Jersey Shore making big bucks!!

he cast of "Jersey Shore" is about to get richer . . . A LOT richer.

According to "Entertainment Weekly", MTV has agreed to pay the, quote, "core group" at least $100,000 per episode for Season Four.  That's roughly $1.3 MILLION for the season.

It's unclear who fits into the "core group," but we assume that's at least Snooki, Pauly D, The Situation and JWoww.

The main cast got about $25,000 per episode for Season Three, which was up from the $5,000 to $10,000 an episode they were paid for the second season.

 Filming on Season Four will begin in May, and the season will premiere later this year.

There was some talk that contract negotiations delayed production, which was supposed to begin this week . . . but we also heard that the producers needed extra time to get shooting permits for Italian locations.