FAA register, October 2026
Licensed drone pilots by state
At least 182,947 people with a US address hold the FAA's Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. Texas has the most (17,205), then California and Florida; per resident, Alaska, Montana and North Dakota lead. Beside each state: the open jobs on our board that require the certificate (52 today).
182,947
licensed remote pilots with a US address
53.5
for every 100,000 residents
9%
also hold a manned pilot certificate
Every state
| State | Licensed pilots | Per 100,000 residents | Also manned pilots | Open Part 107 jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Texas | 17,205 | 54.3 | 1,594 | 11 |
| 2California | 16,383 | 41.6 | 1,320 | 16 |
| 3Florida | 14,912 | 63.6 | 1,902 | 1 |
| 4North Carolina | 7,234 | 64.6 | 545 | 1 |
| 5Ohio | 6,179 | 51.9 | 534 | 2 |
| 6New York | 6,041 | 30.2 | 405 | 2 |
| 7Illinois | 5,955 | 46.8 | 504 | 3 |
| 8Colorado | 5,846 | 97.2 | 529 | 0 |
| 9Georgia | 5,676 | 50.2 | 575 | 2 |
| 10Pennsylvania | 5,342 | 40.9 | 452 | 0 |
| 11Virginia | 5,285 | 59.5 | 466 | 2 |
| 12Michigan | 4,834 | 47.7 | 477 | 0 |
| 13Washington | 4,685 | 58.6 | 489 | 0 |
| 14Arizona | 4,150 | 54.4 | 534 | 0 |
| 15Tennessee | 3,960 | 54.1 | 421 | 1 |
| 16Indiana | 3,947 | 56.6 | 385 | 2 |
| 17Minnesota | 3,581 | 61.4 | 350 | 0 |
| 18Missouri | 3,470 | 55.3 | 282 | 1 |
| 19New Jersey | 3,447 | 36.1 | 263 | 0 |
| 20South Carolina | 3,268 | 58.7 | 243 | 0 |
| 21Oregon | 3,014 | 70.5 | 225 | 0 |
| 22Maryland | 2,924 | 46.7 | 267 | 1 |
| 23Wisconsin | 2,854 | 47.8 | 259 | 0 |
| 24Alabama | 2,841 | 54.7 | 264 | 1 |
| 25Massachusetts | 2,824 | 39.5 | 216 | 0 |
| 26Utah | 2,754 | 77.8 | 274 | 0 |
| 27Louisiana | 2,568 | 55.6 | 203 | 1 |
| 28Iowa | 2,530 | 78.1 | 177 | 1 |
| 29Oklahoma | 2,486 | 60.3 | 224 | 0 |
| 30Kentucky | 2,420 | 52.5 | 233 | 0 |
| 31Kansas | 2,174 | 73 | 203 | 0 |
| 32Arkansas | 1,964 | 63.1 | 202 | 0 |
| 33Nevada | 1,929 | 58.8 | 250 | 0 |
| 34Idaho | 1,816 | 89.5 | 209 | 0 |
| 35Mississippi | 1,627 | 55.1 | 150 | 0 |
| 36Nebraska | 1,612 | 79.9 | 108 | 0 |
| 37Connecticut | 1,508 | 40.9 | 121 | 0 |
| 38Montana | 1,396 | 122 | 131 | 0 |
| 39New Mexico | 1,341 | 63.1 | 109 | 0 |
| 40Alaska | 1,119 | 151.8 | 207 | 0 |
| 41Hawaii | 1,010 | 70.5 | 84 | 0 |
| 42West Virginia | 979 | 55.4 | 68 | 0 |
| 43Maine | 963 | 68.1 | 87 | 0 |
| 44North Dakota | 961 | 120.2 | 122 | 0 |
| 45New Hampshire | 910 | 64.3 | 111 | 0 |
| 46South Dakota | 783 | 83.7 | 68 | 0 |
| 47Wyoming | 640 | 108.7 | 62 | 0 |
| 48Delaware | 568 | 53.6 | 55 | 0 |
| 49Vermont | 464 | 72 | 43 | 0 |
| 50Rhode Island | 374 | 33.6 | 25 | 0 |
| 51District of Columbia | 194 | 28 | 14 | 0 |
The areas with the most licensed pilots
Each area is every licensed pilot within 30 miles of its center, counted once (an area's pilots are not counted again in the next one).
- 1. Los Angeles, CA4,033
- 2. Fort Worth, TX3,690
- 3. Brooklyn, NY3,205
- 4. Denver, CO3,029
- 5. Houston, TX2,865
- 6. Chicago, IL2,677
- 7. Atlanta, GA2,671
- 8. Baltimore, MD2,609
- 9. Tampa, FL2,361
- 10. Miami, FL2,356
- 11. Phoenix, AZ2,338
- 12. San Francisco, CA2,228
- 13. Philadelphia, PA2,128
- 14. Seattle, WA2,107
- 15. Orlando, FL1,968
- 16. San Diego, CA1,883
- 17. Boston, MA1,817
- 18. Minneapolis, MN1,802
- 19. Charlotte, NC1,675
- 20. Austin, TX1,665
- 21. Raleigh, NC1,648
- 22. Detroit, MI1,623
- 23. Salt Lake City, UT1,527
- 24. Portland, OR1,526
- 25. Cincinnati, OH1,362
How these numbers are counted
The FAA publishes the certificates of every airman who has not asked to keep their address private, in its Airmen Certification Releasable Database. We count each active Remote Pilot certificate (the one Part 107 requires) by the holder's mailing address in the October 2026 file, place it by its 5-digit ZIP code, and divide by each state's 2025 Census population. Areas are 30-mile circles around the ZIP codes with the most pilots, drawn so that none overlaps.
The file shows 182,947 of the 492,311 remote pilots the FAA counted at the end of 2025, about 37%: pilots who withheld their address are not in it. So read every figure as a floor, and the comparison between states as the reliable part. A mailing address is where a pilot receives post, not always where they fly. The open jobs come from the employers' own job boards, read every day; a job counts only when it requires the certificate.
Hiring drone pilots and flight operators? : we size the pool near your site, check each person against your brief and introduce only the people who said yes. How it works and what it costs.
Frequently asked questions
How many licensed drone pilots are there in the US?
The FAA counted 492,311 remote pilots (Part 107 certificate holders) at the end of 2025. Its public airmen file, October 2026, lists 182,947 of them with a US mailing address; the rest asked the FAA to keep their address private, so every state figure on this page is a floor, about 37% of the true count.
Which state has the most drone pilots?
Texas, with 17,205 licensed remote pilots on the FAA file, then California (16,383) and Florida (14,912).
Which state has the most drone pilots per person?
Alaska (151.8 per 100,000 residents), Montana (122 per 100,000 residents) and North Dakota (120.2 per 100,000 residents), against 53.5 for the US as a whole.
Where do drone pilots live within a state?
Around the big metro areas: within 30 miles of Los Angeles, CA (4,033), Fort Worth, TX (3,690), Brooklyn, NY (3,205) and Denver, CO (3,029). The full list of the 25 areas with the most is below.
Are there more licensed pilots than drone jobs?
By far. 52 open jobs on our board require the Part 107 certificate today, in 16 states, against at least 182,947 licensed pilots: about 3,518 pilots for every such job. Most certificate holders fly part time or for their own business, so employers that need pilots on site for testing, inspection or delivery still compete for the experienced ones.
How many drone pilots also hold a manned pilot certificate?
17,041 of the 182,947 remote pilots on the file (9%) also hold a private, sport, recreational, commercial or airline transport pilot certificate. Employers running flight tests often ask for that background.