How much do voice actors make? Union rates and real math for 2026

How much do voice actors make? Union voice actors are paid per job, not per year: from April 2026 a SAG-AFTRA radio commercial session pays at least $379.60, an off-camera TV or online commercial session $643.00, a four-hour video game session $1,134.95, and an animated TV episode over 10 minutes paid $1,246 under the scale that ran to June 2026. Yearly income is the sum of those bookings, which is why it ranges from a few hundred dollars to a full living.

This page lists the current minimum for each kind of voice work, shows how audiobook and freelance rates turn into an hourly figure, and works through what a year of bookings adds up to after commission. Every number is dated, because union rates step up on fixed days each year.

Current union minimums. Radio or audio commercial (actor or announcer): $379.60 per session. TV, streaming or online commercial, off camera: $643.00 per session. Video game, up to 3 voices in 4 hours: $1,134.95 (to October 31, 2026). TV animation episode over 10 minutes: $1,246 (July 2025 to June 2026 scale; a new deal is being voted on). Audiobooks on ACX: no union minimum, but Royalty Share Plus deals must pay at least $100 per finished hour to carry union benefit contributions.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate figure for voice actors. It counts them as actors, noting that "some actors do voiceover or narration work for animated features, audiobooks, or other electronic media" (BLS). For all actors, the median wage was $29.05 an hour in May 2025, with the lowest 10% under $16.50 and the highest 10% over $143.68. BLS counts about 67,500 actor jobs in 2025, projects little or no change through 2035, and warns that artificial intelligence may replace some actors in certain subfields.

An hourly median says little about a year, because voice work comes in sessions that last an hour or four, booked irregularly. A "voice actor salary" figure on a jobs site is usually a guess at what full-time work would pay. A more useful approach is to know what each booking pays at minimum, then count how many bookings you realistically land.

Commercial voice work pays twice: a session fee for recording, and use fees for airing the ad over time, by medium and market. Rates come from two SAG-AFTRA contracts, the Commercials Contract (TV, streaming and online, where voice-only work is paid at the off-camera rate) and the Audio Commercials Contract (radio and other audio). The Joint Policy Committee, the advertisers' bargaining group, says the Year 2 rates took effect April 1, 2026 and run to March 31, 2027.

Audio commercials (JPC Audio rate sheet), for an actor or announcer:

• Session: $379.60. Group singers or speakers (3 to 5) get $279.70 each.
• 13-week wild spot, Los Angeles or Chicago alone: $515.44; New York alone $568.32; all three cities $875.86.
• Network program commercials, 13 weeks unlimited use: $2,059.77.
• Demos, copy tests and non-air work: $261.59 for a one-hour session, plus $65.40 for each extra quarter hour.

TV, streaming and online commercials, off-camera principal (JPC Commercials rate sheet):

• Session: $643.00 (on camera: $855.20).
• Class A program use, first use: $588.90.
• Streaming platforms and other digital use, 13 weeks: $2,250.00; 52 weeks $7,500.00.
• National cable, 13 weeks: $3,075.00; 52 weeks $10,125.00.

So a single recording session can be worth a few hundred dollars or several thousand, depending on where and how long the spot runs. The JPC notes that the April 2026 increase did not apply to some use fees, including streaming, Class A and cable, so check the current sheet for the exact usage on your contract rather than adding a percentage yourself.

Union TV animation pays a minimum per episode (or segment) recorded. The AMPTP wage table for the 2023-26 SAG-AFTRA Television Animation Agreement lists, for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026:

• Episode or segment over 10 minutes: $1,246 (up from $1,082 in 2022-23).
• Episode or segment of 10 minutes or less: $1,130.
• Each extra voice after the third, on 10-minute-or-shorter segments: $365.
• Fourth audition for the same role: $93 for the first two hours.
• Legacy AFTRA series pay slightly more: $1,290 over 10 minutes, $1,167 for shorter segments.

That agreement expired at the end of June 2026. Cartoon Brew reports that a tentative four-year deal with a 3% wage increase each year, the first retroactive to July 5, 2026, went to members with voting set to close October 29. Until new tables are published, treat the figures above as the floor and expect current scale to be about 3% higher if the deal is ratified.

Video game voice work under SAG-AFTRA's Interactive Media Agreement is paid by the session day. ABS Payroll lists the off-camera scale for November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026 as $1,134.95 for up to three voices in a four-hour session.

Members approved the 2025 agreement in July 2025 after the video game strike. According to a summary by the law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, it adds 3% raises in November 2025, November 2026 and November 2027, so the four-hour rate should be about $1,169 from November 2026. Producer contributions to health and retirement rise to 17.5% after October 31, 2026. The agreement also requires your consent before a producer makes or uses a digital replica of your voice, with a reasonably specific description of the planned use, and usage reports on how replicas were used in the game.

Non-union games set their own rates. Before you accept, ask how many lines and voices the session covers and whether the producer can reuse or synthesize your voice later.

Audiobook narrators are quoted per finished hour (PFH): per hour of the final audiobook, not per hour of your time. On ACX, Amazon's audiobook marketplace, a rights holder can pay in three ways (ACX Help):

• Pay-for-Production: a one-time fee at the agreed PFH rate, paid after the rights holder approves the finished book.
• Royalty Share: no upfront fee; under ACX's new model (from May 26, 2026) narrator and rights holder each get 25% of the royalties, for 7 years only, and the book must be distributed exclusively.
• Royalty Share Plus: a reduced PFH fee plus a royalty split. The rate must be at least $100 per finished hour for the deal to carry SAG-AFTRA (AFTRA) health and retirement contributions.

The catch is time. ACX estimates about 2 hours of recording, 3 hours of editing and 1.2 hours of quality checking per finished hour, 6.2 hours in all, and says new narrators take 5 to 7 hours. Most narrators read about 9,300 words per finished hour.

1. A 90,000-word novel runs about 9.7 finished hours (90,000 ÷ 9,300).
2. Your time: 9.7 × 6.2 = about 60 hours.
3. At the $100 PFH Royalty Share Plus floor: $970 upfront, or about $16 per hour of work, before any royalties.
4. At a hypothetical $250 PFH Pay-for-Production rate: $2,425, or about $40 per hour of work.

Run this math on every offer: divide the PFH rate by six or seven to see what it pays per hour you actually spend.

Most beginners start with non-union work booked through marketplaces, where there is no minimum and you set your own fee. The marketplace Voices explains the two ways jobs are priced:

• Non-broadcast work (explainer videos, training, e-learning, podcasts) is generally priced per word or per finished minute, depending on your experience, script length and project type.
• Broadcast work (TV, radio and online ads) is priced by usage: where it runs, for how long and on which platforms. Wider reach means a higher fee.
• Platform fees: Voices adds a processing fee of 4% to 6%, depending on payment method. Check each platform's fees and membership costs before you join.

For numbers to quote, Voices points to the GVAA Rate Guide and its own downloadable rate guide. Whatever you charge, put three things in writing before you record: the fee, the usage (media, markets and term) and how many revisions are included. A low fee with unlimited, perpetual use can be worth far less than it looks.

The figures above are gross. Before you plan with them, account for:

• Agent commission: typically 10%; agents cannot charge guild members more than 10% on union jobs, and commissions on non-union jobs can run up to 20% (Media Services).
• Platform and membership fees on marketplace sites, as above.
• Gear and space: a microphone, interface, headphones and a quiet, treated corner; see the home setup section of how to get into voice acting.
• Training and a demo. A demo is your main sales tool; the acting demo reel guide covers what makes a reel work. Arlo lists voiceover classes in Los Angeles, and the LA Acting Class Price Index shows what training costs here.
• Union dues and taxes. SAG-AFTRA charges initiation and dues; check sagaftra.org for current amounts. Set money aside for income tax on everything you earn.

Here is the arithmetic for a hypothetical union voice actor's year, using the minimums above. Swap in your own counts.

1. Two radio commercial sessions: 2 × $379.60 = $759.20.
2. One off-camera TV commercial session: $643.00, before use fees.
3. Three animated episodes over 10 minutes: 3 × $1,246 = $3,738.
4. Two four-hour video game sessions: 2 × $1,134.95 = $2,269.90.
5. Gross: $7,410.10. Less 10% agent commission: $741.01, leaving $6,669.09 before dues, taxes and costs.

The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan's earned eligibility threshold is $28,090 in covered earnings for 2026 (rising to $28,933 in 2027), or at least 108 days of covered work (SAG-AFTRA Health Plan). This sample year reaches about a quarter of that. Session fees alone add up slowly; use fees on a commercial that keeps running, or a recurring role booked every episode, move the total faster.

• Commercial usage. A national spot on network, cable or streaming pays use fees each cycle it runs; 52 weeks of streaming use for an off-camera principal is $7,500, against a $643 session.
• Recurring roles. In animation and games, being cast as a regular character means paid sessions for every episode or expansion.
• Representation. An agent can submit you for union work and negotiate fees and usage; see how to get an acting agent.
• Negotiating usage and AI terms. On non-union jobs, price by usage, and refuse clauses that let a client build a synthetic voice from your recordings without separate consent and pay.
• Acting skill. Voice work is acting. Scene and cold-reading work transfer directly; the cold reading guide covers sight-reading copy. For monologues and scenes to practice on, use Offbook.
• Compare with on-camera pay. The how much do actors make guide covers film, TV and background scale if you work both sides.