Commercial Pilots in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$83,768
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$36,992
30.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,992
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — 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
$120,760
Kept after tax
$83,768
Worth in national money
$79,992
State rank
21
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Oregon is 21 of 48 states for commercial pilots, with a middle wage of $120,760. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Oregon this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, commercial pilots ranks 50 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $120,760, tax leaves $83,768 — and because Oregon is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $79,992 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $144,320, since top earners drag the number up.
- Oregon ranks 21 of 48 for commercial pilots at $120,760. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Oregon publishes a median for, commercial pilots sits 50 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $83,768 remains from the Oregon median of $120,760 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $79,992 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $144,320 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 | $50,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $120,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $307,900 |
| This salary | $120,760 |
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 Oregon | $83,768 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $93,785 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,519 |
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 | $106,522 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$22,818 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $120,760 as a midpoint for Oregon, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,960 and the ninetieth is $307,900 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $83,768 take-home in Oregon comes from $120,760. 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 50 of 489.
- Two cautions on $79,992, the adjusted value of that $120,760 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oregon. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 50 of 489 locally.
- The Oregon median of $120,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,960 to $307,900. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $83,768, from $120,760, assumes a single Oregon 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 50 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 48 for it.
- This $79,992 adjusted figure, worked from $120,760, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 50 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 50 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $144,320, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $50,960 and the top tenth $307,900 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Oregon run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $79,992 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $83,768.
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 Oregon is $144,320. 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 ($50,960) and the ninetieth ($307,900) 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?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $79,992 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 $83,768 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon 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.