How much do the Stranger Things actors earn? The salaries season by season
Behind the scenes · The salaries · Seasons 1 to 5
The actors of the show started with modest fees and ended among the best paid in television. The known figures come from the American trade press, which revealed the salaries per episode at the time of season 3. Here is what we know, season by season, and what remains uncertain.
The essentials
- Season 3, the party: about 250 000 dollars per episode
- Season 3, Ryder and Harbour: about 350 000 dollars per episode
- Season 3, the high-schoolers: about 150 000 dollars per episode
- Season 5: seven-figure paydays per actor, according to the press
Contents
Season 1: unknowns, unknowns' pay
In 2015, none of the children is known, and the two adult headliners, Winona Ryder and David Harbour, are not at the peak of their box-office draw. Season 1 salaries were never made public, but the American press estimated them at a few tens of thousands of dollars per episode for kids, and at higher sums, without being exceptional, for the adults.
The show is an immediate success, and Season 2 is ordered even before the contracts are renegotiated: the actors shoot the second season at rates close to the first.
The group's T-shirt, at a reasonable price.
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Season 3: the numbers revealed
In March 2018, an American trade magazine publishes the salaries negotiated for season 3, in three tiers. The five historic children, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Noah Schnapp, get about 250 000 dollars per episode, or 2 million dollars for eight episodes. Winona Ryder and David Harbour, about 350 000 dollars per episode. Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, and Joe Keery, about 150 000 dollars.
Millie Bobby Brown is said to have gotten a little more than her co-stars, without the figure being confirmed. The negotiation had been led collectively by the kids, which was rare.
| Landing (season 3) | Actors | Per episode (press estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Winona Ryder, David Harbour | ≈ 350 000 $ |
| B | Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp | ≈ 250 000 $ |
| C | Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery | ≈ 150 000 $ |
Seasons 4 and 5: the last renegotiation
Seasons 4 and 5 were the subject of new negotiations, whose details were not published with the same precision. The American press mentioned, for the last season, fees of several million dollars per actor for the principals, the children having caught up with the adults. Those figures are not confirmed by production, and this article gives them as estimates.
What is certain: the show made the children of 2015 into actors able to demand star fees, and several, like Millie Bobby Brown, now produce their own films.
Why these figures are approximateTelevision salaries are negotiated contract by contract, with bonuses, backend and confidentiality clauses. The published amounts come from leaks and estimates by trade reporters, never from production itself.
And compared with the other series?
Winona Ryder and David Harbour's 350 000 dollars per episode in 2019 were high for a streaming show, but far from the records: the Friends actors were making a million per episode in 2002, those of Game of Thrones about 500 000 at the end of the series. For child actors, on the other hand, the group's 250 000 dollars was a level rarely reached.
Markers
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Season 1 filming at modest fees |
| 2018 | Collective renegotiation; the season 3 figures are published |
| 2019 | Season 3: $250 000 per episode for the kids |
| 2021 | New renegotiation for season 4 |
| 2024 | Season 5 filming, unpublished fees |
The figure that does not cost 250 000 dollars.
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The detail that says a lot: the finale's candy vouchers
An episode of the last chapter's release sheds light on the pay question. When the finale was screened in 620 North American theaters on December 31, 2025, the 1,1 million tickets presold were not sold as movie tickets but as confectionery vouchers. The reason sat in the actors' contracts: a theatrical release in the strict sense would have triggered pay clauses provided for cinema, different from those of television.
The more than 25 million dollars in box office were therefore counted as confectionery sales. The anecdote says two things: the cast's contracts are precise enough to weigh on how an episode is distributed, and the show's actors are now treated, contractually, like movie headliners.
What the salaries weigh in the budget
According to the trade press, each episode of the last season cost between 50 and 60 million dollars, for a total estimated between 400 and 480 million, one of the highest budgets in the history of television. Salaries are only part of it: filming lasted 237 days, with sets like the lab in the Upside Down or the radio tower, and heavy visual effects, from the de-aging of Will to the spider of the Abyss.
By way of comparison, season 1 had been bought on a pilot reading by a platform that was giving two unknowns a chance, with children paid a few tens of thousands of dollars per episode. Ten years later, the same program costs more than a blockbuster per episode. The fees followed that curve, even if their exact amount for the last season remains an estimate.
What the actors earn after the show
The actors' income has long no longer been limited to the show. Millie Bobby Brown produces her films with her company PCMA Productions and founded the cosmetics brand Florence by Mills in 2019; the press mentioned a 10 million dollar fee for Enola Holmes 2. Finn Wolfhard acts, records, and directs; Joe Keery leads a music career under the name Djo, of which one track became a worldwide hit in 2024; Noah Schnapp launched a spread brand.
For fans, the salary question is above all that of recognition: the unknown kids of 2015 finished the show with star contracts, and it is the clearest trajectory of the whole cast.
A stop at the shop, with no renegotiation.
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TakeawaySeason 3: about 250 000 $ per episode for the party, 350 000 $ for Ryder and Harbour. The high-schoolers (Dyer, Heaton, Keery): about 150 000 $. Seasons 4 and 5: much higher paydays, unconfirmed. All these figures are press estimates.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Millie Bobby Brown earn per episode?
About 250 000 dollars per episode for season 3, according to the American press, perhaps a little more than his classmates. The figures for seasons 4 and 5 have not been confirmed.
Who is the highest paid on the show?
For season 3, Winona Ryder and David Harbour, at about 350 000 dollars per episode. For season 5, the kids are said to have caught up with them, according to estimates.
Did the children negotiate together?
Yes, the 2018 renegotiation was led collectively by the five historic actors of the party.
Are those figures confirmed?
No. They come from leaks and estimates in the trade press, never from production.
Why were the finale theater tickets concession vouchers?
Because of the actors' contracts: a real theatrical release would have triggered clauses provided for cinema. The receipts, more than 25 million dollars, were counted as confectionery sales.
How much did Season 5 cost?
Between 50 and 60 million dollars per episode according to the press, or 400 to 480 million in all, salaries included.