22,400 | $144,580 |
| Pest Control Workers | 96,110 | $44,730 |
| Traffic Technicians | 7,580 | $58,480 |
| Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door | 46,920 | $74,690 |
| Animal Control Workers | 11,790 | $45,830 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a flagging and traffic control degree worth it?
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $4,530 and median net price is $8,759.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Flagging and Traffic Control and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,530 Median In-State Public
$14,262 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Flagging and Traffic Control majors are, on average, $4,530 for in-state public colleges, and $14,262 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Flagging and Traffic Control programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Flagging and Traffic Control from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Flagging and Traffic Control.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 2 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 3 | College of Southern Nevada | NV | 27,252 |
| 4 | Palm Beach State College | FL | 21,956 |
| 5 | Utah State University | UT | 20,272 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Flagging and Traffic Control programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego City College | CA | $1,146 |
| 2 | San Diego City College | CA | $1,146 |
| 3 | Santiago Canyon College | CA | $1,164 |
| 4 | Shasta College | CA | $1,197 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Trade Technical College | CA | $1,238 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Flagging and Traffic Control programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Peck Community College | MT | $400 |
| 2 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
| 3 | Henry Ford College | MI | $660 |
| 4 | North Florida College | FL | $804 |
| 5 | Southern Regional Technical College | GA | $813 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Flagging and Traffic Control programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Flagging and Traffic Control programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Flagging and Traffic Control is in FL (1,825 completions). That state represents about 24.7% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is ND (3.34% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL | 1,825 | 24.7% | 0.80% |
| VA | 537 | 7.3% | 0.44% |
| ND | 413 | 5.6% | 3.34% |
| TN | 406 | 5.5% | 0.55% |
| NY | 387 | 5.2% | 0.14% |
| MI | 349 | 4.7% | 0.30% |
| AZ | 323 | 4.4% | 0.23% |
| OH | 280 | 3.8% | 0.20% |
| IL | 270 | 3.6% | 0.20% |
| UT | 258 | 3.5% | 0.24% |
| CA | 256 | 3.5% | 0.06% |
| IN | 252 | 3.4% | 0.24% |
| TX | 216 | 2.9% | 0.07% |
| OK | 205 | 2.8% | 0.49% |
| AL | 154 | 2.1% | 0.23% |
| GA | 119 | 1.6% | 0.10% |
| WA | 100 | 1.4% | 0.14% |
| MN | 97 | 1.3% | 0.11% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 49.02 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment Operation CIP 49.0202
- Forklift Operation/Operator CIP 49.0209
- Mobil Crane Operator/Operation CIP 49.0206
- Railroad and Railway Transportation CIP 49.0208
- Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor CIP 49.0205
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 49.0207 in the survey year used in our extract (10,148 total across levels below).
- 1,939 Associate (19.1% of IPEDS total)
- 7,392 Bachelor's (72.8% of IPEDS total)
- 817 Master's (8.1% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $75,289. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Flagging and Traffic Control graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Air Traffic Controllers | $156,689 | 22,400 |
| Pest Control Workers | $47,040 | 96,110 |
| Traffic Technicians | $77,090 | 7,580 |
| Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door | $96,463 | 46,920 |
| Animal Control Workers | $65,501 | 11,790 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$75,289 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Flagging and Traffic Control majors is $75,289.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Flagging and Traffic Control majors.
Occupations by Share
184,800 2023 Workforce
The number of Flagging and Traffic Control graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Flagging and Traffic Control by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Flagging and Traffic Control in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Flagging and Traffic Control.
Age distribution for Flagging and Traffic Control degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
7,392 Total Degrees Awarded
6,210 Male (84.01%)
1,182 Female (15.99%)
Gender distribution of Flagging and Traffic Control degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
4,586 White (62.04%)
757 Hispanic or Latino (10.24%)
401 Black or African American (5.42%)
320 Asian (4.33%)
312 Two or More Races (4.22%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Flagging and Traffic Control degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Flagging and Traffic Control are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Flagging and Traffic Control.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Flagging and Traffic Control field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Flagging and Traffic Control majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Flagging and Traffic Control majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Flagging and Traffic Control majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to control the movement of traffic through construction and maintenance zones and to protect the safety of work crews, drivers, and pedestrians. Includes instruction in flagging duties and responsibilities, the traffic control zone, flagging signals, pavement markers, freeway flagging, utility flagging, emergency response flagging, and night traffic control
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Flagging and Traffic Control.
CIP Code
49.0207 - Flagging and Traffic Control
What the data shows
Men earned 14.4% of 35,230 Flagging and Traffic Control completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $75,289. The largest mapped role by headcount is Air Traffic Controllers (22,400 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,530 in-state at public colleges and $14,262 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.