Airline Pilots & Engineers
Fly passengers or cargo, manage complex systems, and own every decision in the air.
At a glance
For Airline Pilots & Engineers, the median wage is $232,140, $164,950 above the typical occupation we cover, and more than double the median across Transportation. Next to Railroad Safety Inspectors, the median wage here is $140,040 higher. Hiring volume is roughly 11,200 openings a year. Typical entry-level education is listed as Bachelor's plus flight hours. Projected employment change for 2025 to 2035 is +8.3%, 4.6 points above the typical occupation we cover. Modeled AI exposure for Airline Pilots & Engineers ranks at the 35th percentile; displacement risk is low and works-with-AI 28/100, closer to help than to displacement.
Similar pay in Transportation
Key skills
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Active Learning
Pay and jobs by state
BLS OEWS May 2025, 50 states and DC. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 10,930 | 0.8 | 1.2× | $215k |
| California | 10,670 | 0.6 | 0.9× | $354k |
| Georgia | 8,770 | 1.8 | 2.7× | $618k |
| Florida | 7,760 | 0.8 | 1.2× | $225k |
| New York | 6,900 | 0.7 | 1.1× | $255k |
| Illinois | 6,460 | 1.1 | 1.6× | $293k |
| Kentucky | 6,260 | 3.1 | 4.7× | $351k |
| Colorado | 5,830 | 2.0 | 3.0× | $307k |
| Washington | 3,450 | 1.0 | 1.5× | $230k |
| New Jersey | 3,439 (estimated) | 0.8 (estimated) | 1.2× (estimated) | $234k (estimated) |
All 50 states and DC
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 2,960 | 1.0 | 1.5× | $211k |
| Michigan | 2,852 (estimated) | 0.6 (estimated) | 1.0× (estimated) | $429k |
| Indiana | 2,722 (estimated) | 0.9 (estimated) | 1.3× (estimated) | $171k |
| Virginia | 2,461 (estimated) | 0.6 (estimated) | 0.9× (estimated) | $232k (estimated) |
| Pennsylvania | 2,270 | 0.4 | 0.6× | $165k |
| Massachusetts | 2,240 | 0.6 | 0.9× | $240k (estimated) |
| North Carolina | 2,240 | 0.5 | 0.7× | $152k |
| Arizona | 2,200 | 0.7 | 1.0× | $228k |
| Nevada | 2,160 | 1.4 | 2.1× | $192k |
| Wisconsin | 2,081 (estimated) | 0.7 (estimated) | 1.1× (estimated) | $237k (estimated) |
| Utah | 1,880 | 1.1 | 1.6× | $175k |
| Maryland | 1,617 (estimated) | 0.6 (estimated) | 0.9× (estimated) | $235k (estimated) |
| Ohio | 1,550 | 0.3 | 0.4× | $204k |
| Alaska | 1,350 | 4.1 | 6.2× | $232k |
| Oregon | 750 | 0.4 | 0.6× | $173k |
| West Virginia | 454 (estimated) | 0.6 (estimated) | 1.0× (estimated) | $195k (estimated) |
| Hawaii | 381 (estimated) | 0.6 (estimated) | 0.9× (estimated) | $251k (estimated) |
| Alabama | 360 | 0.2 | 0.3× | $137k |
| Mississippi | 360 | 0.3 | 0.5× | $144k |
| Idaho | 330 | 0.4 | 0.6× | $508k |
| North Dakota | 325 (estimated) | 0.8 (estimated) | 1.1× (estimated) | $257k (estimated) |
| Delaware | 323 (estimated) | 0.7 (estimated) | 1.0× (estimated) | $242k (estimated) |
| South Dakota | 300 (estimated) | 0.7 (estimated) | 1.0× (estimated) | $210k (estimated) |
| Montana | 297 (estimated) | 0.6 (estimated) | 0.9× (estimated) | $240k (estimated) |
| Arkansas | 250 | 0.2 | 0.3× | $169k |
| Oklahoma | 180 | 0.1 | 0.2× | $134k |
| Vermont | 158 (estimated) | 0.5 (estimated) | 0.8× (estimated) | $238k (estimated) |
| Louisiana | 150 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $121k |
| Washington DC | 140 (estimated) | 0.2 (estimated) | 0.3× (estimated) | $259k (estimated) |
| Missouri | 120 | 0.0 | 0.1× | $98k |
| South Carolina | 110 | 0.0 | 0.1× | $144k |
| Tennessee | 110 | 0.0 | 0.1× | $144k |
| Iowa | 100 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $132k |
| Connecticut | 80 | 0.0 | 0.1× | $200k |
| Kansas | 80 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $144k |
| Wyoming | 80 | 0.3 | 0.4× | $248k (estimated) |
| Nebraska | 60 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $132k |
| New Hampshire | 50 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $99k |
| New Mexico | 50 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $137k |
| Maine | 40 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $148k |
| Rhode Island | 40 | 0.1 | 0.1× | $165k |
Top metro areas
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ10,030 jobs · $335k median
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA8,700 jobs · $618k median
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA6,710 jobs · $365k median
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN6,360 jobs · $293k median
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX5,980 jobs · $213k median
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO5,600 jobs · $307k median
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV5,100 jobs · $210k median
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL4,810 jobs · $216k median
Where this ranks
Explore Airline Pilots & Engineers interactively →Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.