PilotBound

What flight training costs at North Dakota flight schools

Across the 4 North Dakota schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $125 to $210 per hour and instruction $65 to $80, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $15,145 and $22,135, with a median of $19,180.

12 schools listed · Updated October 16, 2026

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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$13K$25.2K

  • Price Flight Services

    Part not stated
    Lowest in ND

    West Fargo, ND·priceflightservices.com

    $125/hr aircraft (wet)·$65/hr instructor

    Checked October 8, 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 to $17.3K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planPrice Flight cost breakdown →

  • Minot Aero Center

    Part not stated
    Largest fleet

    Minot, ND·minotaerocenter.com

    $175/hr aircraft (wet)·$70/hr instructor

    Checked October 12, 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 to $21.7K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planMinot Aero cost breakdown →

  • Overland Aviation

    Part not stated

    Williston, ND·overlandaviation.com

    $175/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$75/hr instructor

    Checked October 16, 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 to $22K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planOverland cost breakdown →

  • Fargo Wings

    Part 61

    Fargo, ND·fargowings.com

    $210/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$80/hr instructor

    Checked October 13, 2026·Source

    Rates are from the school's price list effective August 22, 2026, which does not say whether fuel is included. Instruction is $80/hr for flight and ground. Members of the school's flying club pay $20/hr less for each airplane.

    PilotBound estimate, Private

    $22,135

    range $19K to $25.2K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planFargo Wings 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

    No PilotBound estimate

    Bismarck Aero does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Bismarck Aero

  • Devils Lake Aero Service

    Part not stated

    Devils Lake, ND·DVL·devilslakeaero.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Devils Lake Aero does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Devils Lake Aero

  • Executive Air Taxi

    Part not stated

    Bismarck, ND·BIS·executive-air.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Executive Air does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Executive Air

  • First Class Aviation

    Part not stated

    Jamestown, ND·JMS·firstclassaviation.us

    No PilotBound estimate

    First Class Aviation does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask First Class Aviation

  • GFK Wings

    Part not stated

    Grand Forks, ND·gfkwings.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    GFK Wings does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask GFK Wings

  • Langer Aviation

    Part not stated

    Mandan, ND·Y19·langeraviation.net

    $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

    What to ask Langer Aviation

  • Watford Aero Service

    Part not stated

    Watford City, ND·S25·watfordaero.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Watford Aero does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Watford Aero

  • Western Edge Aviation

    Part not stated

    Dickinson, ND·DIK·westernedgeaviation.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Western Edge does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Western Edge

Flight school costs in North Dakota, in numbers

Computed from the 4 North Dakota schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 8 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 4 schools with published rates
$19,180
Published trainer rental, per hour
$125 to $210
Published instruction, per hour
$65 to $80
Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)
4 of 12

Lowest published trainer rates in North Dakota

Airports with more than one North Dakota flight school

Discovery flights in North Dakota

3 North Dakota schools publish a discovery flight price, median $190. 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 4 North Dakota flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $125 to $210 per hour and instruction $65 to $80 per hour, checked as recently as October 16, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $15,145 and $22,135, with a median of $19,180. 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 4 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 October 8, 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 October 16, 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 8 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.