How much does an airline pilot make?
Typical yearly pay for airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers in the United States.
median pay per year, about $19,345 a month or $111.61 an hour.
That's more than 100% of the 100 jobs in our salary guide, ranking #1 of 100.
Think you know what other jobs pay?
Paycheck is a free daily game: guess the pay for five jobs, see how close you got, and share your score.
Play today's PaycheckWhere it ranks
| Airline pilot | $232,140 |
| CEO | $213,990 |
| IT manager | $175,140 |
| Dentist | $170,950 |
Similar jobs
- Air traffic controller$148,080
- Ship captain or pilot$92,460
- Train engineer$81,410
- Railroad conductor$78,000
- Flight attendant$63,580
- Long-haul truck driver$58,640
How much does an airline pilot make per hour?
About $111.61 an hour, if you spread the median yearly pay over a standard 40-hour week, 52 weeks a year. Actual hourly pay varies with overtime, shift work and location.
Becoming an airline pilot
The U.S. Department of Labor's career profile covers the training, licenses and day-to-day tasks for this job.
How to become an airline pilot
About this number
This is the national median wage for the occupation “Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers” (code 53-2011.00) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025 release, as published on O*NET OnLine. The median is the middle value: half of workers earn more, half earn less.