---
title: "Aviation Jobs"
description: "Careers that keep aircraft flying: pilots, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, aircraft mechanics and inspectors, cabin crew and airport operations.…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/aviation-jobs"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Aviation Jobs

Careers that keep aircraft flying: pilots, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, aircraft mechanics and inspectors, cabin crew and airport operations. Careers centred on this field come first, then the ones that touch it, each group ranked by national median pay from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Specialty careers, which BLS reports inside a broader occupation, show that occupation’s figures and are labelled on their pages.

44 occupations, in the ranked order the career bank computed. Wages are BLS OEWS, May 2025. Growth figures are BLS Employment Projections and education is the BLS "typical education needed for entry".

| # | Occupation | Median annual wage | Projected growth | Typical education |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Airline Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-pilot) | $232,140 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 2 | [Widebody Airline Captain](https://nuecareer.com/careers/widebody-airline-captain) | $232,140 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 3 | [Air Traffic Controller](https://nuecareer.com/careers/air-traffic-controller) | $148,080 | +1.7% | Associate's |
| 4 | [Aerospace Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-engineer) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 5 | [Flight Test Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/flight-test-engineer) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 6 | [Commercial Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 7 | [Corporate Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/corporate-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 8 | [eVTOL Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/evtol-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 9 | [Flight Inspection Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/flight-inspection-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 10 | [Fractional Jet Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fractional-jet-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Certificate |
| 11 | [Test Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/test-pilot) | $123,220 | +5.2% | Bachelor's |
| 12 | [Aviation Meteorologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aviation-meteorologist) | $99,070 | +2.6% | Bachelor's |
| 13 | [Aircraft Accident Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-accident-investigator) | $92,100 | +2.2% | Bachelor's |
| 14 | [Aviation Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aviation-inspector) | $92,100 | +2.2% | High school |
| 15 | [Aviation Safety Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aviation-safety-manager) | $92,100 | +2.2% | Bachelor's |
| 16 | [Airline Network Planner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-network-planner) | $88,940 | +11.9% | Bachelor's |
| 17 | [Airline Revenue Management Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-revenue-management-analyst) | $88,940 | +11.9% | Bachelor's |
| 18 | [Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-engineering-and-operations-technologist-and-technician) | $82,890 | +11.9% | Associate's |
| 19 | [Avionics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/avionics-technician) | $82,280 | +9.4% | Certificate |
| 20 | [Aircraft Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-mechanic) | $79,870 | +5.4% | Certificate |
| 21 | [Aircraft Structure, Surface, Rigging, and Systems Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-structure-surface-rigging-and-systems-assembler) | $65,380 | -5.6% | High school |
| 22 | [Corporate Flight Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/corporate-flight-attendant) | $63,580 | +8.8% | High school |
| 23 | [Flight Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/flight-attendant) | $63,580 | +8.8% | High school |
| 24 | [Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-cargo-handling-supervisor) | $58,170 | +9.2% | High school |
| 25 | [Drone Delivery Operations Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drone-delivery-operations-manager) | $58,170 | +9.2% | High school |
| 26 | [Airfield Operations Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airfield-operations-specialist) | $56,850 | +7.8% | High school |
| 27 | [Airport Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airport-manager) | $56,850 | +7.8% | Bachelor's |
| 28 | [Commercial Drone Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-drone-pilot) | $54,240 | +5.8% | High school |
| 29 | [Drone Light Show Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drone-light-show-pilot) | $54,240 | +5.8% | High school |
| 30 | [Aerospace Composite Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-composite-technician) | $46,880 | +4.6% | High school |
| 31 | [Aircraft Service Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-service-attendant) | $40,450 | +5.6% | High school |
| 32 | [Aerospace Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-medicine-physician) | $265,930 | +3.4% | Doctorate |
| 33 | [Astronaut](https://nuecareer.com/careers/astronaut) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Master's |
| 34 | [Guidance, Navigation, and Control Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/guidance-navigation-and-control-engineer) | $134,960 | +8.3% | Bachelor's |
| 35 | [Additive Manufacturing Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/additive-manufacturing-engineer) | $102,440 | +12.4% | Bachelor's |
| 36 | [Flight Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/flight-nurse) | $97,550 | +5.6% | Bachelor's |
| 37 | [Airport Wildlife Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airport-wildlife-biologist) | $76,780 | +3.6% | Bachelor's |
| 38 | [Federal Air Marshal](https://nuecareer.com/careers/federal-air-marshal) | $76,210 | +3.5% | High school |
| 39 | [Transportation Security Screener](https://nuecareer.com/careers/transportation-security-screener) | $66,770 | -4.2% | High school |
| 40 | [Helitack Crew Member](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helitack-crew-member) | $59,280 | +3.7% | High school |
| 41 | [Smokejumper](https://nuecareer.com/careers/smokejumper) | $59,280 | +3.7% | High school |
| 42 | [Agricultural Drone Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/agricultural-drone-pilot) | $46,340 | +3.9% | High school |
| 43 | [Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agent and Travel Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reservation-and-transportation-ticket-agent-and-travel-clerk) | $44,390 | +2.5% | High school |
| 44 | [Bird Abatement Falconer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bird-abatement-falconer) | $39,990 | +4.2% | High school |

Full record for any row, including wage percentiles and state-level pay: https://nuecareer.com/careers/{slug} or https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/{slug}.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/collections/aviation-jobs