How much does an instrument rating cost in the US? Published prices at 17 schools and clubs

An instrument rating lets a private pilot fly in cloud under instrument flight rules. This guide lists what 17 US flight schools and flying clubs publish as its cost, read on each operator's own website on 8 November 2026, with what each figure covers — because they cover very different things. It follows our guides to what a private pilot license costs in the US and, for the UK, what a night rating and an IR(R) cost.

Short answer: an instrument rating costs $6,000 to $26,325 at 17 US flight schools and flying clubs that publish a figure, with $12,440 in the middle (a range counted at its midpoint). The FAA asks for 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time, 15 of them with an instrument instructor, and, under Part 61, 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command (14 CFR 61.65); a Part 141 school's course instead has 35 hours of instrument training. Under Part 61, up to 20 of the instrument hours may be flown in a simulator or training device. Whether a figure includes building those cross-country hours, the simulator, the examiner's fee, and which aircraft it is flown in explains much of the spread.

What an instrument rating costs at 17 US flight schools and flying clubs

• AeroDynamic Aviation · school, San Jose, CA$6,000 to $8,000
  “Total cost based Instrument requirements (includes airplane rental and dual instruction)”; ground school optional
• N.A.F.C. · school, Edgewater, MD$6,295
  35 hours of dual in a Cessna 172N with GPS and 35 hours of briefing, ground school and materials; “based on the minimum FAA Part 141 requirements”
• SkyEagle Aviation Academy · school, Fort Lauderdale, FL$9,615
  course price; “Minimum requirements: 35 flight hours”; what it includes is not listed
• Flight Training Centers · school, Kokomo and Sheridan, IN$9,850 to $11,600
  minimum ($9,850, 40 hours of aircraft, 15 with an instructor) and average ($11,600, 40 with an instructor); examiner ($1,200), medical, knowledge test and club dues not included
• Silverhawk Aviation Academy · school, Caldwell, ID$10,000 to $12,000
  its average; no breakdown
• Fly It Academy · school, Camas, WA$10,145
  40 hours in a Cessna 172M, 15 hours of instruction, books; “based on the required Minimum flight training hours”
• California Flight School · school, Van Nuys, CA$10,330 to $12,000
  30 hours in a C150/LSA, 20 hours in training devices, 60 hours of instructor time; ground instruction, books and exams (about $1,500) not included
• Essence Flight School · school, Van Nuys, CA$11,700
  fixed course price: 20 hours in the airplane and 20 in a full-motion simulator; the examiner is outside the price (its calculator puts in $800)
• T&G Flying Club · school, Cleveland, OH$12,440
  40 hours of aircraft and 40 of instruction, flight exam and six months of dues; assumes most of the cross-country time as pilot in command is done; a school despite its name
• Scottsdale Executive Flight Training · school, Scottsdale, AZ$13,788.40
  40 hours in a Cessna 172S (G1000) with fuel and instruction; assumes the 50 hours of cross-country time are done or will be by the flight exam; examiner and test not listed; sheet “Updated 7/1/2024”
• Wayman Aviation Academy · school, Pembroke Pines, FL$14,175
  Part 141 course in a Cessna 152 (weight limits apply); exams, practical test, medical, insurance, enrolment, books and more “an estimated budget of $3,400” on top
• East Coast Aero Club · school, Bedford, MA$14,278 to $14,649
  25 hours of dual flight, 15 in a simulator and 30 of ground for the average student, examiner $750; Warrior III or Archer III ($14,278) or 172S G1000 ($14,649); assumes about 40 of the 50 cross-country hours are done; a school despite its name
• Golden State Flying Club · club, El Cajon (San Diego), CA$16,715
  50 hours of aircraft at $160, 50 of flight and 30 of ground instruction at $85, online ground school, books, knowledge exam and examiner ($1,000)
• Peak Aviation · school, Colorado Springs, CO$17,429
  includes building cross-country time as pilot in command ($7,880), simulator, about 50 hours with an instructor, written test and checkride ($800)
• Midwest Corporate Air · school, Bellefontaine, OH$17,954 to $26,325
  in its Cirrus SR20 G7 ($26,325) or your own Cirrus ($17,954): 22.3 airplane hours, 30 in a simulator, 80 of instruction, video course; examiner included (a second block on the same page lists a $1,200 checkride paid to the examiner)
• West Valley Flying Club · club, Palo Alto, CA$18,300 to $21,100
  60 hours of dual flight in a Cessna 172 ($18,300) or 182 with G1000 ($21,100), 12 months of dues, practical exam ($700), books, ground school, knowledge test; with its optional simulator credit
• Epic Flight Academy · school, New Smyrna Beach, FL$22,975
  Part 141 tuition: 19 hours in a simulator, 24.5 in a Cessna 172, 20 of one-on-one and 40 of ground school

What do US flight schools say an instrument rating costs?

Seven of the 17 figures fall between $9,615 and $12,440. At the low end, AeroDynamic Aviation in San Jose puts the instrument requirements, "includes airplane rental and dual instruction", at "approximately $6,000 – $8,000", and N.A.F.C. in Maryland prices "the minimum FAA Part 141 requirements" at $6,295. At the top, Epic Flight Academy in Florida charges $22,975 in Part 141 tuition, and Midwest Corporate Air in Ohio $26,325 in its own Cirrus SR20 G7, or $17,954 if you bring your own Cirrus, examiner included.

What a figure covers matters more than the number:

• The examiner. Six of the 17 put the examiner or checkride fee in their figure (T&G Flying Club, East Coast Aero Club, Golden State Flying Club, Peak Aviation, West Valley Flying Club and Midwest Corporate Air). Flight Training Centers in Indiana lists it separately at $1,200; Essence Flight School in Van Nuys leaves the examiner out of its fixed $11,700 ("Examiner fees typically range from $500 to $1,300"; its calculator puts in $800).
• Cross-country time. Scottsdale Executive Flight Training's $13,788.40 assumes your 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command are done, or will be by the checkride; East Coast Aero Club and T&G Flying Club assume most of it is done; Peak Aviation in Colorado Springs includes $7,880 for building it.
• Minimum or average. Flight Training Centers gives both: $9,850 on the minimum (40 hours of aircraft, 15 with an instructor) and $11,600 on its average (40 with an instructor).
• What is left out. California Flight School's $10,330 to $12,000 leaves out ground instruction and adds "approximately $1,500 for books, exam costs, and misc."; Wayman Aviation Academy's $14,175 Part 141 course leaves out exams, the practical test, the medical, insurance, enrolment, books and more, for which it gives "an estimated budget of $3,400".

What does the FAA require for an instrument rating?

What the FAA requires for an instrument rating

Requirement	Minimum	Rule
Cross-country time as pilot in command (Part 61)	50 hours, 10 of them in an airplane	61.65(d)(1)
Actual or simulated instrument time	40 hours	61.65(d)(2)
… of which from an instrument instructor	15 hours	61.65(d)(2)
Instrument training in the 2 calendar months before the test	3 hours with an instructor, in an airplane	61.65(d)(2)(i)
Instrument cross-country with an instructor, on an IFR flight plan	250 nautical miles, an approach at each airport, three kinds of approach	61.65(d)(2)(ii)
Time in simulators and training devices that counts (Part 61)	at most 20 hours (10 in a basic training device; 30 under Part 142)	61.65(h)–(j)
Part 141 school: instrument training in the approved course	35 hours	Part 141 App. C

Under 14 CFR 61.65(d), an applicant for an instrument-airplane rating must have logged "50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command" and "Forty hours of actual or simulated instrument time in the areas of operation listed in paragraph (c) of this section, of which 15 hours must have been received from an authorized instructor who holds an instrument-airplane rating". Simulators help, within a cap: "a person may not credit more than 20 total hours of instrument time in a full flight simulator", flight training device or aviation training device, except under Part 142, and "A maximum of 10 hours of instrument time received in a basic aviation training device". A Part 141 school's approved course needs "35 hours of instrument training if the course is for an initial instrument rating", and a graduate of such a course "is considered to have met the applicable aeronautical experience" requirements (14 CFR 61.71) — so the 50 cross-country hours are a Part 61 requirement.

Under Part 61, building the 50 hours of cross-country time is flying you pay for whether or not it is part of a school's price, so ask whether it is.

Is it cheaper at a flying club?

Not by default. The two clubs in the 17 publish $16,715 (Golden State Flying Club at Gillespie Field, El Cajon, near San Diego: 50 hours of aircraft at $160 and instruction at $85, with the knowledge exam and a $1,000 examiner) and $18,300 to $21,100 (West Valley Flying Club in Palo Alto: 60 hours of dual with $125-an-hour instructors and a year of dues). Both include more than most school figures — the examiner, books and ground school — so they are not like for like. Where a club may help is the hour: the cross-country and practice time is flown at the member's rate. What a club charges per hour is in how much a flying club costs, and the instructor's hourly rate in how much a flight instructor costs.

What to ask before you start

Ask each school or club whether its figure includes building the cross-country time, how many of the 40 instrument hours are in a simulator and which kind, whether the examiner's fee, the knowledge test and the aircraft for the checkride are included, how many hours its students actually needed, and on which meter (Hobbs or tach) the aircraft is billed.

If your club trains instrument pilots

Instrument training in a club means long practice flights, a safety pilot or an instructor on board, and hours that add up across many members. 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 keeps those elsewhere.

Sources

Every figure was read on the operator's own website on 8 November 2026 and checked word for word against the page: AeroDynamic Aviation, N.A.F.C., SkyEagle Aviation Academy, Flight Training Centers, Silverhawk Aviation Academy, Fly It Academy, California Flight School, Essence Flight School, T&G Flying Club, Scottsdale Executive Flight Training (cost sheet updated 1 July 2024), Wayman Aviation Academy, East Coast Aero Club, Golden State Flying Club, Peak Aviation, West Valley Flying Club, Epic Flight Academy and Midwest Corporate Air. Left out: price sheets dated 2023 or earlier (a copyright line in a footer does not count), a package that assumes all the instrument and cross-country time is already logged, figures for instruction only, prices behind a bot check, and sites whose robots.txt excludes our reader. Rules: 14 CFR 61.65, 61.71 and Part 141 Appendix C (Legal Information Institute copy of the e-CFR). Prices change; check the operator's page before you budget.