How Much Do Actors Make
Real rates for the work you can actually get — background, day player, commercial, corporate — plus when the money arrives, what comes out of it, and the second number on a commercial contract that is usually larger than the first.
What each kind of job pays
| Job | Union minimum | Non-union, observed | Paid when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background, one day | $231General background, Schedules X-I & X-II, 8-hour day | $100–250Varies more by city than any other category | Through a payroll company. Two to six weeks is normal. |
| Special ability background | $241Same schedule, higher category | Above general background | As above. |
| Stand-in or photo double | $270Same schedule, higher category again | Above general background | As above. |
| Day player, film or TV | $257 – $1,283Depends entirely on which agreement — see below | $150–1,000Negotiated per role, no floor | Payroll company, then agent, then you. |
| Commercial | $855.20 sessionOn-camera session fee, plus separate use fees. Different contract cycle; P&H 23.5% | Session $500–600 Use $1,000–5,000 | Session first. Usage separately, and later. |
| Corporate / industrial | $673 – $837On-camera principal, Category I and Category II | $150–500Flat rates common | Often the fastest-paying category. |
| Independent feature, supporting | $257Ultra Low Budget Project Agreement | $0–1,000Unpaid is common and legal | Frequently on or after wrap. |
Before anything else
The average is a useless number and everyone quotes it anyway
Average actor pay is a headline built from a handful of people earning millions and an enormous number earning nothing. It describes no real person, and it is the number every page competing for this search puts at the top.
There is also a specific reason you should distrust any page that quotes one: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish an annual wage for actors at all. It publishes hourly figures, because the work is too irregular to annualise. Anyone showing you a tidy yearly salary for actors has multiplied something themselves.
What is useful is the rate for the specific job in front of you — which is what the table above is for, and what the rest of this page explains.
The word that hides a fivefold range
“It’s scale” tells you almost nothing
Scale is the minimum under whichever agreement the production signed. There are several, and they are not close together.
Every one of these is “scale”
And a related thing nobody mentions
Union rates are set nationally. A union day in Boise pays the same as a union day in Los Angeles. It is non-union rates that swing wildly by city — which is why the middle column of that table has a range and the left one does not.
Members ratified the 2026 TV/Theatrical agreement on 5 June 2026 with 91.42% in favour. It runs 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2030, with minimums rising 3% compounded every 1 July — so figures quoted anywhere, including here, need a date attached. The Low Budget Project figure above comes from an industry payroll company rather than the union’s own published sheet; the other three are from SAG-AFTRA rate sheets directly.
The most valuable thing on this page
On a commercial, the second number is bigger than the first
A commercial contract has a session fee — the day you work — and a usage fee, which is what the client pays for the right to run it. Most actors negotiate the first and skim the second. It is the wrong way round.
Session against usage, on the same contract
And read the term, not just the number
Two contracts can quote similar money for completely different products. One observed posting offered $2,500 usage for six months. Another offered $5,000 with no term stated. And a third category appears constantly on non-union boards:
“All media in perpetuity”
It means anywhere, forever, nothing further owed to you. For a small regional campaign at a fair session fee that may be a perfectly reasonable trade. For a national brand at $500 flat, you have sold something valuable very cheaply.
It is not a trick and it is not hidden — it is written on the posting. It is simply that nobody explains what it means before you sign.
A convention nobody publishes
Is the agency fee added on top, or taken out?
Both conventions are in active use, in different markets, and the postings look almost identical. This is worth thirty seconds of your attention every single time.
$500 + 20%The client pays $600. Your agent’s twenty per cent is the extra hundred. Your fee is untouched.
$600 less 20% AFThe client pays $600. Twenty per cent comes out of it. You take home less than the number on the posting.
Same-looking numbers. A hundred and twenty dollars of difference. If a posting does not make it explicit, ask which convention applies before you accept — and note that at least one market we surveyed adds ten per cent rather than twenty on video work, meaning representation costs you nothing on those jobs.
The most disorienting part of a first booking
You will not be paid for weeks, and sometimes months
Nobody warns first-timers about this, and it causes more panic than any other part of the process.
Keep the paperwork, and keep a note
Photograph your voucher or start form before you hand it over. Note the date, the production, the rate and the payroll company. If a payment goes missing, that photograph is the entire difference between a phone call and an argument.
If you are not paid
If it was a union job, contact your local. That is what the union is for and it is the single most effective route available to you. If it was non-union, you are relying on the production’s goodwill and on ordinary small-claims routes — which is one honest argument for union work that has nothing to do with the rate.
Money you are owed and may not be claiming
Bumps and adjustments
These are contractual, they are small, and beginners routinely leave them on the table because nobody tells them they exist. On a background day they are the difference between poor and reasonable.
The late fee has a ceiling and it went up. The maximum late-payment penalty rose from $75 to $125 under the 2026 agreement. It is not a fortune, but it is automatic, and claiming it is the difference between a production treating late payment as free and treating it as expensive.
One more change worth knowing about. Under the 2026 agreement, casting agencies may not charge background actors for access to casting notices. If someone is asking you to pay to see background work, that is now specifically addressed.
Adjustment amounts and their triggers vary by agreement. These are theatrical and television figures; commercial and corporate agreements set their own. Check the one your job falls under.
What comes out before it reaches you
A three-hundred-dollar day is not three hundred dollars
Agent ten to twenty per cent depending on the convention above. Manager another ten if you have one. Union dues. And tax that nobody withheld, because on many jobs you are not on anyone’s payroll in the way an employee is.
And one thing that is not a deduction, which people mistake for one
Pension and health contributions are paid by the producer on top of your fee, not taken out of it. On theatrical and television work the rate is 21%, rising to 22% on 6 September 2026; on background work 20.5%, rising to 21.5% the same day; on commercials it is 23.5%. That money does not appear in your bank account, and it is not nothing: it is what makes union health coverage possible if you earn enough in a year to qualify.
The earnings threshold to qualify for SAG-AFTRA health coverage in 2026 is $28,090. It was $26,000 in 2023. That number moving is one of the quieter reasons a working year can stop counting as a working year.
The practical consequence for planning
Set aside tax from every payment as it arrives rather than at year end, and keep receipts for the things that are genuinely deductible in your jurisdiction — classes, headshots, submissions, travel to work. We are not your accountant and this is not tax advice, but the actors who get caught out are almost always the ones who treated a booking fee as spending money.
Without the mythology
Residuals, explained properly
You are not paid every time somebody watches. You are paid on reuse — under a formula that depends on the medium, the platform and the contract.
Streaming residuals are calculated differently from broadcast, which is what the 2023 strike was largely about, and the 2026 agreement changed the mechanics again — including a success bonus for qualifying projects and adjusted factors for large foreign subscriber bases.
Two honest limits
Background performers generally do not receive residuals in the way principals do. And residuals flow from union agreements — a non-union job typically generates none at all, however many times it runs.
That is one of the clearest practical differences between the two kinds of work, and it does not show up in the day rate at all.
The honest realityYour rate matters. Your ability to survive the quiet months matters more.
The part that matters more than any rate
Day jobs that survive an audition schedule
The job has to release you at four hours’ notice or it will cost you the booking. That single requirement rules out most conventional employment and explains why actors cluster in the work they do.
What tends to work: shift work you can trade, freelance and project work you control, hospitality with a rota you can swap, anything remote and asynchronous, and self-employment where the only person you have to persuade is you.
What tends not to: anything with fixed weekday hours and a manager who has to approve absence in advance. Not because those jobs are worse — because they are structurally incompatible with a callback at eleven for a two o’clock.
And the honest trade-off nobody names
The flexible jobs usually pay less per hour than the rigid ones. You are buying availability, and availability is expensive. Knowing that you are making a purchase rather than settling for less makes the decision easier to live with.
The closing argument
The number that actually predicts whether you keep going
It is not what a booking pays. It is how many months of rent you have behind you.
Almost everyone who leaves this business leaves for financial reasons rather than artistic ones. The people who last are usually the ones who arranged their money so they could wait — for the right job, through a quiet quarter, past the month the credit cap ran out in their state.
Every rate on this page matters less than that one.
Quick answers
Questions people actually ask
Every question is answered below. Open only what you need.
How much does a background actor make in a day?
Union general background is $231 for an eight-hour day under the current agreement, and non-union jobs commonly range from about $100 to $250 depending on the city. Overtime, wardrobe and special-ability adjustments can raise the final check. Be careful with figures you find elsewhere — a lot of pages are still quoting $180–$200, which is a contract cycle or two out of date.
What does a co-star or day player on television pay?
It depends on the agreement. “Scale” can mean $257 on an Ultra Low Budget Project or $1,283 under the basic theatrical agreement. Always ask which agreement applies.
What does a commercial pay?
Usually two amounts: a session fee for the shoot and a separate usage fee for running the ad. The usage payment can be several times larger, so read the territory, media and term before accepting.
What does an independent film pay?
Anything from unpaid to full union scale. Supporting roles in small non-union films are often unpaid or modestly paid; union low-budget agreements create published minimums.
What does corporate or industrial work pay?
Often surprisingly well for a short day. Published union categories and observed non-union postings commonly put it above background work, though flat buyouts are common.
What does “scale” actually mean?
Scale means the minimum under a particular union agreement, not one universal rate. Ask, “Which agreement?” The answer can change the day rate fivefold.
Does joining the union mean I earn more?
Per union day, generally yes. But membership can close non-union work to you, so the real question is whether your market provides enough union opportunities to replace the work you give up.
Do union rates differ by city?
National union minimums generally do not. Non-union rates vary far more by market, which is why the same kind of job can pay very differently in different cities.
What are bumps?
Extra contractual payments for specific conditions or requirements — body make-up, extensive hair or make-up, a corset, special ability, or a stand-in also working as background. Check your voucher before you leave set.
What is a meal penalty?
Extra pay owed when a required meal break begins late. The amount typically increases for each additional half hour, which is deliberate: it is designed to make running late expensive. Amounts are set by the specific agreement your job falls under, so check the rate sheet for that agreement rather than a general figure.
What are usage and buyouts?
Usage pays for the right to show a commercial. A buyout bundles those rights into a fixed amount. Compare the money with the media, territory and length of use, not just the shoot-day fee.
What is P&H — and do I receive it?
Pension and health contributions, paid by the producer on top of your fee — 21% on theatrical and television work rising to 22% on 6 September 2026, and 23.5% on commercials. They do not appear in your bank account, but they fund union benefits if you meet the earnings threshold, which is $28,090 in 2026.
What does “all media in perpetuity” mean?
The client may use the work in any media, forever, without another payment. That may be acceptable for the right project, but understand how much you are giving away.
Do actors get paid before or after filming?
After, almost always. Thirty days is normal and sixty is common. The exception is a small number of low-budget productions that pay on the day in cash — which is unusual enough that a posting saying so is worth noticing.
How long does payment actually take?
Two to six weeks is common, and some payments take longer. Session fees, usage and residuals may arrive separately on different schedules.
Who actually pays me?
Often a payroll company rather than the casting office or the production itself. Your start paperwork should identify the employer and is the first place to look when tracking payment.
What is an Employer of Record?
The company legally responsible for employing and paying you. Casting offices usually find talent but are not your employer and do not issue the check.
What should I do if I am not paid?
Start with your voucher, contract, booking email and payroll contact. Ask your agent if represented. For union work, contact your union local; for non-union work, follow up in writing and use applicable wage or small-claims remedies if necessary.
Do I need to send an invoice?
Payroll jobs usually run from your start forms and voucher. Direct-hire, corporate and some non-union jobs may require an invoice. Ask before the shoot and put the due date in writing.
Do actors get paid every time a film is streamed?
No. Residuals are paid on reuse under a formula, not per view, and streaming is calculated differently from broadcast. Background performers generally receive none, and non-union work typically generates none at all.
How are residuals calculated?
The formula depends on the contract, medium, market, platform and reuse period. There is no single percentage that applies to every job.
Do background actors receive residuals?
Generally not in the way principal performers do. A background voucher may include other bumps and adjustments, but you should not plan on principal-style residual income.
How long do residuals keep arriving?
As long as covered reuse continues under the agreement. Payments can shrink, stop, or restart, so treat them as variable income rather than a dependable monthly paycheck.
What do agents and managers take?
Agents commonly take 10% on union work and may receive different percentages on non-union work; managers often take about 10%. Your actual written agreement controls.
Is the agency fee added or deducted?
Both wordings appear. “$500 + 20%” usually means $500 to you and the client adds the fee. “$600 less 20% AF” means the fee comes out of the quoted $600. Ask whenever it is not explicit.
What tax comes out — and what can I deduct?
That depends on whether you are treated as an employee or contractor and on your jurisdiction. Set money aside, keep records and ask a qualified tax professional which acting expenses are legitimately deductible.
Can you live on acting alone?
Some actors do, but many move in and out of acting-only income. Consistent opportunity matters more than one impressive day rate.
What day jobs survive an audition schedule?
Shift work you can trade, freelance projects, remote asynchronous work and self-employment tend to fit best. The key is being able to leave for an audition without risking the job.
Should I take unpaid work?
Deliberately, and rarely. If your reel is empty, a well-run unpaid short with a real crew is a fair trade once or twice. It is not income and it does not become income. Set a number of them in advance and stop when you hit it.
How many months of savings should I have?
There is no magic number, but several months of essential expenses gives you room to survive late checks and quiet stretches. Track your runway in months of rent, not in hypothetical bookings.
Casting calls, with the rate shown where the production disclosed it
And where they did not disclose it, we say so plainly rather than writing “competitive rate” and letting you find out after you have already taped.
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