Texas·Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations·SOC 49-3011

Best Aircraft Mechanic programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment

Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul aircraft engines and assemblies, such as hydraulic and pneumatic.

11 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,074 people a year. The job pays a median of $84,440 in Texas across about 16,850 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAircraft MechanicAircraft Technician (Aircraft Tech)Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic (A and P Mechanic)Aircraft Maintenance Technician (Aircraft Maintenance Tech)EnginemanJet MechanicAircraft WorkerAirplane Rigger
Graduates / yr
1,074
in Texas
Median pay · Texas
$84,440
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
16,850
people employed
Schools
11
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
42%
across those schools
Median net price
$24,128
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Texas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Texas page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 47.0607In Texas
823
76.6%
11$37,089$11,790
2
CIP 47.0608In Texas
251
23.4%
7$37,089$11,790

Top 11 schools in Texas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 11 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Texas State Technical College
Waco, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
190Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$38,50646%
2Aviation Institute of Maintenance - Dallas
Irving, TX Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
176Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$43,46053%$27,178
3Universal Technical Institute of Texas Inc.
Houston, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
169Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$40,46960%$22,532
4St Philip's College
San Antonio, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
141Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician28%
5Aviation Institute of Maintenance - Houston
Houston, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
126Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$38,62373%$24,128
6Tarrant County College District
Fort Worth, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
119Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$50,95634%
7Midland College
Midland, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
46Aircraft Powerplant Technology/Technician23%
8Southwest Texas College
Uvalde, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
45Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$21,82631%
9Del Mar College
Corpus Christi, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
35Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician11%
10Amarillo College
Amarillo, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
26Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$43,44332%
11Hallmark University
San Antonio, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$47,44666%$12,12051%

All 11 schools in Texas

Every school in Texas with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Texas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Texas State Technical CollegeWacoPublic1902
Aviation Institute of Maintenance - DallasIrvingPrivate for-profit1762
Universal Technical Institute of Texas Inc.HoustonPrivate for-profit1691
St Philip's CollegeSan AntonioPublic1412
Aviation Institute of Maintenance - HoustonHoustonPrivate for-profit1261
Tarrant County College DistrictFort WorthPublic1192
Midland CollegeMidlandPublic462
Southwest Texas CollegeUvaldePublic451
Del Mar CollegeCorpus ChristiPublic352
Amarillo CollegeAmarilloPublic262
Hallmark UniversitySan AntonioPrivate not-for-profit11

What aircraft mechanics and service technicians earn in Texas

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Texas
$84,440
Mean annual
$85,480
Jobs in state
16,850
What the range looks like
10th pct$48,600Median$84,44090th pct$122,180
Versus the national median
+5.7%

U.S. median $79,870. Texas pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.35×

Concentrated here: Texas employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Texas

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
$85,400median
2,710 jobs
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$94,920median
8,000 jobs
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
$84,440median
560 jobs
Corpus Christi, TX
$80,270median
650 jobs
Killeen-Temple, TX
$74,240median
130 jobs
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
$78,240median
2,180 jobs
Waco, TX
$80,580median
350 jobs
Midland, TX
$73,910median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.0%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
11,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
5,600
139,400 → 145,000
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians page.

How to become a Aircraft Mechanic

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingMonitoringActive ListeningSpeakingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Texas

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 3 majors mapped to Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 01.0205Agricultural Mechanics and Equipment/Machine Technology/Technician
  • 47.0607Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician
  • 47.0608Aircraft Powerplant Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing aircraft mechanics and service technicians programs in Texas.

What degree do you need to become an Aircraft Mechanic?+

Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician, which awarded 823 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 76.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Aircraft Mechanic?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 1,074 people a year in Texas.

How much do aircraft mechanics and service technicians earn in Texas?+

The median is $84,440 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.7% above the U.S. median of $79,870. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for aircraft mechanics and service technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +4.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 11,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Texas?+

11 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do aircraft mechanics and service technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Aircraft Mechanic, Aircraft Technician (Aircraft Tech), Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic (A and P Mechanic), Aircraft Maintenance Technician (Aircraft Maintenance Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-3011.

Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians in other statesCaliforniaFloridaGeorgiaOklahomaIllinoisKansasKentuckyPennsylvania

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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