Aircraft Mechanic Salary in Texas 2026,
$84,440 Median | BLS Data by City

A median $84,440 a year, or $40.60 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025 — 5.7% above the national median of $79,870, with no state income tax deducted. The middle half falls between $69,130 and $99,490 and the full band runs $48,600 to $122,180. Paying above the national median with no state tax makes this a strong market for the trade.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington at $94,920, ahead of Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands $85,400, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos $84,440, Waco $80,580 and Corpus Christi $80,270. The roughly fifteen thousand dollar spread reflects the concentration of airline maintenance bases, defence sustainment and aviation manufacturing in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

No — the credential is federal. The Federal Aviation Administration issues the airframe and powerplant certificate, and it is that certificate which authorises approving aircraft for return to service. Texas adds nothing on top, which means the qualification is fully portable across every state. An approved aviation maintenance technician school or documented practical experience, plus written, oral and practical examinations, is the route to it.

Because four different aviation sectors overlap here. Airline heavy maintenance and line operations, a large military and defence sustainment industry, business and general aviation, and aviation manufacturing all operate in Texas at scale, and the Dallas-Fort Worth region concentrates much of it. The result is about 16,850 mechanics at 1.35 times the national rate — more than one in eight of the entire American occupation.

It is the principal credential step above the airframe and powerplant certificate, permitting the holder to perform annual inspections and approve major repairs and alterations, and it requires several years of certificated experience plus examination. In Texas it sits with lead mechanic and supervisory roles in the $99,490 seventy-fifth percentile to $122,180 ninetieth percentile range. For a mechanic planning a long career in this trade, it is the clearest published step available.

It means complete portability, which is unusual on this site. Almost every other trade and profession here involves a state credential that stops at the state line — electricians, plumbers, nurses outside the compact, most allied health. An FAA airframe and powerplant certificate holder can move from a Fort Worth airline base to an Arizona defence facility to a Florida business aviation operator without re-credentialing. In practice that makes aviation maintenance a national labour market with national rates, and it means Texas's 5.7% premium over the national median is competing for people who can genuinely go elsewhere. The state's advantage is depth of employers rather than a captive workforce.

It reports wages as paid, so the shift differentials and overtime that characterise line maintenance are inside the number. The occupation covers airline, defence, business aviation and manufacturing employment at genuinely different rates and shift patterns, and defence sustainment work in particular often sits under contract terms that differ from commercial aviation. And the figure excludes per-diem and travel arrangements common in contract maintenance work.

The airframe and powerplant certificate first, since it is what authorises return-to-service approval and separates the $48,600 tenth percentile from the rest. Employer sector second: airline heavy maintenance and defence sustainment above general aviation, which is much of the Dallas-Fort Worth premium. Type and specialty experience third — avionics, structures and engine work. FAA inspection authorisation fourth, with lead and supervisory roles, which is what the $122,180 ninetieth percentile describes. Shift pattern and overtime run through all of it, untaxed by the state.