Commercial Pilots in Maine
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$84,770
after federal, FICA and Maine tax
Tax takes
$32,790
27.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$87,305
Maine costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maine — 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
$117,560
Kept after tax
$84,770
Worth in national money
$87,305
State rank
23
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Maine is 23 of 48 states for commercial pilots, with a middle wage of $117,560. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Maine reports, commercial pilots comes in at 29 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Maine costs about what the country costs, so from $117,560, take-home of $84,770 is worth roughly $87,305 in national money. The average comes to $139,890, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Maine ranks 23 of 48 for commercial pilots at $117,560. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Commercial pilots ranks 29 of 484 occupations by median in Maine, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Maine is near the national base, so for commercial pilots, whose median is $117,560, the adjusted figure of $87,305 differs little from $84,770 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $139,890 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $117,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $252,760 |
| This salary | $117,560 |
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 Maine | $84,770 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $91,533 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,890 |
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 | $107,946 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,517 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Maine earn less than $117,560. The published range is $73,310 up to $252,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $84,770 take-home in Maine comes from $117,560. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 29 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Maine, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $87,305, the adjusted value of that $117,560 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 29 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for commercial pilots in Maine the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $73,310 to $252,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $84,770, from $117,560, assumes a single Maine filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 29 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Maine, so $87,305 — the adjusted value of that $117,560 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 29 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $139,890, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $73,310 at the bottom tenth to $252,760 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Maine is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $87,305 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Maine's own levy, $84,770 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 Maine is $139,890. 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 ($73,310) and the ninetieth ($252,760) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Maine's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $87,305 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $84,770 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maine income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
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.