Commercial Pilots in Maryland
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,892
after federal, FICA and Maryland tax
Tax takes
$36,318
27.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$91,273
Maryland costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Maryland — 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
$131,210
Kept after tax
$94,892
Worth in national money
$91,273
State rank
13
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Maryland is one of the better-paying states for commercial pilots. The middle earner takes $131,210, which ranks 13 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 6.48% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Maryland reports, commercial pilots comes in at 37 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $131,210 the take-home is $94,892. But Maryland costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $91,273 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $138,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Maryland ranks 13 of 48 states publishing a median for commercial pilots, at $131,210 — about 6.48% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Commercial pilots ranks 37 of 489 occupations by median in Maryland, 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.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Maryland income tax is $94,892 for commercial pilots, from $131,210. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $91,273. ⚠️ 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 $138,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $131,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $229,430 |
| This salary | $131,210 |
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 Maryland | $94,892 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $100,948 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,609 |
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 | $122,350 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,685 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
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 Maryland earn under $131,210 and half over. The published range runs $58,070 at the tenth percentile to $229,430 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 Maryland's $94,892, worked from $131,210. 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 37 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $91,273 uses one figure for the whole of Maryland. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 37.
- Figures are distribution medians for commercial pilots in Maryland, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,070 to $229,430; 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 Maryland take-home of $94,892, on $131,210 for work ranking 37 of 489 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 37 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $91,273, worked from $131,210, 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 Maryland address, on work sitting at 37 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $138,530 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $58,070 at the bottom tenth to $229,430 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $91,273 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Maryland then takes its own share, leaving $94,892.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Maryland is $138,530. 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 ($58,070) and the ninetieth ($229,430) 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?
Maryland's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $91,273 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $94,892 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Maryland 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.