The mechanic shortage stopped being a conference topic and became a payroll line. The median maintenance listing posts $88,400, avionics clears $127,500, and the highest bidder for your A&P is now a rocket factory.
By WingmanPro Research · Published August 28, 2026
On August 28, 2026, there were 2,361 open aircraft maintenance listings posted on WingmanPro, one of the largest job families on the board. 49.6 percent state a pay range, slightly better than the 48.1 percent aviation-wide average, and among those the median is $88,400 with the middle half running from $73,296 to $121,882.
Avionics technician listings, 742 of them, post a median of $127,500. That is roughly $39,000 over the general maintenance median. Every glass-cockpit retrofit, ADS-B box and cabin connectivity install competes for a specialty the training pipeline produces in far smaller numbers than airframe generalists. If you are choosing a maintenance specialization in 2026, the data still votes for the electronics bench, and it is not a close vote.
| State | Open listings | Median posted pay |
|---|---|---|
| California | 314 | $132,500 |
| Texas | 217 | $78,000 |
| Washington | 150 | $91,213 |
| Illinois | 119 | $85,800 |
| Florida | 102 | $77,168 |
| New York | 85 | $87,547 |
| Georgia | 78 | $74,880 |
| Colorado | 49 | $84,625 |
| Arizona | 49 | $79,040 |
California pays a $54,500 premium over Texas for what is, on paper, the same wrench. That is not generosity; it is industry mix. California maintenance hiring is aerospace, space and defense, which pay engineering-adjacent wages, while a larger share of Texas and Florida work is MRO and general aviation. Cost of living eats some of the difference. Not $54,500 of it.
| Employer | Open listings | Median posted pay |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus | 153 | $143,070 |
| Federal Aviation Administration | 99 | $122,404 |
| Gulfstream | 82 | $85,358 |
| RTX | 80 | $80,111 |
| Amentum | 79 | $80,579 |
| SpaceX | 48 | $109,375 |
| Rocket Lab | 43 | $117,500 |
Read that list twice. The FAA, a government agency, posts a $122,404 median for maintenance roles. SpaceX and Rocket Lab pay six figures for hands that used to belong to airlines. Even the shortage has a shortage: the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, a trade school, currently has 98 open listings of its own, many of them for people to teach the next batch of mechanics. The pipeline is hiring pipeline.
California, at a $132,500 median across 314 open listings, and the driver is aerospace and space employers rather than airlines. Washington is second among big markets at $91,213.
Not on posted base pay. The top quarter of the market starts at $121,882 and posted listings top out well below $200,000. The stories are real but they are built from overtime, contract per diem and lead or inspector premiums, not base salary.
2,361 open listings, a median near $90,000, no degree required, and rocket companies bidding against airlines for your certificate. The market's answer is yes, loudly.
Yes. $127,500 median against $88,400 for maintenance overall, and the premium has held for as long as we have measured it.
Snapshot of maintenance listings posted on WingmanPro on August 28, 2026, matched by role and by title terms including A&P, airframe, powerplant, aircraft mechanic, aviation maintenance and avionics. Pay figures are medians of posted ranges, midpoint of each range, annualized with the board's standard factors, outliers excluded outside $20,000 to $2,000,000. State cuts use the listing's posted state. Refreshed monthly.