How hard is it to become a federal air marshal?

Becoming a Federal Air Marshal can be challenging due to the rigorous physical, educational, and background requirements that must be met. There are various factors that make becoming a federal air marshal difficult

How To Become A Federal Air Marshal: What It Is and Career Path

What is a federal air marshal and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a federal air marshal. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.15 an hour? That's $46,065 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 20,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFederal Air MarshalUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $46,065

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 2.83%

Black or African American 11.96%

Hispanic or Latino 17.06%

Unknown 5.00%

White 62.48%

Gender

female 10.59%

male 89.41%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a federal air marshal

Explore federal air marshal education requirements

Most common federal air marshal degrees

Bachelor's

70.3 %

Associate

14.6 %

Master's

10.4 %

Start to develop specific federal air marshal skills

Skills	Percentages
Federal Air	18.81%
Surveillance Detection	7.63%
Emergency Situations	6.48%
Firearms Proficiency	6.14%
Law Enforcement Agencies	5.74%

Complete relevant federal air marshal training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New federal air marshals learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a federal air marshal based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real federal air marshal resumes.

Research federal air marshal duties and responsibilities

Lead 70 felony-level investigations which ensure the safety and security of over 7K personnel and 3.4B in DoD resources.
Analyze and enter civil subpoenas for service throughout the district.
Update project status' weekly into DAPTIV a project management software available to the USMS.
Seize illegal drugs, firearms, and vehicles used in the commission of an offense.

Get federal air marshal experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a federal air marshal. The most common roles before becoming a federal air marshal include police officer, correction officer team lead and special agent.

Prepare your federal air marshal resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your federal air marshal resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a federal air marshal resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable federal air marshal resume templates

Build a professional federal air marshal resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your federal air marshal resume.