Quick answer: A TV actor’s pay per episode ranges from a union-set minimum (a little over $1,000 a day) to about $1 million per episode for the biggest network-era stars. Nearly every figure above the minimum is a press report, not a confirmed number, and different outlets often disagree. This article separates documented figures from estimates.
The floor: what the union minimum is
The SAG-AFTRA Television Agreement covers actors on major U.S. TV productions and sets minimum pay. SAG-AFTRA members ratified the 2026 agreement on June 4, 2026, by a vote of 91.42% to 8.58%, with a 19.25% turnout. It runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030.
SAG-AFTRA’s own 2026 wage table lists the minimum at $1,283 for a day performer and $4,456 for a week for the year starting July 1, 2026. The previous contract year’s figures were $1,246 a day and $4,326 a week. The union’s summary of the deal confirms minimums rise 3% a year, compounded, through 2030. (The table linked is the theatrical wage table; payroll firm Wrapbook reports the same day and weekly figures for TV episodes.)
Two things to keep in mind:
- These are minimums. A series regular negotiates a higher, private deal, and nothing in this article suggests scale is what any established lead actually gets.
- Producers also pay a 21% pension and health contribution on top of performer wages, per Shamel Studio. That money goes to the union’s plans and is not part of the actor’s paycheck.
The ceiling: the highest per-episode deals on record
The best-documented top-of-market numbers come from three long-running hits. Note how often sources disagree.
| Show | Reported pay per episode | What we can say |
|---|---|---|
| Friends | Reported to start at about $22,500 each (ScreenRant); about $600,000–$700,000 in mid-run seasons; $1 million each for seasons 9 and 10 | Widely repeated. The starting figure and the mid-run range come from press summaries, not studio statements. |
| The Big Bang Theory | $1 million each for the five leads from season 8 (Forbes, 2017); Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch close to $500,000 | Later reporting is inconsistent: Variety, as cited by AOL, said the leads accepted a cut to $900,000 in the final two seasons so co-stars could earn more, while Entertainment Weekly reported $1 million for the final season. |
| Game of Thrones | About $500,000 in season 7; about $1 million to $1.2 million in the final season | Newsweek and Variety (via AOL) give slightly different final-season figures, so treat it as a range. |
The takeaway is less the exact number than the pattern: in the network and premium-cable era, a hit show’s leads could reach seven figures per episode only after several successful seasons, often through collective negotiation.
The streaming-era example: The Bear
Jeremy Allen White is a useful modern data point. In June 2024, Forbes estimated he would earn $750,000 per episode in that season of The Bear. Forbes also quoted an industry dealmaker saying that in 2021 the number would probably have been about $1.2 million, which suggests streaming-era pay for leads has been compressed even as shows become hits.
Other outlets repeat that White made about $350,000 per episode earlier in the run, citing the Daily Mail. That figure has not been officially confirmed, and outlets disagree on which season the $750,000 belongs to. FX and Hulu have not published cast contracts. Some secondary sites list lower per-episode ranges for co-stars such as Ayo Edebiri; those claims are unconfirmed, and we do not rely on them here.
For more on his career path, see our Jeremy Allen White career rise profile, and for another cast member’s earnings, see our Ayo Edebiri net worth breakdown.
What a headline salary leaves out
A per-episode figure is a gross number. It is not what lands in the actor’s bank account.
- Representation costs. The Hollywood Reporter has described the long-standing industry standard as 10% to the agent, 10% to the manager, 5% to the lawyer, and 5% to the business manager, roughly 30% in total. On a reported $750,000 episode, that would leave about $525,000 before taxes.
- Taxes come on top of that, and they vary by state, country, and how the actor structures their business.
- Backend and profit participation. Forbes reported in 2017 that The Big Bang Theory‘s stars also received a percentage of the show’s profits. These deals are rarely public, so they are usually missing from per-episode headlines.
- Episodes per season. Modern streaming seasons are often shorter than the 22-episode network seasons of the Friends era, so the same per-episode rate produces a smaller annual total.
A way to picture the gap (our calculation)
To show how far apart the floor and the top are, we divided some per-episode figures by the 2026–27 weekly minimum of $4,456. This is an illustration, not an inflation-adjusted history.
| Per-episode pay | Equivalent weeks of weekly scale | Equivalent years of weekly scale (52 weeks/yr) |
|---|---|---|
| $22,500 (reported early Friends pay) | about 5 weeks | about 0.1 year |
| $750,000 (Forbes estimate, The Bear) | about 168 weeks | about 3.2 years |
| $1,000,000 (Friends seasons 9–10; The Big Bang Theory leads) | about 224 weeks | about 4.3 years |
In plain terms: one episode at the top of the market can equal several years of full-time work at the union weekly minimum. Most working actors do not work every week of the year, so scale pay is not an annual salary either.
For another example of a per-episode figure attached to a streaming drama, see our Pedro Pascal net worth article, where the reported $600,000-per-episode figure for The Last of Us comes from Celebrity Net Worth.
How to read a TV salary headline
- Who reported it? Trade outlets (Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline) and Forbes usually cite industry sources. Fan-site round-ups usually repeat them.
- Which season? Rates change year to year. A number quoted without a season is hard to trust.
- Confirmed or estimated? Very few salaries are officially confirmed.
- Gross or net? Almost all are gross.
- Is backend included? Usually not.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum an actor can be paid on a major TV show?
Payroll guides list the 2026–27 SAG-AFTRA day-performer minimum at $1,283 and the weekly minimum at $4,456. The previous year’s figures were $1,246 and $4,326. Check the SAG-AFTRA rate sheet for the exact figure for a specific contract type.
Who was the highest-paid TV actor per episode?
There is no single confirmed answer. Reports place the leads of Friends, The Big Bang Theory, and, late in its run, Game of Thrones at around $1 million per episode, with some outlets reporting higher figures for individual stars.
Do actors keep the full per-episode amount?
No. Reports describe about 30% going to representatives, and taxes come on top.
Are per-episode salaries public?
Rarely. Most numbers come from press reports, and studios and streamers typically do not confirm them.
