Aircraft pilots & flight engineers

Detailed Occupation

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2024 Workforce

213k

Average Age

43.7

Average Salary

$174,473

Average Male Salary

$178,204

Average Female Salary

$120,346

About

Aircraft pilots & flight engineers are most often employed by the Air transportation industry. The average yearly wage for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers was $174,473 in 2024.

The locations that employ the most Aircraft pilots & flight engineers are Coffee & Dale Counties PUMA, AL, Santa Rosa County PUMA, FL, and Three Rivers Regional Commission (North Central)--Coweta County PUMA, GA. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Aircraft pilots & flight engineers are Coffee & Dale Counties PUMA, AL, Anchorage Municipality (North) PUMA, AK, and Atlanta Regional Commission (South Central)--Fayette County PUMA, GA.

Photo by Alexander Mueller

Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations Transportation & Material Moving Occupations Transportation Occupations

Employment and salary information for the Aircraft pilots & flight engineers workforce. Aircraft pilots & flight engineers workforce in 2024 was 212,652 people, of which 6.45% were women and 93.6% were men.

Aircraft pilots & flight engineers are paid most in Alameda County (East)--Livermore & Dublin (East) Cities PUMA, CA but are relatively concentrated in Coffee & Dale Counties PUMA, AL.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

198,939

Male Workforce

± 10.9k

13,713

Female Workforce

± 2.87k

The Aircraft pilots & flight engineers workforce in 2024 was 212,652 people (6.45% women and 93.6% men). This implies an average annual growth of 45.9% between 2014 (145,776) and 2024 (212,652).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers.

During 2024, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were West Virginia ($259,825), Vermont ($257,026), and Alaska ($234,619).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$174,473

AVERAGE WAGE

#15 in the ranking (2014)

$69,878

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2024, Aircraft pilots & flight engineers earned an average of $174,473, $104,595 more than the average national salary of $69,878

The graph shows the ranking of Aircraft pilots & flight engineers in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2014.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.392

WAGE GINI

In 2024, Aircraft pilots & flight engineers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.392, which is lower than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Aircraft pilots & flight engineers and on wages for those in the field. Air transportation is the industry that employs the most Aircraft pilots & flight engineers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers, by average wage, is Couriers & messengers ($332,095).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

213k

2024 Workforce

± 11,314

2.39%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 7.39%

This graphic shows the share of Aircraft pilots & flight engineers employed by various industries. Air transportation employs the largest share of Aircraft pilots & flight engineers at 80.5%, followed by U. S. Air Force with 10.3% and U. S. Navy with 4.75%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Aircraft pilots & flight engineers in the US. The workforce of Aircraft pilots & flight engineers in 2024 was 212,652 people, with 6.45% woman, and 93.6% men. The average age of male Aircraft pilots & flight engineers in the workforce is 44 and of female Aircraft pilots & flight engineers is 38.2, and the most common race/ethnicity for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Aircraft pilots & flight engineers in 2024 was 212,652 people, with 6.45% woman, and 93.6% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 30 to 34 years (26,784 people), 35 to 39 years (25,449 people), and 25 to 29 years (24,793 people). Among them they concentrated 36.3% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2024, 7.54% of Aircraft pilots & flight engineers workers were Hispanic and 92.5% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (35.9%), Puerto Rican (19)%, and Colombian (7.4)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2024, 84% of the Aircraft pilots & flight engineers workforce were White, of which 6.11% were women and 93.9% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Two or More Races (8.52%) and Black (2.76%).

Education & Skills

Data on higher education choices for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers is Transportation but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2024 were Transportation.

Among the necessary skills for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers, Operation and Control stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Aircraft pilots & flight engineers need more than the average amount of Operation and Control.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Aircraft pilots & flight engineers in 2024 (counting all academic degrees) were Transportation (47,141 people), Engineering (25,628 people), and Business (25,327 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Aircraft pilots & flight engineers workers were Bachelors Degree (125,910 people), Graduate Degree (36,954 people), and Some college (21,577 people).

The graphic shows the Aircraft pilots & flight engineers workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Aircraft pilots & flight engineers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Aircraft pilots & flight engineers need many skills, but most especially Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Monitoring.