How much does a private pilot license cost in the US? Published prices at 22 schools and clubs

Search for what a private pilot license costs and you get one national number with no source. This guide uses a different one: what 22 US flight schools and flying clubs tell their own students, read on each operator's own website on 7 November 2026, with the hours, the aircraft and what each figure includes. It sits next to our comparison of a flying club and a flight school, which prices the FAA minimum at both, and our PPL prices in the UK and Europe.

Short answer: a private pilot license (the FAA private pilot certificate, airplane single-engine) costs from $7,680 to $36,147 in the US, by the 20 budgets and course prices that 20 of 22 flight schools and flying clubs publish beyond the bare minimum; the middle of those 20 is $17,637. The FAA minimum is 40 hours of flight time under 14 CFR 61.109, but the operators that give a number put what students need at 50 to 80 hours, and that is where the money goes: at Learn 2 Fly CT in Connecticut the budget on 40 hours is $11,016.15 and on 65 hours $19,515.15. On top of the flying come the knowledge test ($150–$175 in six budgets), the examiner's fee for the checkride ($600–$1,000 in six budgets) and a third-class medical ($150–$250 at seven examiners). The FAA itself charges nothing for the certificate.

What a private pilot certificate costs at 20 US flight schools and flying clubs

flying clubflight school

• International Flying Club · club$7,680 to $9,240
  hours its students need · 60 h rental, 30 h instruction
• Sun City Aviation Academy · school, Pembroke Pines, FL$10,700 to $15,000
  course price · not stated
• T&G Flying Club · school, Cleveland, OH$11,655
  hours its students need · 55 h aircraft, 30 h instruction (“T&G Average”)
• JBER Aero Club · club, Anchorage, AK$12,000 to $15,000
  hours its students need · “around 60 hours”
• St. Charles Flying Service · school, St. Charles, MO$12,000 to $14,000
  hours its students need · not stated (“typically, the actual cost”)
• California Flight School · school, Van Nuys, CA$13,000 to $15,000
  course price · 50 h package (“pay as you go, accelerated”), with 10 h in a simulator
• Spirit Aviation · school, Greensboro, GA$13,524.22 to $19,867
  course price · 53 h flight time, 40 h instruction, 15 h ground (the page calls the C172 total “at FAA minimums”)
• Michigan Flyers · club, Ann Arbor, MI$14,000 to $17,000
  hours its students need · “most of our students spend closer to 50-80 hours”; about a year of training
• Red Rock Flight School · school, Mesa, AZ$15,500 to $19,500
  course price · not stated
• AeroDynamic Aviation · school, San Jose, CA$16,500 to $21,000
  hours its students need · “based on our private pilot course of 77 hours”
• Windborne Flight · school, Racine, WI$17,000 to $18,000
  hours its students need · 65 h
• Willamette Aviation · school, Aurora, OR$17,000 to $20,000
  hours its students need · “normally it will require 60 hours or more of flight training”
• Flex Air · school, Olathe and Manhattan, KS$17,350 to $18,198
  course price · 50 h in a Cessna 172, 35 h dual (Olathe)
• Learn 2 Fly CT · school, Hartford, CT$19,515.15
  hours its students need · 65+ h (“based on the national average”)
• Inflight Pilot Training · school, Eden Prairie, MN$21,450
  course price · not stated (“the national average is around 75 hours”)
• Aces High Aviation · school, Long Beach, CA$22,035
  hours its students need · “national-average hours rather than FAA minimums”
• West Valley Flying Club · club, Palo Alto and San Carlos, CA$23,870 to $31,870
  hours its students need · 80 h: 70 h dual, 10 h solo
• Regal Air · school, Everett, WA$25,000 to $30,000
  course price · “Most people need 50-70 hours of flight training”
• East Coast Aero Club · school, Bedford, MA$27,423 to $28,188
  hours its students need · 75 h (“acquires their certificate in 60-75 hours”)
• Epic Flight Academy · school, New Smyrna Beach, FL$36,147
  course price · not stated; “takes about 3 months”

What do US flight schools and flying clubs say a private pilot license costs?

Of the 22 operators, 18 are flight schools and four are flying clubs; two of the schools price only the FAA minimum, so the figure shows 20. Fifteen of those budgets fall between $10,000 and $22,035. Below that, International Flying Club puts 60 hours of rental, 30 hours of instruction, five months of dues and books at $7,680 to $9,240, depending on the aircraft. Above it sit four figures: Regal Air in Washington ($25,000 to $30,000 in "Course Costs"), East Coast Aero Club in Massachusetts, a school despite its name ($27,423 to $28,188 on 75 hours, for students who fly "one to two times per week"), West Valley Flying Club in the San Francisco Bay Area ($23,870 in a Cessna 152 to $31,870 in a Cessna 172S with G1000, on 80 hours with $125-an-hour instructors and a year of dues) and Epic Flight Academy in Florida, whose "estimated cost for the Private Pilot course is $36,147 and takes about 3 months" — the page gives no hours and lists only examples of what goes into it.

Read the figures as what each operator tells its own students, not as a price comparison: the hours, the aircraft and what is included differ from one to the next, and are named under each bar. Windborne Flight's $17,000 to $18,000 is "training cost only"; Flex Air's $17,350 to $18,198 includes the examiner's fee; Spirit Aviation's $13,524.22 to $19,867.00 includes the written test, the examiner, the medical, a headset and renter's insurance. Where an operator gives a range (two aircraft, two bases, a membership column), the bar runs from the lowest to the highest figure, and the middle of a range counts for the median.

How many hours does a private pilot license take?

The rule is 14 CFR 61.109: an applicant "must log at least 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training". A certificated pilot school teaching an approved Part 141 course can do it in "35 hours of training if the course is for an airplane, rotorcraft, powered-lift, or airship rating".

Few students finish on the minimum, and the schools say so on the same page as their price. Scottsdale Executive Flight Training prices the minimum in a Cessna 172N at $13,053.60, instruction and aircraft only, and adds: "Most students will complete their goals between 50-65 hours." Willamette Aviation in Oregon: "normally it will require 60 hours or more of flight training". East Coast Aero Club budgets for a student who "acquires their certificate in 60-75 hours"; Michigan Flyers says "most of our students spend closer to 50-80 hours"; JBER Aero Club in Alaska writes that "a true average flight training time for a private pilot is around 60 hours"; Inflight Pilot Training in Minnesota writes "the national average is around 75 hours".

Two operators publish both figures — a budget on the FAA minimum and one on the hours their students fly — and the gap is the clearest answer to why the real cost is higher than the advertised one:

The FAA minimum against the hours students actually fly

budget on 40 hoursbudget on its students' hours

• T&G Flying Club · school, Cleveland, OH · about 32% more

  40 h aircraft, 20 h instruction (FAA minimum)$8,815
  55 h aircraft, 30 h instruction (“T&G Average”)$11,655

• Learn 2 Fly CT · school, Hartford, CT · about 77% more

  40 h (“the minimum required by the FAA”)$11,016.15
  65+ h (“based on the national average”)$19,515.15

At T&G Flying Club in Ohio the same list of items comes to $8,815 on 40 hours and $11,655 on its average of 55 hours of aircraft time: about 32% more. At Learn 2 Fly CT it is 77% more, from $11,016.15 to $19,515.15 on 65 hours, which the school says "is based on the national average". Three more price the minimum: California Flight School's 40-hour package starts at $9,000 (its 50-hour accelerated package costs $13,000 to $15,000), Executive Flyers in Sacramento puts the Part 61 minimum at $10,805 ("Updated May 2026"; its only average, $10,000 to $15,000, is introduced with "In the past" and predates those rates), and Scottsdale Executive Flight Training's is given above. Budget on the hours, not on the minimum. What an instrument rating costs afterwards, at 17 US schools and clubs, is in how much an instrument rating costs.

A sport pilot certificate is the cheaper route with less on it: 20 hours of flight time (14 CFR 61.313), a U.S. driver's license in place of a medical, one passenger, and no night flying without extra training, an endorsement and a medical. What US schools and clubs charge for it is in how much a sport pilot license costs.

What do the knowledge test, checkride and medical cost?

Three costs come on top of the flying, and none of them goes to the FAA. The FAA says: "There is no charge for any original certificate issued by the FAA". The organisations authorised to give the knowledge test ("ODA holders") "establish the knowledge test prices, which are subject to change", and a designated pilot examiner (DPE) who gives the checkride is "allowed to charge a reasonable fee"; "there is no charge for the practical test when it is conducted by an FAA inspector".

What comes on top of the flying hours

Item	Amount
The certificate itselfFAA: “no charge for any original certificate”	$0
Knowledge (written) test6 budgets; set by the organisations that give the test, not the FAA	$150–$175
Checkride: the examiner (DPE)6 budgets; Epic Flight Academy says $600 to $1,300	$600–$1,000
Third-class medical7 aviation medical examiners, median $186 (read 2 November 2026)	$150–$250

• Knowledge test. Four budgets name $175 (Learn 2 Fly CT, East Coast Aero Club, Spirit Aviation, and California Flight School: "currently is $175, paid directly to the test center"); T&G Flying Club and West Valley Flying Club list $150.
• The examiner. $600 at T&G Flying Club and Learn 2 Fly CT, $700 at Spirit Aviation, $750 at East Coast Aero Club, $1,000 at California Flight School and West Valley Flying Club. Epic Flight Academy: "Check ride fees can range between $600 and $1300." Add the aircraft for the checkride: Scottsdale Executive Flight Training budgets two hours of it.
• The medical. Under 14 CFR 61.23 a pilot "must hold at least a third-class medical certificate" to use a student or private pilot certificate, BasicMed (61.113(i)) being the exception. At the seven aviation medical examiners in our aviation medical cost survey it costs $150 to $250, median $186.

Six of the 20 budgets in the first figure say they include some of these (T&G Flying Club, Learn 2 Fly CT, Spirit Aviation, East Coast Aero Club, Flex Air and West Valley Flying Club); most say nothing either way. Windborne Flight's figure is "training cost only", the budgets of Scottsdale Executive Flight Training and Executive Flyers list no exam or examiner fee, and California Flight School adds "approximately $1,500 for books, exam costs, and misc."

Part 61 or Part 141: which is cheaper?

Only one school prices both on the same page. Sun City Aviation Academy in Florida puts Part 141 at $10,700 to $12,700 and Part 61 at $12,300 to $15,000, with the note "FAA fees vary and additional training costs may be required". Flex Air in Kansas sells a Part 141 course at $17,350 in Manhattan and $18,198 in Olathe, examiner fee included. A Part 141 course follows an approved syllabus and has a lower minimum; whether that makes it cheaper for you depends on whether you fly often enough to keep to it. Most flying clubs train under Part 61 (JBER Aero Club, a military aero club, mentions "VA approved programs"), and the VA's flight-training benefit is for pilots who already hold a private licence, at a certificated school — both are explained in flying club vs flight school.

Is it cheaper to learn to fly at a flying club?

Usually, but not by default. The four clubs' budgets have a middle of $14,500, against $18,137 for the schools. International Flying Club ($7,680 to $9,240) and JBER Aero Club ($12,000 to $15,000) are below most schools; West Valley Flying Club ($23,870 to $31,870) is not — only three schools start higher. T&G Flying Club, which publishes $11,655 on its average hours, is counted as a school here: its own rental page says "T&G Flying Club is the largest flight school around". A club's aircraft is usually cheaper by the hour — the six US clubs in our survey that publish a wet rate (four of them per tach hour) charge members $94.39 to $175 for a Cessna 172 or PA-28, against a median $184 at 11 schools and FBOs — but the club adds a joining fee and monthly dues that run whether you fly or not. Priced on the FAA minimum at each operator's own rates, ten US schools come to $6,860 to $11,900 and six US clubs to $5,176 to $9,250 with six months of dues and the cost of joining, in our like-for-like comparison.

Not every club trains, and the FAA's airport guidance says a club "may conduct aircraft flight instruction for regular members only". Some leave the instructor to the member — at International Flying Club "Members negotiate their own fees with the individual flight instructors." (see FAA flying club rules and how to join a flying club). What one hour with an instructor costs at 13 US schools and three clubs is in how much a flight instructor costs, and what a first lesson costs at 29 of them in how much flying lessons cost.

What to ask before you sign up

Ask each school or club the same five things: how many hours its students actually needed last year, whether the aircraft is billed on Hobbs or tach time and whether fuel is included, whether the examiner's fee, the knowledge test and the checkride aircraft are in the price, what ground school and books cost, and — at a club — the joining fee, the monthly dues and whether you bring your own instructor.

If your club trains its members

A club that trains has more accounts to keep than one that only rents its aircraft: a student's lessons, the dues, and which meter each flight is billed on. Pilot-Next keeps a flying club's bookings, hours and member accounts in one place and sends each member the invoice for what they flew, on Hobbs or tach time. It does not book the instructor together with the aircraft, and it does not check a pilot's medical or currency before a booking — a club that trains students keeps those elsewhere.

Sources

Every total was read on the operator's own website on 7 November 2026 and checked word for word against the page: T&G Flying Club, Michigan Flyers, Learn 2 Fly CT, Windborne Flight, Spirit Aviation, Sun City Aviation Academy, Inflight Pilot Training, East Coast Aero Club, Epic Flight Academy, Red Rock Flight School, Scottsdale Executive Flight Training (cost sheet of 16 July 2026), Flex Air, Willamette Aviation, California Flight School, Executive Flyers, West Valley Flying Club and JBER Aero Club. The figures of St. Charles Flying Service, AeroDynamic Aviation, Aces High Aviation, Regal Air and International Flying Club were first read on 21 October 2026 for our club-vs-school comparison and found unchanged on 7 November 2026. Left out: totals whose prices carry a date of 2023 or earlier (a copyright line does not count) or that were replaced by newer rates, an average the operator itself puts "in the past", training-only figures of clubs open to military members only, figures shown only as an image, and sites whose robots.txt excludes our reader. Rules and fees: 14 CFR 61.23, 61.109 and Part 141 Appendix B (eCFR); FAA, Airman Testing Questions & Answers (revised September 2021); FAA, Airport Compliance Manual, Order 5190.6C, chapter 10. Medical fees: our aviation medical cost survey (read 2 November 2026). Prices change; check the operator's page before you budget.