Commercial Pilots Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $100K, rent takes 31.2% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,930/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,900/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new commercial pilots typically earn — is $61K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,662/month.

Local pay runs 19% below the national median — $100K here vs. $123K nationally.

Eastern North Carolina nonmetropolitan area pays $100K median vs. the U.S. average of $123K — that’s -19%.

The median is $100,080 a year. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $61,030, and experienced commercial pilots can clear $160,910. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,191/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,930/month, which eats 31.2% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Eastern North Carolina nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median commercial pilots salary is worth about $100,080 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.