Commercial Pilots in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,578
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$27,312
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$91,422
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$121,890
Kept after tax
$94,578
Worth in national money
$91,422
State rank
20
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Florida pays commercial pilots around $121,890 at the midpoint, 20 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Florida. It ranks 25 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $121,890 the take-home is $94,578. But Florida costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $91,422 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $145,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For commercial pilots the Florida median is $121,890, ranking 20 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Florida, commercial pilots ranks 25 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Florida income tax is $94,578 for commercial pilots, from $121,890. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $91,422. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $145,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $121,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $229,110 |
| This salary | $121,890 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Florida | $94,578 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,578 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,905 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $121,890 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,160 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of commercial pilots in Florida earn under $121,890 and half over. The published range runs $62,590 at the tenth percentile to $229,110 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Florida's $94,578, worked from $121,890. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 25 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $91,422 uses one figure for the whole of Florida. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 25.
- Figures are distribution medians for commercial pilots in Florida, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $62,590 to $229,110; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Florida take-home of $94,578, on $121,890 for work ranking 25 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 25 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $91,422, worked from $121,890, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Florida address, on work sitting at 25 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $145,320, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $62,590, the highest tenth $229,110, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Florida run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $91,422 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $94,578 of this wage reaches your account, because Florida takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Florida is $145,320. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($62,590) and the ninetieth ($229,110) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $91,422 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $94,578 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.