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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The highest reported per-episode figures in the available historical records are $250,000 for Angus T. Jones and $180,000 for Miranda Cosgrove. Both figures come from a May 2010 New York Post survey, later recorded by Guinness World Records. They are dated reports—not verified current salaries or a definitive ranking of every child actor in television history.
Highest reported TV salaries per episode
The figures below use the same metric: reported pay per television episode. Guinness World Records attributes both to a May 2010 New York Post survey of casting agents, talent agents and television executives.
| Actor | Reported rate | TV role | Basis and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angus T. Jones | $250,000 per episode | Jake Harper on Two and a Half Men | May 2010 New York Post survey, as recorded by Guinness World Records |
| Miranda Cosgrove | $180,000 per episode | Star of iCarly; she was 16 at the time of the report | May 2010 New York Post survey, as recorded by Guinness World Records |
These are reported rates from one survey, not a standardized database of actors’ contracts. They establish what that survey reported in 2010; they do not show what either performer earns now, how long the rate applied, or how the figures compare after adjusting for inflation.
Why Miley Cyrus’s $25 million figure is different
Guinness World Records records an estimate that Miley Cyrus earned $25 million in 2008, attributing it to Forbes. That was estimated annual income from multiple sources, including a concert tour, music sales, a book deal and filming a movie based on her television series. It is not a TV salary or an amount paid per episode, so it cannot be ranked directly against Jones’s and Cosgrove’s reported episode rates. See Guinness World Records’ entry on highest annual earnings for a child actor.
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What TV acting pay looked like in 2000
A June 13, 2000, Los Angeles Times article reported that starring roles on prime-time network series could pay $15,000 to $25,000 per episode, while similar cable roles could pay $6,000 to $7,000. These are historical ranges from that period, not current rates and not a direct comparison with the 2010 survey’s named actors.
The article also described a casting consideration behind some young-looking roles: adults could be cast instead of children because adults could work longer daily hours and did not require teachers and guardians to be present. That context helps explain why a list of high-earning child performers cannot be treated as a complete list of TV roles featuring child characters. Read the Los Angeles Times report.
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How to compare child-actor salary claims
A salary claim is meaningful only when its measure and context are clear. When comparing reports, check:
- Metric: Per-episode pay, annual income and net worth are different measures.
- Date and season: A rate reported for one period does not establish pay across a series’ run.
- Role and billing: A starring role may not be comparable to a supporting or recurring part.
- Distribution: Network, cable and other formats may have different pay structures.
- Evidence type: A reported contract rate is different from an estimate of total earnings.
The available reports do not provide a harmonized dataset covering those factors across television history. The Jones and Cosgrove entries are therefore the strongest documented per-episode figures here, not proof of an exhaustive all-time ranking.
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