Top 10 Highest Paid TV Child Actors Of All Time
#10: Selena Gomez ($30,000/episode) “Wizards of Waverly Place” (2007-12)
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We don’t know what the average wizard gets paid these days, but we can tell you how much Selena Gomez got paid to play one on the Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.” The show ran for four seasons between October of 2007 and January of 2012 and it’s reported that Gomez took home between $25 and $30 thousand per episode for the run of the show. And while combined, fellow Disney stars the Sprouse brothers were taking home a little bit more than Gomez, individually she had them beat. The guys were each paid $20,000 per episode for “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.”
#9: Victoria Justice ($50,000/episode) “Zoey 101” (2005-08)
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When it came to making lots of money Victoria Justice was victorious even before she became the star of her own, similarly titled, Nickelodeon show. Justice built up her fan base playing Lola Martinez on three season’s of the Jamie Lynn Spears starrer, “Zoey 101,” for which she was paid the very nice sum of $50,000 per episode. But she was only a supporting cast member on “Zoey 101,” whereas from 2010 to 2013 she was the star of “Victorious.” However, the reports on her “Victorious” salary range from $12,000 to $180,000 per episode. Given she was popular and the star, we’d bet the number is over $50,000. But how much over, we can’t be sure.
#8: Gary Coleman ($70,000/episode) “Diff'rent Strokes” (1978-86)
“Diff'rent Strokes” made Gary Coleman rich, but it took a while to get there. When the show premiered back in 1978, Coleman was only getting paid $1,500 per episode. However, as the show, and more importantly Coleman gained in popularity, he was able to negotiate for more money, eventually getting his salary up to $70,000 per episode. And remember, this was the 80s. Adjusted for inflation, $70,000 in 1986 (the final year of the show) equals over $190,000 in 2022. We’re sure Nancy Reagan would have told him to “just say yes” to that kind of money!
#7: Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen ($80,000) “Full House” (1987-95)
In 2006 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen turned 20. In 2007 they were on the Forbes Richest Women in Entertainment list with a net worth around $100 million. And while a lot of that probably had to do with their clothing line, the seed of their fortune started all the way back in 1987 when the 15 month old twins made their debut on “Full House.” They started off slowly, making only $2,400 per episode, but that soon went up to $25,000 and by the end they were raking in $80,000 each per episode. And to that we say, “you got it dude.”
#6: The “Modern Family” Kids ($125,000/episode) “Modern Family” (2009-20)
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Many of us could relate to the trials and tribulations of the Dunphy kids: Haley, Alex and Luke, as well as Gloria’s son Manny. However, most of us probably can’t relate to how much money the actors playing those kids were making. While we don’t know what they were making when the show premiered, we do know that starting in season four, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould and Rico Rodriguez were each taking home $70,000 per episode. That number got renegotiated up to $100,000 for the 9th and 10th seasons, and up again, one more time, to $125,000 for season 11.
#5: Frankie Muniz ($150,000/episode) “Malcolm in the Middle” (2000-06)
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While he might have been in the middle on his hit sitcom, Frankie Muniz sits much closer to the top when it comes to the history of child actor salaries. Muniz began making a respectable $30,000 per episode when the show premiered on FOX back in 2000 and he stayed at that number for the first three seasons. When season four hit the airwaves Muniz had negotiated a new deal that would see him take home $75,000 per episode through season 6. But wait, there was one more deal to make. Season 7 was definitely lucky for Muniz who doubled his per-episode pay in the final season to $150,000.
#4: Miranda Cosgrove ($180,000/episode) “iCarly” (2007-12)
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In 2012 actress Miranda Cosgrove earned her way into the Guiness Book of World Records. And when we say “earned” we literally mean that, as Cosgrove got her name in the book by being the highest paid child actress of the year. The iCarly star was raking in $180,000 per episode for her role as the titular Carly. Given that the show aired almost 100 episodes, that may put her total pay for the series at around $18 million. Good for her. Although we’ll admit to being a little iJealous.
#3: Tyler James Williams ($250,000/episode) “Everybody Hates Chris” (2005-09)
Everybody might’ve hated Chris, but they sure seemed to love Tyler James Williams. Or at least the producers of “Everybody Hates Chris” sure liked him enough to pay him $250,000 per episode of the series that ran for four seasons on UPN/CW. Not bad for a kid who was just 12 years old when the show premiered in 2005 - and was probably best known for appearing on 10 episodes of “Sesame Street” in 2000. We’re pretty sure that back then he wasn’t making $250,000 for his drawing of a rubber duckie.
#2: Angus T. Jones ($350,000) “Two and a Half Men” (2003-15)
Angus T. Jones was the super cute half on the “Two and a Half Men” set, and he appeared to be having a good time making the show. However, things changed as he got older and he eventually arrived at a point where he had some big issues with the series that made him a star. At one point he was even seen begging people to stop watching the show entirely. But whatever his problems were with the content of the series, we’re gonna assume he didn’t have any problems with all the money it made him. Especially by the end of his run on the show when he was raking in a hefty $350,000 per episode.
#1: Millie Bobby Brown ($300-350,000/episode) “Stranger Things” (2016-)
Stranger things have happened than teens making millions of dollars, but it’s still worth noting the impressive salary of this young star. Before we talk numbers though, we should point out that reports surrounding the “Stranger Things” salaries do vary a bit. As such we’ve provided a range to reflect that. It’s fair to say that the Netflix series has made all the kids household names, but the biggest breakout star of the bunch has been Millie Bobby Brown. The rest of the young cast has seen their per-episode pay rise to between $100-$250,000 for the latter seasons. Brown, on the other hand, was reportedly taking home between $300-$350,000 per episode in season four.
