How much do actors make? Union scale, commercials, background pay and the real math

How much do actors make? The typical U.S. actor earned $29.05 an hour in May 2025, the median wage reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but most actors work part time and in short bursts, so yearly income ranges from almost nothing to millions. Union minimums set the floor on most professional film and TV jobs: from July 1, 2026, SAG-AFTRA scale is $1,283 for a day and $4,456 for a week on a feature or TV episode budgeted over $2 million.

The useful question for a working or aspiring actor is not the average but the arithmetic: what a booking pays, how many bookings a year are realistic, and what comes out before the money reaches you. This guide gives the official numbers for each kind of acting work, then shows how to turn them into a yearly estimate you can plan around.

Quick reference (current periods). SAG-AFTRA day performer: $1,283. Weekly performer: $4,456. Union background actor: $231 a day. Commercial on-camera principal session fee: $822.30 (April 2025 to March 2026 rate). California minimum wage: $16.90 an hour. Sources and dates are listed below each section and at the end of the page.

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook is the most reliable national picture. Its May 2025 figures for actors:

• Median hourly wage: $29.05. Half of actors earned more, half less.
• Lowest 10%: less than $16.50 an hour. Highest 10%: more than $143.68 an hour.
• Jobs: 67,500 in 2025, with 0% projected growth (little or no change) from 2025 to 2035.
• Work pattern: part-time work is common; assignments usually last from one day to a few months; schedules can include early mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays.

Median hourly wages also differ by employer. BLS lists $29.92 in accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services; $25.53 at theater companies and dinner theaters; $22.34 in educational services; and $18.70 at amusement parks and arcades.

Why no annual salary? BLS reports actors' pay by the hour, and with short, part-time assignments, multiplying an hourly wage by a full-time year would badly overstate what most actors take home. Treat any website's single "average actor salary" figure with suspicion unless it says how many days were actually worked.

On union film and TV jobs, the minimum is called scale. The SAG-AFTRA Theatrical Wage Table (published by the Association of Talent Agents) sets these minimums for productions under the main agreement, rising 3% each July:

• Day performer: $1,246 (July 2025 to June 2026), $1,283 (July 2026 to June 2027), then $1,321, $1,361 and $1,402 through June 2030.
• Weekly performer: $4,326, then $4,456 for the current year, rising to $4,870 by 2029–30.
• Stunt performer: the same day rate as a performer ($1,283); $4,785 a week in the current year.
• Background actor (Schedules X-I and X-II): $224, then $231 a day; special ability background actors $241; stand-ins and photo doubles $270.
• Dancers (solo or duo): $1,283 a day; groups of three or more $1,125.

Smaller productions use lower tiers. For July 2026 to June 2027, Wrapbook's rate guide lists a day rate of $834 and a weekly rate of $2,896 under the Low Budget Agreement ($700,000 to $2 million), and $256.60 a day under the Ultra Low Budget Agreement (up to $300,000). On top of wages, producers pay pension and health contributions, which Wrapbook lists at 22% for theatrical and TV performers. That money funds your benefits; it is not added to your check.

Scale is a minimum, not a typical fee. Anything above it is negotiated. Plan your year on scale and treat anything above it as a bonus.

Commercial pay comes in two parts: a session fee for the day of work, and use fees paid as the ad runs in different media and markets. The XR Extreme Reach 2025 Rate Book, a payroll company's summary of the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract for April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, lists:

• Principal session fee: $822.30 on camera, $618.30 off camera (voice only).
• On-camera groups: $602.00 each for 3 to 5 performers, $533.00 for 6 to 8, $440.70 for 9 or more.
• General extra: $448.70 (unlimited use); hand models $684.40; stand-ins $493.40.

The 2025 contracts raise wages 5% in year 1, 4% in year 2 and 3% in year 3, according to the Joint Policy Committee, the advertisers' bargaining group, and DLA Piper, its negotiating counsel. So rates from April 2026 are about 4% above the figures above. Producers' pension and health contribution on commercials is 23.5% (19.95% for JPC authorizers).

A single national spot that keeps airing can pay far more than its session fee through use fees. Use fees depend on the media, markets and cycles, so ask your agent or check the current rate sheet; the commercial acting guide lists the 2026-27 use fees and explains holding fees. Film and TV work has its own reuse pay, which is explained in the acting residuals guide.

Background (extra) work is the lowest-paid acting work on a set. On union TV and film, the minimum is $231 a day from July 2026 (SAG-AFTRA Theatrical Wage Table), with set adjustments on top, such as $150 for photographic doubling.

Non-union background work is paid by the hour and cannot go below minimum wage. In California that is $16.90 an hour from January 1, 2026, for all employers, and "some cities and counties have higher minimum wages than the state's rate" (California DIR). Check your pay stub against the local minimum for wherever you worked that day.

Background work rarely pays the rent on its own, but it pays you to learn how a set runs (see how to become a background actor). If you want to build toward speaking roles, pair it with on-camera training (see the on-camera and self-tape classes guide).

Stage actors' minimums come from Actors' Equity contracts, and they vary widely by contract type, from Broadway and national tours down to small theaters. Equity's members ratified a new Broadway Production Contract with The Broadway League in October 2025 that runs through September 2028 (Actors' Equity). Check the specific contract named in a casting notice for its weekly minimum; the Broadway pay guide covers the Production Contract in detail.

Nationally, BLS puts the median for actors at theater companies and dinner theaters at $25.53 an hour, below the all-actor median (BLS).

The scale figure is the gross. Before you plan with it, subtract:

• Agent commission. Agents typically take 10%; on union jobs they are restricted from charging guild members more than 10%, and on non-union jobs commissions can run up to 20% (Media Services).
• Manager commission, if you have one. It is set by your management contract, so read it before you sign.
• Union dues. SAG-AFTRA charges an initiation fee, yearly base dues and work dues on covered earnings. Check sagaftra.org for the current amounts; they change and third-party figures disagree.
• Taxes. Set money aside for income tax on everything you earn; a tax professional who works with performers can tell you what applies to you.
• Career costs. Classes, headshots, self-tape gear and casting platform fees. Arlo's LA Acting Class Price Index and acting class prices guide show what training costs here; the headshots guide covers photos.

Here is the arithmetic for a hypothetical LA actor in their first union year, using the current minimums above. Change the counts to match your own bookings.

1. Three co-star days at day scale: 3 × $1,283 = $3,849.
2. One on-camera commercial session: $822.30 at the 2025–26 rate, before any use fees.
3. Twenty union background days: 20 × $231 = $4,620.
4. Gross acting pay: $3,849 + $822.30 + $4,620 = $9,291.30.
5. Less 10% agent commission on the principal work (assuming you found the background days yourself): $467.13, leaving $8,824.17 before dues, taxes and costs.

That total is the reason most actors keep another job, and the reason the numbers in the next section matter: a few weeks of steady work, or one commercial that runs nationally, changes the picture far more than extra background days do.

For many union actors, the real income goal is qualifying for health coverage. The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan grants earned eligibility to performers who, in their base earnings period, meet a minimum earnings figure or work at least 108 eligibility days. The plan lists the minimum as $28,090 for 2026 and $28,933 for 2027, rising to $31,616 by 2030; premiums for earned eligibility change on January 1, 2027.

In the example above, the actor would need roughly three times that year's covered earnings to qualify. Check the plan's own pages, or log in to its Benefits Manager, for which earnings count and which base period applies to you.

• Train for the work that pays. Film, TV and commercial auditions are on camera, often self-taped, so on-camera and cold-reading skills pay off directly. Browse acting classes in Los Angeles by discipline and price, and audit a class before paying.
• Get commercial representation. One session fee is modest; a commercial that keeps running pays use fees for months.
• Add voice work. Voiceover is cast separately and can be done from a home setup; see how to get into voice acting and, for union rates, how much voice actors make.
• Track every day and dollar. Your earnings and days worked decide union health eligibility, and your records are what you check pay stubs and commissions against.
• Read the contract named in each notice. Low Budget, Ultra Low Budget, non-union and Equity contracts pay very differently for similar-looking roles.
• Keep practice material legal. For monologues and scenes to work on, use Offbook rather than copying scripts from random sites.