Career Atlas USA

Baggage Porters and Bellhops

Median salary
$37,080
Average salary
$38,570
Employment
28,510
Projected growth
1.6% decline
Annual openings
4,600
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent

What Baggage Porters and Bellhops Do

Handle baggage for travelers at transportation terminals or for guests at hotels or similar establishments.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 20242034.

Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Self-employed
Not available

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 2 of 5

Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed

Experience
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
Education
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Job training
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

  • Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.6/5
  • English Languageimportance 3.7/5
  • Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.4/5
  • Transportationimportance 3.4/5
  • Sales and Marketingimportance 2.8/5
  • Education and Trainingimportance 2.7/5
  • Computers and Electronicsimportance 2.7/5
  • Telecommunicationsimportance 2.5/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

  • Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions4.8/5
  • In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment4.8/5
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.7/5
  • Contact With Others4.4/5
  • Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.3/5
  • Freedom to Make Decisions4.3/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

  • Service Orientationimportance 3.8/5
  • Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
  • Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.9/5
  • Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.9/5
  • Time Managementimportance 2.9/5
  • Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.8/5
  • Instructingimportance 2.5/5
  • Operations Monitoringimportance 2.4/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

  • Social Orientation
  • Dependability
  • Cooperation
  • Integrity
  • Optimism
  • Empathy
  • Self-Control

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

  • RealisticMedium
  • ConventionalMedium
  • SocialMedium
  • EnterprisingLow
  • InvestigativeLow
  • ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where baggage porters and bellhops make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

  1. 1Kahului-Wailuku, HI21.72× national avg
  2. 2Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV9.80× national avg
  3. 3Urban Honolulu, HI9.51× national avg
  4. 4Kingston, NY7.43× national avg
  5. 5Napa, CA7.24× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

See the full career path from Baggage Porters and Bellhops

Full salary data & percentiles →Best states for this career →Highest-paying states →