How much to Helicopter Pilots make?

Pilot salaries are rising due to the pilot shortage. A chief pilot in the Texas-Louisiana “Oil Patch” has seen his or her salary double in the last 10 years, with the average salary now over $100,000 annually. Other industry sources have reported similar gains in average salaries in most every other area of helicopter flying. You can’t just go to school, get your commercial license and walk right into one of these jobs. You will have less than 200 hours of flight experience when you get your commercial license, and most of these jobs require 1,000 hours or more. Your first job is going to be as a flight instructor. Teaching others what you know will make you a better pilot. And, in doing so, you work towards the flight hours and experience requirements for the commercial job you’ve already got your eyes on. At Silver State Helicopters, we can take you from zero to CFI in 18 months. For more information about our program visit www.silverstatehelicopters.com

I was reading an article the other day about a shortage and they said depending on the area you get into you can make some good money. I think they said it started out at 50k.