Big Brother contestants are reportedly paid a weekly stipend of about $1,000 for every week they stay in the game, and the money is held until after the season finale airs. CBS has never published the stipend amount. The figure comes from former houseguest Elena Davies, who described it on a podcast in 2021. On top of the stipend, the winner receives $750,000, the runner-up gets $75,000, and America’s Favorite Player takes home $50,000, according to CBS.
The short version:
- Everyone gets a stipend: The official casting rules say every houseguest except the two finalists is paid a weekly stipend for each week they remain in the game.
- About $1,000 a week: Big Brother 19’s Elena Davies said the stipend was $1,000 per week, and that even the first person evicted gets the full amount for that week. That number is from 2021 and may have changed.
- The winner gets $750,000: CBS raised the grand prize from $500,000 to $750,000 starting with Big Brother 23 in 2021.
- Second place gets $75,000: CBS confirmed the runner-up prize in its Big Brother 28 finale announcement.
- America’s Favorite Player gets $50,000: Viewers vote, and any houseguest can win it.
- Third place reportedly gets $10,000: The U.S. Sun reported a $10,000 bonus for third place on top of the stipend.
- Payment waits for the finale: Stipends and prizes are not paid until after the final episode airs.
- Taxes take a big share: The U.S. Sun reported that a winner keeps about $400,000 of the $750,000 after taxes. All tax figures are estimates.
How Much Do Big Brother Contestants Get Paid?
Big Brother contestants are paid a weekly stipend that has been reported at $1,000 per week, plus a shot at cash prizes for the winner, the runner-up, and the fan favorite. Unlike some reality shows, Big Brother does not pay houseguests a salary or an appearance fee in the traditional sense. The stipend exists because the show asks people to put their lives on hold for most of a summer.
The official Big Brother casting eligibility page spells out the basic deal. It says applicants must be willing to live in the house in Los Angeles “for approximately 100 days” and that “it is your responsibility to make any necessary arrangements with your employer and family in anticipation of your extended absence from home.”
The same page explains how money works in one sentence: “One participant will receive the grand-prize of $750,000 (subject to change in Producers’ and/or the network’s discretion). (Except for the two finalists who will receive prize money, a weekly stipend will be provided for each participant for each week that he or she remains in the Big Brother House.) Stipend payments and prize winnings will not be paid until after the broadcast of the final episode of the show.”
Key point: CBS confirms that a stipend exists but has never published the weekly amount. The $1,000 figure is a reported estimate from a former houseguest, not an official number.
How Much Is the Big Brother Weekly Stipend?
The Big Brother weekly stipend is reportedly $1,000. The figure comes from Elena Davies, who played on Big Brother 19 and later appeared on Jason Tartick’s Trading Secrets podcast in 2021.
“We’re paid a stipend per week. $1,000 per week, [for] as long as you film. So if, like say you are the first person sent home and you only film six hours in the house, you get your thousand,” Davies said, as quoted by Just Jared.
That detail matters. A houseguest who walks in on premiere night and is evicted in the first week still gets paid for that week. There is no partial week.
Cosmopolitan did the math on Davies’ own season. She lasted until Day 58 and was paid for 13 weeks, which works out to $13,000. She also won $5,000 in a competition during the season, bringing her total to about $18,000 for a little over three months of her life.
Cosmopolitan does not explain why her paid weeks run longer than her 58 days in the house. One possible reading is that the stipend continued while she was held out of public view after eviction, but that is not confirmed.
Cosmopolitan also flagged an important caveat: the $1,000 number dates to 2021, and “it’s possible that CBS has raised the stipend a bit to account for inflation.” The Tab agreed that “there’s no official statement from CBS or Big Brother regarding how much contestants are actually paid.”
What a full season of stipend could add up to
Big Brother 28 ran for 12 weeks, according to Just Jared and Cosmopolitan. If the stipend were still $1,000 a week, a houseguest who stayed in the game the whole way without reaching the final two would earn roughly $12,000 in stipend for the season. That is an illustration based on the reported rate, not a confirmed payout.
For someone who left a full-time job to play, that money is meant to cover bills at home, not to replace a salary. It is a small amount compared with the prize money, which is why most houseguests treat the stipend as a cushion rather than a reason to play.
Do Big Brother Finalists Get the Stipend?
No. Under the casting rules, the two finalists do not receive the weekly stipend. They receive prize money instead. The eligibility page says the stipend goes to every participant “except for the two finalists who will receive prize money.”
In practice, the winner’s $750,000 and the runner-up’s $75,000 replace the stipend. Since both amounts are far larger than any realistic season of weekly payments, giving up the stipend is not a real loss. It does mean that a finalist’s total from the show is the prize plus any extra competition money or fan vote winnings, not prize plus stipend. Other franchises pay differently; see what Bachelor contestants get paid.
Third place appears to be different. The U.S. Sun reported that whoever finishes third “will earn a $10,000 bonus on top of their full season stipend,” which suggests third place keeps the stipend and gets a bonus as well. More on that below.
How Much Does the Big Brother Winner Get?
The Big Brother winner receives a $750,000 grand prize before taxes. That has been the standard since Big Brother 23 in 2021.
From the show’s 2000 debut through Big Brother 22, the grand prize was $500,000. Gold Derby reported that host Julie Chen Moonves announced the increase during the Season 23 premiere. “We are adding a quarter of a million dollars to the grand prize,” she told the cast. “That’s right, the winner of ‘Big Brother’ will receive $750,000. Soak it in.”
Cody Calafiore was the last winner to receive $500,000, for Big Brother 22 in 2020, according to Monsters and Critics. Xavier Prather won Big Brother 23 and became the first winner to take home $750,000.
Runner-up and America’s Favorite Player prizes
Here is the current prize structure confirmed by CBS for Big Brother 28:
| Placement or award | Prize (before taxes) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | $750,000 | CBS |
| Runner-up | $75,000 | CBS |
| America’s Favorite Player | $50,000 | CBS |
| Third place | $10,000 (reported) | The U.S. Sun |
| Everyone else | Weekly stipend, reportedly about $1,000 | Elena Davies via Cosmopolitan |
The runner-up prize has also grown. When Cody Calafiore finished second on Big Brother 16 in 2014, he won $50,000, according to Monsters and Critics. The second-place prize now stands at $75,000.
America’s Favorite Player is chosen by viewers. Just Jared noted that it “can be any of the houseguests” from the season, “including pre-jury and jury members.” That means an early evictee who was popular with fans can leave with $50,000, far more than their stipend.
How Much Did Rick Devens Win on Big Brother 28?
Rick Devens won $810,000 on Big Brother 28, the most money any single player has ever won on the show, according to The Tab. His total came from three payouts:
- $750,000 for winning the season
- $50,000 for being voted America’s Favorite Player
- $10,000 for accepting the “Pharaoh’s Curse” twist
Devens beat Taylor Brown by a 6-1 jury vote in the live finale on Oct. 1, 2026, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Drew Campbell finished third after Devens won the final Head of Household and evicted him. CBS noted that Devens, a two-time Survivor player, is “the first SURVIVOR Castaway to win BIG BROTHER.”
How the Pharaoh’s Curse paid $10,000
The Pharaoh’s Curse was a Week 11 twist. TV Insider reported that each remaining houseguest stood alone in a room with a button. If nobody pressed it, every houseguest would get $1,000. If someone pressed it, that person would get $10,000 and everyone else would get nothing, but the button would also unleash a curse on the house.
Devens pressed it. “I need it for my kids,” he said, according to TV Insider. The curse set up an accelerated eviction in which only the Head of Household and Power of Veto winner were safe. Devens won Head of Household, kept himself safe, and went on to win the season with the $10,000 still in his pocket.
Key point: Twists and competition prizes are the main way a Big Brother houseguest can earn more than the stipend without winning. Elena Davies’ $5,000 competition win and Devens’ $10,000 Pharaoh’s Curse payout are two examples.
Devens told USA Today that he plans to invest his winnings and treat Campbell to something. “He’s talked a lot about Machu Picchu, and I might just have to send him there,” Devens said.
Do Big Brother Contestants Get Placement Bonuses?
Third place appears to get a confirmed bonus, but anything beyond that is unverified. The U.S. Sun reported before the Big Brother 28 finale that “whoever takes third place will earn a $10,000 bonus on top of their full season stipend.” Cosmopolitan later reported that Drew Campbell “walked away with $10,000 before taxes” for third place.
Fans have long claimed that the bonuses go deeper. In 2021, Monsters and Critics reported live feed chatter that fourth place would earn $7,500 and fifth place $5,000, alongside $10,000 for third. The outlet was clear that these were “just rumors,” since the third, fourth, and fifth place amounts “have not yet been confirmed by CBS or the show.”
The Tab cited a Reddit user who believes a sliding scale of placement bonuses for the final five started around Season 20. The theory is that producers added it to stop houseguests from coasting to the jury just to collect a full season of stipend. That is fan reporting, not a confirmed rule.
Key point: Treat the $7,500 and $5,000 figures for fourth and fifth place as unconfirmed. Only the winner, runner-up, and America’s Favorite Player amounts come directly from CBS.
When Do Big Brother Contestants Get Paid?
Big Brother contestants are not paid until after the final episode airs. The casting rules state that “stipend payments and prize winnings will not be paid until after the broadcast of the final episode of the show.”
That means a houseguest evicted in the first week waits as long as the winner does. As The Tab put it, “even if you were to get eliminated during the first week, you still have to wait until the show is over to receive your stipend.”
The delay ties the money to the end of production and the live finale. It also means houseguests need savings or support at home to cover the months they are away, since the stipend arrives only after the season ends.
How Much Does the Big Brother Winner Keep After Taxes?
The Big Brother winner reportedly keeps about $400,000 of the $750,000 prize after taxes. A source told The U.S. Sun that the remaining $350,000 goes to combined state and federal taxes.
The Sun also reported that the tax bill follows California rules because the show films there. Cosmopolitan repeated those figures after Devens won.
Rick Devens’ estimated tax bill
The Tab ran a separate estimate for Devens’ full $810,000 haul. It estimated he could lose about $277,000 to taxes and take home around $530,000.
The Tab’s assumptions matter here:
- It assumed Devens, who is married, files jointly with his wife.
- It assumed the prize money was the household’s only income for the year.
- It noted that California taxes nonresidents on prize money won in the state, and that Georgia, where Devens lives, gives a credit for that tax.
- It pointed out that Devens’ regular salary would push the prize into higher brackets and lower his take-home further.
The gap between The Sun’s estimate and The Tab’s comes from different assumptions. Neither is an official number, and a winner’s real bill depends on their own income, filing status, deductions, and home state.
What a past winner said about taxes
Cody Calafiore gave one of the few first-hand accounts. He told viewers on a Twitch stream that $220,000 of his $500,000 Big Brother 22 prize “went right to taxes,” according to Monsters and Critics. The outlet noted he may have been rounding, and said he described it as the most difficult check he had ever written.
None of these reports broke out taxes on the weekly stipend or on smaller twist prizes, so there is no published estimate for what a non-finalist owes.
Do Returning Big Brother Players Get Paid More?
Returning players can reportedly negotiate a higher weekly stipend than first-time houseguests, according to The Tab. The outlet named Big Brother 28’s three “Icons,” Big Brother alum Angela Murray and Survivor players Rick Devens and Dee Valladares, as the kind of players who might get better terms.
No amount has been reported for any returning player, and CBS has not commented. The claim fits how reality TV contracts usually work: a known name brings an audience, which gives them more leverage than a new cast member. Our guide to what reality TV cast members actually sign explains how those terms, including stipends and confidentiality clauses, tend to be structured.
For Devens, the negotiated stipend became a footnote. Once he reached the final two, the casting rules mean the stipend gave way to prize money, and his $810,000 in winnings dwarfed any weekly rate.
How Does Big Brother Pay Compare to Other Reality Shows?
Big Brother sits in the middle of the reality TV pay range. The weekly stipend is modest, but the $750,000 grand prize is large for a summer competition show.
- Love Island USA: Cosmopolitan pointed out that Big Brother’s $750,000 prize is “a LOT more than Love Island USA’s $100,000 prize.” For how Love Island handles cast payments, see our breakdown of whether Love Island USA contestants get paid.
- The Traitors: The US version reportedly pays cast members a one-time appearance fee no matter when they leave, with a separate prize pot at stake, a very different model from Big Brother’s weekly stipend. Our guide to how much The Traitors contestants get paid covers the appearance fees and prize pot.
- Survivor: CBS’s other long-running competition pays its winner $1 million in most seasons, according to People via AOL, and reportedly pays castaways by finishing position rather than by the week.
The biggest gap is between the cast and the people running the show. Houseguests earn a reported $1,000 a week, while network hosts are paid on a very different scale. Our look at reality TV host vs contestant salaries lays out that gap across franchises. CBS has not disclosed what Julie Chen Moonves earns for hosting Big Brother.
CBS has renewed Big Brother through Season 30, according to its finale announcement, so the current prize structure will be tested for at least two more summers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the first person evicted from Big Brother get paid?
Yes. The casting rules say every participant except the two finalists gets a weekly stipend for each week in the game. Elena Davies said that even if “you only film six hours in the house, you get your thousand,” meaning the first evictee gets a full week’s stipend of about $1,000.
How much is the Big Brother stipend per week?
The stipend is reportedly $1,000 per week. That figure comes from Big Brother 19’s Elena Davies on the Trading Secrets podcast in 2021. CBS has not confirmed the amount, and Cosmopolitan noted it may have been raised since then.
How much does second place get on Big Brother?
The Big Brother runner-up receives $75,000, according to CBS. Taylor Brown took home that prize on Big Brother 28. The runner-up gets prize money instead of the weekly stipend.
How much does America’s Favorite Houseguest win?
America’s Favorite Player wins $50,000. Fans vote, and any houseguest from the season can win. On Big Brother 28, Rick Devens won both the grand prize and America’s Favorite Player.
Do Big Brother contestants get paid for jury?
There is no official breakdown of jury pay. The casting rules tie the stipend to each week a participant “remains in the Big Brother House,” and Elena Davies was paid for more weeks than she spent in the house, but CBS has not explained how jury time is counted. Third place reportedly earns a $10,000 bonus on top of the stipend.
