How Much Do Pilots Make a Year? Airline Pilot Salary Calculator

Airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers earned a median salary of $232,140 in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which counted 103,560 on airline and cargo payrolls. It is the widest pay ladder on this site: the bottom tenth earned under $106,710 and the top tenth over $463,830. Airline pilots usually start as first officers and move up by seniority (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook), which is the ladder those percentiles describe. BLS gives no hourly wage for pilots, so the calculator works from the salary, and per diem for time away is extra.

Airline pilots: pay at every level

This is the BLS line for airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers (SOC 53-2011): captains and first officers flying scheduled passenger and cargo routes. Commercial pilots — charter, crop-dusting, air ambulance and tour pilots — are a separate, lower-paid occupation. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this job, only annual pay, so the hourly column is blank. Take-home assumes a single filer with 2026 federal tax and FICA and no state tax.

Airline pilot pay by state

Georgia's median, $618,090, is far above every other state BLS reports, followed by Idaho ($507,640) and Michigan ($428,570). State medians swing far more for pilots than for any other job on this site, and BLS releases figures for only 37 states. Texas has the most airline pilots, 10,930, at $215,150; California has 10,670 at $353,900. Missouri's $97,680 is the lowest released median.

Which employers pay airline pilots most

Pilots at couriers and express delivery services — the cargo carriers — have the highest median, $334,930, ahead of scheduled passenger airlines at $293,240, which employ 88% of airline pilots (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Federal government pilots earn $141,140.

A airline pilot's schedule

Federal regulations cap pilots' work hours and set minimum rest between flights. Airline pilots fly an average of 75 hours a month and spend about another 150 hours a month on other duties such as checking the weather and preparing flight plans. Schedules often run several days on followed by days off, with overnight layovers, and routes and schedules are bid by seniority, so pilots with the longest service at an airline get the preferred ones (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Federal law requires airline pilots to retire at 65.

Overtime for airline pilots

The federal overtime rule doesn't reach airline crews: employees of air carriers are on the Department of Labor's list of workers exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (DOL Handy Reference Guide to the FLSA). Extra flying, international trips and time away are paid under the airline's collective bargaining agreement instead. Airline pilots also get per diem for every hour away from home and usually free or reduced-fare travel for their families (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook); per diem is a meal and lodging payment, which BLS doesn't count as a wage.

What airline pilots earn per flight hour

BLS reports airline pilot pay only as an annual salary. The Occupational Outlook Handbook puts airline pilots at an average of 75 flight hours a month plus about 150 hours of other duties, so the table divides each pay level by those hours. It's arithmetic on the BLS figures, not a contract rate: airlines actually pay by credited flight hours, which a pilot's contract defines.

Training, licenses and pay

Airline pilots typically need a bachelor's degree and experience as a commercial or military pilot, plus FAA certificates earned in order — commercial pilot certificate, instrument rating and the airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate every airliner crew member must hold — and aircraft type ratings for the jets they fly. Many build flying hours as flight instructors or charter pilots first, and they pass periodic medical exams and check rides to keep flying. New airline pilots usually start as first officers, and pay rises with experience and seniority under the union contract (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). That seniority ladder is why the 10th and 90th percentiles below are so far apart.

Related tools and guides

More ways to work with your airline pilot pay:

• Take-home pay calculator (2026 federal tax)
• Pay raise calculator
• Retirement savings calculator
• Hourly to salary calculator
• Hourly pay by job: all the BLS pay calculators