Flight Attendants build social perceptiveness, service orientation and coordination skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Transportation Security Screeners (80%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transportation Security Screeners | 80% | $66,770 | +5% | None |
| 2 | Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors | 74% | $58,170 | −9% | None |
| 3 | Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks | 73% | $44,390 | −30% | None |
| 4 | Postal Service Clerks | 72% | $62,130 | −2% | None |
| 5 | Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers | 72% | $76,210 | +20% | Certificate or associate |
| 6 | Correctional Officers and Jailers | 71% | $58,940 | −7% | None |
| 7 | Bailiffs | 71% | $56,600 | −11% | Certificate or associate |
| 8 | Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity | 70% | $59,050 | −7% | None |
| 9 | Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance | 69% | $50,340 | −21% | None |
| 10 | Passenger Attendants | 69% | $37,720 | −41% | None |
Compared with Flight Attendants, median $63,580. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as flight attendants (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
80% skill match · $66,770 · +5% pay
Equipment Maintenance · Equipment Selection · Operation and Control
74% skill match · $58,170 · −9% pay
Management of Personnel Resources · Repairing · Systems Analysis
73% skill match · $44,390 · −30% pay
Systems Analysis · Programming · Systems Evaluation
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Transportation Security Screeners (80% skill match, median $66,770), Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors (74% skill match, median $58,170) and Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks (73% skill match, median $44,390), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 10 pay more than flight attendants at the median. The biggest increases: First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives (+67%, $106,040), Postmasters and Mail Superintendents (+52%, $96,660) and Transit and Railroad Police (+42%, $90,230).
18 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.