Stranger Things has kept viewers on the edge of their seats for years, but behind the scenes, the cast has been climbing a very different kind of ladder. With the final season set to wrap up the saga, the stars are reportedly seeing a massive pay bump that has everyone talking. Read on to find out who’s cashing in the most as the beloved Netflix series says goodbye.
The explosive pay hike of Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown, beloved for her role as Eleven, has seen her paycheck skyrocket over the course of Stranger Things. According to StyleCaster, she earned a staggering $1.25 million per episode for Season 5, a dramatic leap from the $300,000 she made in Season 3.
Brown’s rise has been remarkable: in Season 1, she and the other child actors were reportedly placed in the “B tier,” earning just $20,000 per episode. While the first season’s success brought $60,000 bonuses, their base pay remained the same for Season 2. By Season 3, Brown had broken out of the “B tier,” securing her own salary bracket as the show’s breakout star and fan favorite. Her pay reportedly ranged between $250,000 and $350,000 per episode, with most sources citing $300,000 (roughly $2.4 million for the season)—higher than her fellow young cast members but still below stars like David Harbour and Winona Ryder. By Season 5, Brown had negotiated a tier of her own, with her Netflix deal reflecting her elevated status and including her work on the Enola Holmes franchise, cementing her as one of the show’s top earners.
A look at the veteran cast’s payday
Winona Ryder and David Harbour, who portray Joyce Byers and Detective Jim Hopper in Stranger Things, are among the show’s highest-paid stars heading into the final season. According to multiple reports, each earns approximately $1.1875 million per episode for Season 5, totaling around $9.5 million for the eight-episode season.
Ryder started as Joyce with $100,000 per episode in Seasons 1–2, while Harbour, playing Hopper, earned $80,000 per episode in Season 1. By Season 3, both saw their pay rise sharply to $350,000 per episode, cementing their status as the show’s top earners through Seasons 3 and 4. Their Season 5 contracts reflect this “A-tier” status, marking a dramatic climb from six-figure checks early in the series to over a million per episode as Stranger Things reaches its epic conclusion.
How much the younger Stranger Things cast earns
The younger cast of Stranger Things — Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), and Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield) — have seen their salaries grow dramatically over the series.
In Seasons 1 and 2, they reportedly earned only $20,000 to $25,000 per episode. By Season 3, as the show’s global popularity soared, their pay jumped to about $250,000 per episode, reflecting both the series’ success and their rising star power. Heading into Season 5, reports indicate these actors are earning around $875,000 per episode, totaling more than $7 million for the eight-episode season.
While this is a substantial increase, their salaries do not match Millie Bobby Brown’s, because her contract, as mentioned above, includes a separate tier with Netflix that accounts for her status as the show’s breakout star and her concurrent work on projects like the Enola Holmes film franchise. This special deal places her in a higher salary bracket than her fellow young cast members.
Supporting cast salaries also see a major boost
Supporting actors such as Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), and Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley) have also seen their salaries rise significantly over the course of Stranger Things. During Seasons 3 and 4, these actors reportedly earned around $150,000 per episode. By Season 5, their pay jumped to approximately $750,000 per episode, totaling around $6 million for the eight-episode season. This dramatic increase reflects both the growing popularity of the series and the expanded importance of their characters, solidifying the supporting cast as key contributors to the show’s continued success.
The first four episodes of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things are streaming now on Netflix. The next three episodes will drop on Christmas Day, and the finale will arrive on New Year’s Eve.
Source: Stylecaster