Commercial Pilots in North Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$100,844
after federal, FICA and North Dakota tax
Tax takes
$32,166
24.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$113,855
North Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in North Dakota — 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
$133,010
Kept after tax
$100,844
Worth in national money
$113,855
State rank
12
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- North Dakota is one of the better-paying states for commercial pilots. The middle earner takes $133,010, which ranks 12 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 7.95% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 460 occupations North Dakota reports, commercial pilots comes in at 12 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- North Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $133,010 the take-home is $100,844; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $113,855 would nationally. The average comes to $157,900, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- North Dakota ranks 12 of 48 states publishing a median for commercial pilots, at $133,010 — about 7.95% 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 12 of 460 occupations by median in North Dakota, 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.
- Post-tax income for commercial pilots in North Dakota, on $133,010, is $100,844 — equivalent to $113,855 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $157,900 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 | $65,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $133,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $237,050 |
| This salary | $133,010 |
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 North Dakota | $100,844 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $102,178 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,706 |
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 | $131,058 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$12,378 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in North Dakota earn less than $133,010. The published range is $65,630 up to $237,050, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind North Dakota's $100,844, worked from $133,010. 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 12 of 460.
- One number stands for prices across all of North Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $113,855, the adjusted value of that $133,010 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 12 of 460 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for commercial pilots in North Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,630 to $237,050. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The North Dakota take-home of $100,844, on $133,010 for work ranking 12 of 460 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 12 of 460 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for North Dakota, so $113,855 — the adjusted value of that $133,010 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 12 of 460 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 $157,900, 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 $65,630 at the bottom tenth to $237,050 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. North Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $113,855 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and North Dakota adds its own income tax on top — which is why $100,844 of this wage survives to your account.
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 North Dakota is $157,900. 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 ($65,630) and the ninetieth ($237,050) 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?
North Dakota'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 $113,855 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 $100,844 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and North Dakota 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.