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Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels · SOC 53-5021

Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels Salary in the Seattle Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area

Figures describe the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Seattle city limits.

Median annual wage$109,080
Median hourly wage$52.44

Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area earned a median of $109,080 per year ($52.44 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $58,850 at the 10th percentile to $153,390 at the 90th. BLS estimates 1,140 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels in the Seattle metro area earn more than $109,080 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $77,520 and $131,020.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$58,850$77,520$109,080$131,020$153,390
Hourly$28.30$37.27$52.44$62.99$73.74

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Seattle metro areathis metro area
    $109,080
  • Washingtonstate (WA)
    $103,730
  • United Statesnational
    $92,460

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +5% vs Washington overall and +18% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$40,810$70,667$100,523$130,380Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $40,810Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC — $43,780San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $47,410Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC — $47,590Pittsburgh, PA — $48,030Sandusky, OH — $51,050Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI — $59,900Salinas, CA — $60,070Evansville, IN — $61,660Mobile, AL — $62,460Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL — $63,010Wilmington, NC — $63,190Cleveland, OH — $63,540Burlington-South Burlington, VT — $64,020Naples-Marco Island, FL — $65,150Port St. Lucie, FL — $69,050Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH — $70,600North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL — $71,840Urban Honolulu, HI — $72,880Portland-South Portland, ME — $74,140Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $74,160Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $74,260Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $74,890Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $75,130Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL — $75,370Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $75,430Rochester, NY — $75,750New Haven, CT — $75,810Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL — $76,140Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $76,340San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $76,490Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $76,530Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $77,120Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $77,180Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL — $77,630Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $78,280Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT — $78,310Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $78,380Corpus Christi, TX — $79,060Traverse City, MI — $79,440Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $79,720Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ — $79,990Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $80,100Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $80,480Chattanooga, TN-GA — $80,790Kahului-Wailuku, HI — $80,800Savannah, GA — $81,090Gulfport-Biloxi, MS — $81,290Jacksonville, FL — $83,190Barnstable Town, MA — $83,390Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $86,940Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT — $89,890Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $91,000Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL — $92,580Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $93,440Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $94,150St. Louis, MO-IL — $94,990Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA — $103,780Brownsville-Harlingen, TX — $103,800Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $103,840New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $106,230Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $109,080Anchorage, AK — $109,580Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX — $112,320Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $113,260Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA — $113,850Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA — $113,850Lafayette, LA — $116,200Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $118,830Lake Charles, LA — $119,630Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA — $120,810New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $121,710San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $124,610Baton Rouge, LA — $129,260Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $130,380

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Seattle metro area has the 14th-highest published median for this occupation among the 75 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in Washington

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • Seattle metro areathis page
    $109,080
  • Bremerton metro area
    $113,850
  • Mount Vernon metro area
    $113,850

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Stockers and Order Fillers$46,830Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand$47,740Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers$71,240Light Truck Drivers$49,590Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators$55,600First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors$76,390

Highest-paying metro areas for captains, mates, and pilots of water vesselss · Highest-paying occupations in Seattle Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.