The Highest Paid TV Actors

In this day and age, television makes its stars very rich.

Aside from the relatively stable jobs for its actors, on long running shows with stable audiences like The Big Bang Theory or Modern Family, network television series account for some of the highest-paid jobs in the entertainment industry.

Before we dive in, it’s important to note the salaries on this list were determined based on the period of June 2016 to June 2017, taking into account salary estimates from Nielson, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as partnerships and endorsement deals.

Take a look at the ten highest paid television actors, according to Complex.

10. Ellen Pompeo

Salary: $13,000,000 

She will not be in this spot on next year’s list.

In a February interview, Ellen Pompeo, who rose to prominence playing the role of Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, openly discussed her salary negotiations. According to the article, Pompeo now makes $20 million for her role on the show, as well as to executive produce both Grey’s and its spinoff Station 19, making her the highest-paid actress on a primetime drama.

9. Mindy Kaling

Salary: $13,000,000

Mindy’s The Mindy project — which she created, wrote, produced and starred in — ended in November, but she has many other projects coming soon. She also starred in Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle In Time alongside Oprah Winfrey, and created a new NBC show, Champions, which premiered in March. Kaling is set to write, produce and guest-star in the show regularly.

8. Ty Burrell

Salary: $13,500,000

All of the adult stars of Modern Family have monster salaries for the ABC series, and they all earn the same amount (Around $350,000 per episode), plus profit participation, because they negotiated their salaries together. Ty Burrell comes in second to Sofia Vergara thanks to his endorsement deals with Gain and the National Association of Realtors, as well as his roles in animated films Storks and Finding Dory in 2016.

7. Mark Harmon

Salary: $19,000,000

Harmon, from the long-running procedural NCIS, also serves as an executive producer. The double-duty adds good amount of money to his already healthy salary.

6. Kunal Nayyar

Salary: $25,000,000

Kunal Nayyar of Big Bang Theory fame is the only actor of color among the highest paid actors in television. Sofia Vergara and Mindy Kaling join him as the only actresses of color.

5. Simon Helberg

Salary: $26,000,000

The Big Bang Theory Stars get paid a lot of money per episode, given that it is the highest rated network show, and they are all paid the same per episode as they negotiated their salaries together.

4. Kaley Cuoco

Salary: $26,000,000

As the woman with the second-highest salary in the business and in her male-dominated show, Kaley Cuoco is not to be dismissed; Forbes estimates that she earns $26 million, which is pretty impressive considering its male-heavy cast.

Although Cuoco is not the only woman on the show, castmates Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch earn significantly less. But Cuoco, along with her four male co-stars, have each taken a $100,000 pay cut so that the other two women can have higher salaries.

3. Johnny Galecki

Salary: $26,500,000

One of the Big Bang Theory‘s biggest stars, like his castmates, makes $1 million per episode for a 24-episode season, plus a cut of the profits.

2. Jim Parsons

Salary: $27,500,000

Parsons earns the most out of his The Big Bang Theory co-stars, due in part to his side projects. He produces and narrates Young Sheldon, the spinoff show based on his character’s young life. He also had a role in Hidden Figures and is preparing for a Broadway show.

1. Sofia Vergara

Salary: $41,500,000

Sofia Vergara sits atop of the list, and we could not be prouder. The Modern Family star has been the top earning actress in television for the past six years, and it’s because of her business savvy attitude: aside from making $1 million per episode, she has licensing deals with Rooms To Go, Avon and SharkNinja, as well as endorsements for Pepsi, CoverGirl and Head & Shoulders.