Aerospace and defense statistics at a glance
Aerospace and defense is one of the clearest examples of an industry that is simultaneously large, high-value, and deeply tied to the broader economy. The most recent figures show a sector that is not only growing, but also generating outsized labor income, output, and tax revenue.
These aerospace and defense statistics give a useful snapshot of where the industry stands in 2023 and how several major firms and subsectors are positioned at the end of 2024.
Table of contents
- Fast facts
- Industry size and output
- Employment and labor income
- Subsectors and structure
- Air cargo and aviation activity
- Major company figures
- What the numbers suggest
Fast facts
- The U.S. aerospace and defense industry generated over $955 billion in sales in 2023, up 7.1% from the prior year (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- The industry employed 2.211 million workers in 2023 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Aerospace and defense jobs represented 1.4% of total U.S. employment (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Average labor income per job was $112,000 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Total labor income generated by the industry was $248 billion (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Federal tax receipts from the industry totaled $56.8 billion (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Those federal tax receipts were 2% of total federal tax revenues (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
Aerospace and defense is a high-output sector with a relatively small employment share but a very large economic footprint (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
Industry size and output
The headline number is straightforward: the U.S. aerospace and defense industry generated over $955 billion in sales in 2023 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures). That places the sector among the country?s largest industrial ecosystems by business activity.
The scale becomes more visible when you break the total into the pieces that produce it.
- Direct output reached $533 billion in 2023 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Indirect activity from the domestic aerospace and defense supply chain added nearly $422 billion in output (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Combined, the industry produced $955 billion in total business output in 2023 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- The sector generated $425 billion in economic value in 2023 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- That economic value equaled 1.6% of U.S. nominal GDP (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
A compact view of the output stack helps show how quickly the figure compounds.
| Measure | 2023 value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Direct output | $533 billion | AIA 2024 Facts & Figures |
| Indirect supply chain output | Nearly $422 billion | AIA 2024 Facts & Figures |
| Total business output | $955 billion | AIA 2024 Facts & Figures |
| Economic value | $425 billion | AIA 2024 Facts & Figures |
| Share of U.S. nominal GDP | 1.6% | AIA 2024 Facts & Figures |
| Federal tax receipts | $56.8 billion | AIA 2024 Facts & Figures |
The value creation is not limited to private-sector revenue. The industry also contributed $56.8 billion in federal tax receipts in 2023, equal to 2% of total federal tax revenues (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures). That makes aerospace and defense important not only as a producer of goods and services, but also as a contributor to the public balance sheet.
Employment and labor income
The employment picture is equally important because the sector?s labor force is large, specialized, and relatively well paid. In 2023, aerospace and defense employed 2.211 million workers (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures). That was 1.4% of total U.S. employment (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures), which means the industry?s employment share is modest relative to its economic weight.
That gap matters.
- Average labor income per job was $112,000 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Total labor income generated by the industry was $248 billion (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- The industry?s average labor income per job was about 50% above the national average (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- The A&D industry contributed two percent of total U.S. labor income (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
Those figures show why aerospace and defense often appears in discussions about high-skill manufacturing and engineering work. The industry is not merely large; it is dense with income per worker.
Industry employment also grew faster than the U.S. labor market overall. Employment increased 4.8% from 2022 to 2023, while national job growth was 1.7% over the same period (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures). That is a meaningful spread, especially for a mature industrial base.
Nearly 60% of industry jobs were linked to the supply chain, equal to about 1,298,036 jobs (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures). That means the sector?s footprint extends well beyond final assembly, prime contracting, or headline aerospace brands. A large share of the employment base sits in the broader ecosystem of suppliers, components, maintenance, materials, and services.
Subsectors and structure
The industry is not one thing. The employment base is split between commercial aerospace and defense and national security, and the subsectors within the industry show how diverse the labor base is.
Commercial aerospace accounted for 47% of direct A&D employment, while defense and national security accounted for the remaining 53% (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures). That near-even split matters because it suggests that the sector?s labor structure depends on both civil aviation demand and defense demand.
A closer look at the main employment areas shows a broad spread of activity.
- Aeronautics and aircraft directly employed 462,000 workers (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- Land and sea systems directly employed more than 186,000 workers (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- The space subsector directly employed 145,000 workers (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
- The cyber subsector employed 118,000 workers in 2023 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
Those numbers suggest that aerospace and defense statistics are best read as a portfolio of specialized labor markets rather than a single industrial line. Aircraft, land systems, sea systems, space, and cyber each have their own technical demands and demand drivers.
The mixture also helps explain the industry?s resilience. A slowdown in one segment does not necessarily imply weakness everywhere else. Commercial aviation, defense procurement, space systems, and cybersecurity each respond to different budget, demand, and policy cycles.
Air cargo and aviation activity
The broader aviation environment matters because it influences demand across parts of the aerospace value chain. The FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044 provides several useful benchmarks for air cargo, pilot certification, and airport operations.
Cargo volume and routing
U.S. air carriers flew 47.3 billion revenue ton miles in 2023, down from 51.5 billion in 2022 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044). Domestic cargo RTMs fell 11.3% to 17.6 billion in 2023, while international RTMs declined 6.4% to 29.7 billion in 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
The structure of air cargo is also revealing. All-cargo carriers flew 85.7% of total air cargo RTMs in 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044). That share was 88.0% in 2020 and 2021, and 78.7% in the years leading up to 2020 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
| Cargo metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. air carrier revenue ton miles, 2023 | 47.3 billion | FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044 |
| U.S. air carrier revenue ton miles, 2022 | 51.5 billion | FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044 |
| Domestic cargo RTMs, 2023 | 17.6 billion | FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044 |
| International cargo RTMs, 2023 | 29.7 billion | FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044 |
| All-cargo carrier share, 2023 | 85.7% | FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044 |
The forecast also points to continued growth in international cargo. International cargo RTMs are expected to grow 3.6% a year over 2024-2044 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044). Regionally, the Other International region is forecast to have 4.9% average annual international cargo RTM growth, the Pacific region 3.3%, the Atlantic region 2.6%, and Latin America 2.0% (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
Pilot certificates and workforce pipeline
The pilot pipeline is another useful lens on aerospace capacity.
- There were 806,940 active pilots certificated by the FAA at the end of 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
- Recreational pilot certificates numbered only 71 at the end of 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
- Student pilot certificates reached 316,470 at the end of 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
- Commercial pilot certificates reached 106,711 in 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
- Airline transport pilot certificates reached 174,113 in 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
- Private pilot certificates reached 167,711 in 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
- Rotorcraft pilot certificates reached 13,428 in 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
That mix matters because it shows how broad the certification base is, from students to airline transport pilots.
The FAA forecast also projects the active general aviation pilot base to rise from 316,357 in 2023 to 334,290 in 2044 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044). Airline transport pilot certificates are projected to increase by 30,590 over the forecast period, while commercial pilot certificates are projected to grow at an average annual rate of 0.2% through 2044 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
Airport operations and passenger activity
Operations data points to a system that is still large and active. General aviation operations accounted for 55% of total operations in 2023, compared with 51% of total operations in 2019 before the pandemic (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
Large and medium hubs remain central to passenger flow. About 89% of U.S. passenger enplanements occurred at large and medium hubs in 2023 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
FAA and contract tower operations totaled 54.5 million in 2023, exceeding the 2019 total of 53.7 million (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044). Looking ahead, FAA tower and contract tower activity is projected to rise from 56.8 million in 2024 to 70.1 million in 2044 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044). Commercial operations at FAA and contract towers are forecast to increase 1.8% per year through 2044, while general aviation operations are forecast to increase 0.5% per year through 2044 (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
Major company figures
The large public companies in aerospace and defense show how the sector translates into enterprise-scale revenue, backlog, and staffing.
Boeing
Boeing reported 2024 total revenues of $66.517 billion (Boeing 2024 Annual Report). Its segment mix included $22.861 billion from Commercial Airplanes, $23.918 billion from Defense, Space & Security, and $19.954 billion from Global Services (Boeing 2024 Annual Report).
The company?s order and backlog picture also stands out.
- Boeing delivered 348 commercial airplanes in 2024 (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results).
- Boeing recorded 279 net orders in 2024 (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results).
- Boeing?s total company backlog grew to $521 billion at the end of 2024 (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results).
- Boeing?s commercial airplane backlog included over 5,500 airplanes at the end of 2024 (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results).
- Boeing?s cash and marketable securities were $26.3 billion at the end of 2024 (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results).
- Boeing?s fourth-quarter 2024 revenue was $15.2 billion (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results).
- Boeing?s fourth-quarter 2024 operating cash flow was negative $3.5 billion (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results).
RTX
RTX reported 2024 revenue of $80.7 billion (RTX 2024 Annual Report). It had approximately 186,000 employees at December 31, 2024 (RTX 2024 Annual Report), including approximately 57,000 engineering professionals and approximately 34,000 employees represented by labor unions or other employee representative bodies (RTX 2024 Annual Report).
RTX also ended 2024 with $218 billion in total backlog, up from $196 billion at December 31, 2023 (RTX 2024 Annual Report). That backlog figure is one of the clearest indicators of future work on the books.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin reported sales of approximately $71.0 billion in 2024 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Financial Results). It generated $6.1 billion in segment operating profit and $5.3 billion of free cash flow in 2024 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Financial Results).
The company ended 2024 with backlog of $176.0 billion and had approximately 121,000 employees at December 31, 2024 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Financial Results; Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report).
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman?s 2024 sales increased 4% to $41.0 billion (Northrop Grumman 2024 Financial Results). The company had backlog of $91.5 billion as of December 31, 2024, and expects about 40% of that backlog to convert to revenue over the next 12 months and about 65% over the next 24 months (Northrop Grumman 2024 Annual Report).
Northrop Grumman also hired approximately 7,400 new employees in 2024 and had approximately 97,000 employees at December 31, 2024 (Northrop Grumman 2024 Annual Report).
What the numbers suggest
A few patterns stand out across these aerospace and defense statistics.
First, the industry is big enough to matter at macro scale. A $955 billion sales base, $425 billion in economic value, and $56.8 billion in federal tax receipts are not niche figures; they are system-level numbers (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
Second, the labor market footprint is unusually productive. Two-point-one-one-one million workers generated $248 billion in labor income, with average labor income per job of $112,000 (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures). That combination of scale and pay helps explain why aerospace and defense is often treated as a strategic industrial base rather than a standard manufacturing category.
Third, the sector?s structure is broad. Commercial aerospace, defense and national security, aeronautics and aircraft, land and sea systems, space, and cyber all contribute meaningful employment shares or direct jobs (AIA 2024 Facts & Figures).
Fourth, the major firms show substantial backlog support. Boeing, RTX, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman all reported large backlogs at the end of 2024, indicating multi-year work pipelines across the sector (Boeing Q4 and FY 2024 Results; RTX 2024 Annual Report; Lockheed Martin 2024 Financial Results; Northrop Grumman 2024 Annual Report).
Finally, the aviation data suggests ongoing demand for pilots, operations, and cargo capacity even as traffic patterns shift. The FAA forecast points to continued growth in tower activity and international cargo, while the pilot base remains large and varied (FAA Aerospace Forecast FY 2024-2044).
Taken together, the numbers describe an industry with strong output, specialized labor, wide supply-chain reach, and deep links to transportation, defense, and national economic performance.