The Salary of a Helicopter Mechanic
Because they carry fewer people and are usually private or government-owned, helicopters don’t get mentioned often on the news or featured much in movies, but the professionals trained to service them focus specifically on helicopters. Helicopter mechanics, employed primarily by air transportation industries, don’t always earn the highest salaries by working in states with the highest numbers of professionals in their field.
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National Numbers
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Helicopters were kept in good flying condition by approximately 117,510 aircraft mechanics earning median salaries of $53,420 nationwide as of May 2010. As reported in the Occupational Employment and Wages survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, mechanics earning at the high end of their profession received $72,250 in wages in the 90th percentile and at the other end, $33,630 in the 10th percentile.
Salary by Industry
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Although air transportation industries dominated employment of the aircraft mechanic field, their salaries weren't the highest in the BLS survey. The scheduled air transportation industry, which employed the most helicopter mechanics, paid an above average $56,570, but the next largest employer, support activities for air transportation, paid a below average $45,810. Helicopter mechanics employed by the financial investment activities industry earned the highest wages, at $81,150, followed by those working for couriers and express delivery services, with annual mean wages of $78,380.
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State Numbers
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The states with the top pay for helicopter mechanics were scattered across the country at the time of the BLS survey. Tennessee topped the list, with annual helicopter mean wages of $68,180. Employers in Indiana placed second, paying their helicopter mechanics $60,940, but Kentucky and Connecticut were close behind, with wages of $60,250 and $60,050 respectively. New Jersey placed fifth, with above-average salaries of $59,890.
Clusters
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States where helicopter mechanic employment was at its highest didn’t always pay the highest salaries. Texas had the highest employment level within the profession in the country, but paid a just below the median annual wage of $51,040. California, with the second highest number of employed helicopter mechanics, paid slightly above the national wage at $58,060. The state with the third highest employment level, Florida, paid significantly lower than the median at $46,180, while fourth-place Georgia just topped the median with wages of $55,320. In fifth place of high employment for the profession was Oklahoma, with a below average $48,280.
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References
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