Official job counts and pay by metro, the aviation companies in each city, and the open jobs today.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 09/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Aviation careers cluster where airlines, aircraft makers and air traffic facilities are. These are the 20 US metro areas with the most jobs in the three core aviation occupations BLS publishes by metro, each with the companies hiring there and the open jobs today.
12,600 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 6,710, aerospace engineers: 5,200, air traffic controllers: 690)
11,810 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 10,030, aerospace engineers: 770, air traffic controllers: 1,010)
10,210 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 5,980, aerospace engineers: 3,430, air traffic controllers: 800)
9,510 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 8,700, air traffic controllers: 810)
9,330 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 3,340, aerospace engineers: 5,480, air traffic controllers: 510)
9,320 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 5,100, aerospace engineers: 2,420, air traffic controllers: 1,800)
7,610 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 5,600, aerospace engineers: 2,010)
7,330 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 6,360, aerospace engineers: 120, air traffic controllers: 850)
6,050 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 4,160, aerospace engineers: 1,890)
5,990 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 4,810, aerospace engineers: 460, air traffic controllers: 720)
4,880 core aviation jobs (aerospace engineers: 4,880)
3,840 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 2,900, aerospace engineers: 510, air traffic controllers: 430)
3,680 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 2,940, aerospace engineers: 120, air traffic controllers: 620)
3,680 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 2,100, aerospace engineers: 1,360, air traffic controllers: 220)
3,410 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 3,330, air traffic controllers: 80)
3,180 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 2,120, aerospace engineers: 960, air traffic controllers: 100)
2,420 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 2,070, aerospace engineers: 180, air traffic controllers: 170)
2,280 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 1,740, aerospace engineers: 210, air traffic controllers: 330)
2,190 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 2,090, aerospace engineers: 100)
2,180 core aviation jobs (airline pilots: 1,770, aerospace engineers: 240, air traffic controllers: 170)
Companies you named and the largest US aviation and defense employers in our list. Click a name for its source or profile.
| Company ⇅ | Headquarters ⇅ | US sites / industry ⇅ | Employees ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing | Arlington, VA (US headquarters) | Everett, WA (assembly of most wide-body aircraft); Renton, WA (assembly of the 737); South Carolina, SC (commercial aircraft manufacturing (city not stated)) | 182,000 worldwide (2025) | no open listings in our sources |
| Airbus | Toulouse, France (global); US holding company Airbus Group, Inc. | Mobile, AL (final assembly line for the A220 and A320 family (2012 plan: up to 1,000 full-time workers)) | worldwide figure not used here | no open listings in our sources |
| Embraer | Fort Lauderdale, FL (US headquarters, Embraer Aircraft Holding) | Fort Lauderdale, FL (US headquarters); Melbourne, FL (final assembly of Phenom and Praetor jets); Titusville, FL (aircraft seats); Nashville, TN (maintenance services); Mesa, AZ (maintenance, repair and overhaul of executive jets); Windsor Locks, CT (maintenance, repair and overhaul of executive jets) | 18,997 worldwide (2024) | no open listings in our sources |
| RTX | Virginia | Aerospace, Defense, Information Security, Electronics | 180,000 (2025) | no open listings in our sources |
| American Airlines Group | Fort Worth, Texas | Aviation | 133,300 (2024) | no open listings in our sources |
| Lockheed Martin | Bethesda, Maryland | Aerospace, Defense | 123,000 (2025) | no open listings in our sources |
| Northrop Grumman | Virginia | Aerospace, defense | 95,000 (year not stated) | no open listings in our sources |
| General Electric | Ohio | Aerospace | 57,000 (2025) | no open listings in our sources |
| L3Harris Technologies | Florida | Aerospace and defense | 47,000 (2025) | no open listings in our sources |
| Leidos | Reston, Virginia | National security, defense, healthcare, engineering | 47,000 (year not stated) | 749 jobs → |
How we ranked. We added up the jobs in three core aviation occupations that BLS publishes for each metropolitan area: airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers; aerospace engineers; and air traffic controllers. The 20 metros with the most such jobs are shown, with median pay from the same BLS table. "Best" here means the biggest aviation job market in those occupations; it is not a rating of employers or of quality of life.
Limits. Other aviation jobs (aircraft mechanics, flight attendants, avionics technicians, assemblers) are not in the table this page uses, and BLS hides figures it cannot publish. Open jobs come from public company career boards and Jobs Private USA, not from every airline or manufacturer. Company sites for Boeing, Airbus and Embraer come from their Wikipedia articles and carry no per-site headcount.
By the three core occupations above, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, with 12,600 jobs (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
In Mobile, Alabama (final assembly line for the A220 and A320 family), per Wikipedia.
Its US headquarters is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; it also has sites in Melbourne and Titusville (FL), Nashville (TN), Mesa (AZ) and Windsor Locks (CT), per Wikipedia.