Answer - Helicopter Pilot Salary Survey  

So helicopter utility flying pays more than airplane utility flying.  I said in the beginning of this thread helicopter pilots get paid more than fixed wing pilots when flying similarly sized aircraft, and if you make six figures flying a 500 doing utility work, what you said only confirms that.  Here is a pipeline patrol job in a Cessna.  About the same size a an H-500.  $23.00 an hour

https://www.google.com/search?q=pipeline+patrol+pilot+jobs&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari&ibp=htl;jobs&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7q-aC-aD-AhVymGoFHSaoAAUQkd0GegQIJxAB#fpstate=tldetail&htivrt=jobs&htiq=pipeline+patrol+pilot+jobs&htidocid=jXOmNc76F70AAAAAAAAAAA%3D%3D&sxsrf=APwXEddNRRGC0aEGVjQxa2FEL6nG14xmUw:1681185765438

The people here draw some sort of false equivalency as if flying a 14 seat aircraft is the same as flying a 250 aircraft , and all the woe is me BS, when in reality helicopter pilots make significantly more than fixed wing pilots when flying comparably sized aircraft. A  Part 135 caravan pilot makes $45,000 a year.  A helicopter pilot flying a similarly sized aircraft Part 135 makes $70-90,000.  

Airline pilot pay only outpaces helicopter pilot pay becuase the aircraft get larger.  Still guys in the Northesat and who fly contract overseas make over $150,000 a year which on on par with major airline pay while flying much smaller aircraft.  

People often make poor carrer choices or are victims of circumstance.  Rather than either admit they made a bad choice, they blame the industry or some bad manager or some other rationalization for not being where they thought they would be.  Rather than improve the skill set they already have, they have to go after another brass ring, often only to find a snowy morning with a 5AM show in Syracuse, NY awaits them, where on five hours sleep they have to sit in the terminal all day not getting paid a dime.  If you want to make that sacrafice with the hopes of a better future, more power to ya, but that road is not going to be without its bumps and hurdles.  At least you can always fall back on helicopter flying when things don't work out.  Those young kids at regionals often don't have that luxury.