Technology
What you can do with Aviation Science
Flying and managing aircraft. Leads to the cockpit and the control tower.
- Careers
- 3
- Early career
- $65,000
- Mid-career
- $104,000
- Growing fast
- 1 of 3
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 3 careers an Aviation Science degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Aviation Science on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Engineering Technologies, the broader group it places this major in.
1 of 3 careers this degree leads to is projected to grow faster than average from 2024 to 2034. Of those, Commercial Pilot has the most openings, about 6,600 a year.
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3 careers this degree leads to
Airline Pilot
$232,140Fly passengers and cargo for airlines on scheduled routes, as captain or first officer.
- Middle half of workers
- $182,280 to $384,440
- Growth
- About average
- Openings a year
- 11,700
- Aircraft Operation
- Navigation
- Decision Making
- Communication
Air Traffic Controller
$148,080Direct aircraft through takeoff, flight, and landing with total focus, among the best-paid careers without a required degree.
- Middle half of workers
- $104,520 to $190,570
- Growth
- Slower than average
- Openings a year
- 2,200
Work-life64Remote70- Traffic Sequencing
- Radio Communication
- Rapid Decision Making
- Monitoring
Commercial Pilot
$123,220Fly charter, cargo, medical, and agricultural missions, the professional path toward airline flight decks.
- Middle half of workers
- $84,540 to $190,440
- Growth
- Faster than average
- Openings a year
- 6,600
Work-life38Remote0- Aircraft Operation
- Navigation
- Weather Interpretation
- Monitoring
Related majors
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Where these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.