How much does flight school cost in North Dakota?

Across the 3 North Dakota flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $125 to $175 per hour and instruction $65 to $75 per hour, checked as recently as September 8, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $15,145 and $19,325, with a median of $19,035. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.

What is the cheapest flight school in North Dakota?

Price Flight Services in West Fargo publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 3 North Dakota schools listed here, $125 per hour for its Piper PA-28-151 Warrior, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure, checked September 5, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.

How current are these North Dakota flight school rates?

Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in North Dakota is September 8, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 9 more schools in North Dakota are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.

PilotBoundEvery hour. Every dollar.

Published rates, sourced · Updated September 8, 2026

What flight training costs at North Dakota flight schools

Every listing shows the school's own published rates with the source and date, next to an honest PilotBound estimate for your Private pilot certificate. Add any school to your plan to map your whole route on their real rates.

Across the 3 North Dakota schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $125 to $175 per hour and instruction $65 to $75, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $15,145 and $19,325, with a median of $19,035.

Search, filter by city, and sort by cost. Each card marks where it falls among the state's schools on cost. Estimates are ours, not quotes, and we are not affiliated with these schools. See a wrong number? Every card has a correct-this-listing link.

Estimate cost toflying

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Showing 12 of 12 schools

Totals to reach your Private goal at this pace. Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. How we estimate.

Private estimate range across North Dakota

lowest $13Khighest $22K

Price Flight Services
Part not stated
Lowest in ND
West Fargo, ND·priceflightservices.com
Published rates
$125/hr aircraft (wet)+$65/hr instructor
Checked September 5, 2026·Source
Both airplanes are published as wet rates and belong to First Class Aviation of Jamestown, which supplies them to Price Flight. Flight instruction is $65/hr for the Private and endorsements and $75/hr for the Instrument, Commercial and CFI, with 0.3 hours added to each flight for briefing; ground instruction is $45/hr. The Cherokee drops to $100/hr in a 10-hour block. As published, the older PA-28-140 is the dearer airplane.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$15,145
range $13K – $17.3K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Price Flight cost breakdown →
Minot Aero Center
Part not stated
Largest fleet
Minot, ND·minotaerocenter.com
Published rates
$175/hr aircraft (wet)+$70/hr instructor
Checked September 8, 2026·Source
Every rate includes fuel, stated on each aircraft. Ground instruction is charged at the same $70/hr as flight instruction. A 30-minute introductory flight starts at $99. The $70/hr rate is published inside the multi-engine package, and nothing on the site suggests a different rate for the singles, but it is worth confirming.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$19,035
range $16.4K – $21.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Minot Aero cost breakdown →
Overland Aviation
Part not stated
Williston, ND·overlandaviation.com
Published rates
$175/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$75/hr instructor
Checked August 6, 2026·Source
Both rates come from Overland's Private Pilot guide, which is a PDF rather than a web page, and it does not say whether fuel is included. Ground instruction is charged at the same $75/hr as flight instruction. The guide also prices an online ground school at $180 and a private pilot kit at $150, and reaches an approximate all-in Private figure of $12,330 on 40 aircraft hours, which is the FAA minimum rather than what most students fly.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$19,325
range $16.6K – $22K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my plan Overland cost breakdown →
Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.
Bismarck Aero Center
Part not stated
Bismarck, ND·BIS·bismarckaero.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Bismarck Aero does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Devils Lake Aero Service
Part not stated
Devils Lake, ND·DVL·devilslakeaero.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Devils Lake Aero does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Executive Air Taxi
Part not stated
Bismarck, ND·BIS·executive-air.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Executive Air does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Fargo Jet Center
Part not stated
Fargo, ND·FAR·fargojet.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Fargo Jet Center does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
First Class Aviation
Part not stated
Jamestown, ND·JMS·firstclassaviation.us
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
First Class Aviation does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
GFK Wings
Part not stated
Grand Forks, ND·gfkwings.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
GFK Wings does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Langer Aviation
Part not stated
Mandan, ND·Y19·langeraviation.net
Published rates
$165/hr aircraft+instructor rate not published
Checked September 13, 2026·Source
Aircraft rental is booked at $165/hr through the site's own booking page. A flying club runs alongside it: $750 in annual dues buys access to the same Cessna 172 at $110/hr wet. The $165 figure is the rate anyone can book without joining, which is why it is the one shown; the site does not say whether it too includes fuel, though the club rate is explicitly wet.
No PilotBound estimate
Langer Aviation does not publish an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Watford Aero Service
Part not stated
Watford City, ND·S25·watfordaero.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Watford Aero does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →
Western Edge Aviation
Part not stated
Dickinson, ND·DIK·westernedgeaviation.com
Published rates
aircraft rate not published+instructor rate not published
No PilotBound estimate
Western Edge does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
Nothing to total without it.
See what to ask them What they do publish →

Flight school costs in North Dakota, in numbers

Computed from the 3 North Dakota schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 9 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

$19,035: Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 3 schools with published rates
$125 to $175: Published trainer rental, per hour
$65 to $75: Published instruction, per hour
3 of 12: Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)

Lowest published trainer rates in North Dakota

Price Flight Services · $125/hr Piper PA-28-151 Warrior, West Fargo
Minot Aero Center · $175/hr Cessna 172L, Minot
Overland Aviation · $175/hr Cessna 172 S/SP, Williston

Airports with more than one North Dakota flight school

Bismarck Municipal Airport (BIS)Bismarck Aero Center·Executive Air Taxi

Discovery flights in North Dakota

One North Dakota school publishes a discovery flight price. See each price with its source

How these estimates work

We apply one consistent method to every school: PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists (like the Private and Commercial) and FAA minimums where no credible public data exists (like the Instrument and CFI), times that school's published aircraft and instructor rates (linked on every card, with the date we verified them), plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. Holding the hours model identical across schools means the only thing that changes card to card is the school's actual rates.

So the number is PilotBound's estimate, not the school's quote, and it will differ from a school's own cost figures, which are often based on FAA-minimum hours. The schools do not set or endorse it.

Want a number tied to your own pace and aircraft choice? Run the estimator or read the full methodology.

These estimates are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Common questions about North Dakota flight schools

How much does flight school cost in North Dakota?: Across the 3 North Dakota flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $125 to $175 per hour and instruction $65 to $75 per hour, checked as recently as September 8, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $15,145 and $19,325, with a median of $19,035. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
What is the cheapest flight school in North Dakota?: Price Flight Services in West Fargo publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 3 North Dakota schools listed here, $125 per hour for its Piper PA-28-151 Warrior, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure, checked September 5, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.
How current are these North Dakota flight school rates?: Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in North Dakota is September 8, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 9 more schools in North Dakota are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.