Think all of the money is in the Hollywood film industry? Think again! Plenty of actors are making money (and lots of it) by lending their talents to our TV sets. While some actors earn their income by hustling from gig to gig, others are able to climb so far up the ladder that they make millions of dollars—per episode. Don’t believe us? Here are just a few of the highest-paid TV actors working today.
When you think of Seinfeld, you probably think of, well, “Seinfeld,” his eponymous sitcom about nothing. During the show’s final season in 1998, its creator and lead was paid $1 million an episode, which, adjusted for inflation, would be $1.98 million today. While that’s undeniably a ton of money, it could have been even crazier: NBC reportedly offered Seinfeld $5 million an episode for a proposed 10th season, but he ultimately declined.
2. Reese Witherspoon (estimated net worth $400 million)
While Witherspoon got her start in film, starring in movies like “Legally Blonde” and “Cruel Intentions,” she has been spending more time recently on the small screen—although that definitely doesn’t mean small paychecks. For her role as Bradley Jackson on “The Morning Show,” now in its fourth season, Witherspoon is making $2 million an episode.
3. Jennifer Aniston (estimated net worth $320 million)
Like her costar, Aniston is also currently making a smooth $2 million an episode for her role on “The Morning Show.” While that’s an astonishing amount of money, anyone who had a pulse on the sitcom scene of the ’90s and early aughts can guess that Aniston is no stranger to hefty TV checks. During the last two seasons of “Friends,” Aniston and her five costars (Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer) were all making $1 million an episode, which, adjusted for inflation, would be $1.71 million today.
4. Harrison Ford (estimated net worth $300 million)
While Ford might be best known for his iconic film roles (Han Solo in “Star Wars” and the titular “Indiana Jones,” just to name a few), the actor is currently having a bit of a late-career revival on TV, lending his old-school charisma to roles in Taylor Sheridan’s “1923” and Apple TV+’s “Shrinking.” According to Business Insider, Ford made $1 million per episode for his role as Jacob Dutton on “1923” (as did his costar Helen Mirren for her role as Cara Dutton).
5. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (estimated net worth $250 million)
Seinfeld isn’t the only actor on “Seinfeld” who commanded an impressive paycheck. While Louis-Dreyfus wasn’t paid quite as much for her time on that show, she still made about $600,000 per episode in the final season, which is nothing to sneeze at. Her time playing Vice President Selina Meyer on “Veep” netted her about $250,000 an episode, with a raise of $500,000 per episode during the last season (not to mention six Emmys!).
6. Ray Romano (estimated net worth $200 million)
Though he was excellent on the recent Netflix miniseries “No Good Deed,” it’s hard to imagine Romano as anyone else but his “Everybody Loves Raymond” character, Ray Barone. Beyond cementing his legacy in television history, Romano also has Raymond to thank for a good chunk of his net worth. In fact, according to Guinness World Records, Romano holds the record for the highest-paid TV actor per episode. He reportedly made a whopping $1.94 million an episode for the entire final season of “Everybody Loves Raymond” in 2005. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $3.2 million an episode.
Credit: Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock
7. Sarah Jessica Parker (estimated net worth $200 million)
Parker has been on television for decades, first starring on the one-season sitcom “Square Pegs” in 1982. But her television legacy really comes from her time as Carrie Bradshaw, appearing in the role on and off since 1998. How much Parker made for the original run of “Sex and the City” is unclear, but in 2000, during the early days of the series’ run, the New York Times estimated that she was making between $100,000–$150,000 an episode. As for the series’ revival “And Just Like That…,” which finished its three-season run this year? Parker reportedly made more than $1 million per episode.
Credit: lev radin/Shutterstock
8. Steve Martin (estimated net worth $140 million) and Martin Short (estimated net worth $30 million)
While real-life best buds Martin and Short probably have a fair amount of fun on the set of the currently running “Only Murders in the Building,” they also apparently make a fair amount of cash on the series. In 2021, Variety reported that the two were each making $600,000 per episode. And, while we can’t find an official source, it’s fair to imagine that the third member of their trio, Selena Gomez (estimated net worth $1 billion), makes a similar amount per episode, as well.
Credit: lev radin/Shutterstock
9. Mariska Hargitay (estimated net worth $100 million)
Hargitay is best known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU,” a role she’s played for the series’ entire 26-year run (and counting!). This makes Benson the longest-running primetime drama television character of all time. But with that consistency comes more than just clout, as Hargitay reportedly makes $500,000 an episode.
Credit: lev radin/Shutterstock
10. Chris Pratt (estimated net worth $100 million)
Pratt got his start on TV playing the lovably dumb Andy Dwyer on “Parks and Recreation,” during which we can only assume he made a good (but reasonable) salary. A couple Marvel movies later, however, and Pratt now finds himself comfortably in high-paid television history. For his triumphant return to television as James Reece on Prime Video’s “The Terminal List,” Pratt made an astonishing $1.4 million per episode—and we assume his “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf” prequel salary is just as high.
Credit: Joe Seer/Shutterstock
Ready to be the next addition on this list? Check out our TV series callboard here.
