Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers salary

SOC 53-2011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$232,140

per year, nationally

Middle half

$182,280–$384,440

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

103,560

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.9%

11,700 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$106,710$463,830

10th: $106,710
25th: $182,280
Median: $232,140
75th: $384,440
90th: $463,830

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: Less than 5 years
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Georgia	$618,090	96.3	8,770	2.69×
2	Idaho	$507,640	95.5	330	0.57×
3	Michigan	$428,570	96.2	—	—
4	California	$353,900	110.7	10,670	0.88×
5	Kentucky	$350,950	90.2	6,260	4.70×
6	Colorado	$307,490	103.1	5,830	3.05×
7	Illinois	$293,490	100.0	6,460	1.59×
8	New York	$255,240	107.9	6,900	1.07×
9	Alaska	$232,140	102.4	1,350	6.21×
10	Washington	$229,900	107.0	3,450	1.46×
11	Arizona	$227,870	100.7	2,200	1.02×
12	Florida	$225,020	103.4	7,760	1.17×
13	Texas	$215,150	97.1	10,930	1.17×
14	Minnesota	$211,470	98.6	2,960	1.51×
15	Ohio	$204,170	92.8	1,550	0.42×
16	Connecticut	$199,870	103.6	80	0.07×
17	Nevada	$192,460	100.0	2,160	2.09×
18	Utah	$174,590	98.9	1,880	1.62×
19	Oregon	$173,190	103.4	750	0.57×
20	Indiana	$171,260	93.3	—	—
21	Arkansas	$168,970	86.9	250	0.29×
22	Pennsylvania	$164,990	97.6	2,270	0.56×
23	Rhode Island	$164,880	102.3	40	0.13×
24	North Carolina	$151,540	94.3	2,240	0.68×
25	Maine	$147,930	97.0	40	0.09×
26	Tennessee	$143,580	91.9	110	0.05×
27	South Carolina	$143,580	93.7	110	0.07×
28	Mississippi	$143,580	87.0	360	0.46×
29	Kansas	$143,580	90.1	80	0.08×
30	New Mexico	$136,990	92.2	50	0.08×
31	Alabama	$136,990	88.8	360	0.26×
32	Oklahoma	$133,680	87.8	180	0.16×
33	Iowa	$131,730	87.8	100	0.10×
34	Nebraska	$131,650	90.1	60	0.09×
35	Louisiana	$120,740	88.2	150	0.11×
36	New Hampshire	$99,280	104.2	50	0.10×
37	Missouri	$97,680	90.8	120	0.06×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$618,090	100.1	8,700	4.52×
2	Boise City, ID	$507,640	98.4	—	—
3	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$428,570	100.3	—	—
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$374,680	115.6	2,900	1.83×
5	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$364,730	113.6	6,710	1.61×
6	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$350,950	95.4	3,330	4.54×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$343,140	110.4	50	0.07×
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$335,270	112.6	10,030	1.59×
9	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$321,950	111.9	340	0.34×
10	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$307,690	98.6	4,160	1.90×
11	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$307,490	105.8	5,600	5.23×
12	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$293,490	103.6	6,360	2.11×
13	Anchorage, AK	$232,240	105.4	1,270	10.80×
14	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$229,900	111.1	3,340	2.41×
15	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$229,490	100.9	180	0.18×
16	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$228,040	103.3	2,100	1.33×
17	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$219,330	100.3	—	—
18	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$216,070	114.2	4,810	2.56×
19	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$212,810	103.1	5,980	2.22×
20	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$211,470	104.8	2,940	2.26×
21	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$210,750	98.1	150	0.18×
22	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$209,750	108.9	5,100	2.44×
23	Lexington-Fayette, KY	$208,770	92.9	—	—
24	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$207,000	106.4	160	0.14×
25	Tucson, AZ	$206,050	96.9	60	0.22×
26	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$204,340	100.2	2,070	2.73×
27	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$199,870	102.7	70	0.17×
28	Fresno, CA	$195,310	102.2	80	0.26×
29	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$180,330	102.6	1,760	0.91×
30	Mobile, AL	$176,620	88.1	30	0.30×
31	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$174,940	100.9	1,740	3.16×
32	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$173,190	105.4	670	0.83×
33	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$171,260	95.7	—	—
34	Fort Smith, AR-OK	$170,960	85.9	40	0.63×
35	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$165,590	98.2	70	0.35×
36	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$164,480	101.8	50	0.10×
37	Akron, OH	$161,720	93.4	40	0.19×
38	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$160,990	91.7	60	0.22×
39	Oklahoma City, OK	$153,940	90.4	90	0.19×
40	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$151,540	97.3	2,090	2.31×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers earn the most

Best paying metro areas for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers

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