There are few reality competition shows that have had the wild success and ongoing popularity of Survivor. The series famously debuted in 2000 and is widely considered one of the best reality shows of all time. Despite its decades on the air and 50 season under its belt, the excitement around the show hasn't slowed down. What's more, Survivor has inspired a ton of competition shows that have been developed and released since its debut. During its ongoing tenure on the air (which is showing no signs of slowing down) the series airs two seasons per year on CBS (and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). While the New Era of the game brought in longer Survivor episodes and a shorter amount of time on the island for castaways, Season 51 will kick off the mysterious New Era.
There are countless questions about whats' coming, but another has surrounded the show since the jump. Specifically, how much money do both winner and non-winning contestants on the show make? If this has been keeping you up at night, we've got some answers that'll help show how the sausage gets made.
Throughout each season of Survivor’s long, Emmy-winning run on television, the castaways are largely focused on winning the game and earning the $1 million dollar grand prize. Winners at War brought back icons and doubled this prize for a season, the show usually doesn’t touch on how much money each of the castaways make for their participation in the show. Season 50 (which also had a $2 million prize thanks to MrBeast) didn't get into the nitty gritty of the pay tiers for its contestants. But there is money involved; after all, they spend weeks away from their families and jobs, and become public figures overnight. Here's what information is currently public, or can be discovered through some clever sleuthing. I guess I'm like an island detective at this point.
How Much Is The Bare Minimum For Survivor Prizes?
It's widely known the winner of Sole Survivor get the $1 million dollar prize, but there’s plenty of money to spare for the other castaways who didn’t manage to win the iconic game. This includes the ill-fated first boot, which typically gets a payout of $3,500 in new player seasons. Before the pandemic, every member of the cast that attends the finale/reunion was also awarded an addition $10,000 for their time. This sum served incentive for even the most bitter castaway to show up for the finale and guard the season's secrets. Additionally, that $10k was forfeited if their contract is broken in any other way. Unfortunately, it's currently unclear how this part of the contract functions in the post-Covid seasons, where the results are typically being read on the island directly after filming (with the exception being Survivor 50). Are they given a bonus for keeping the show's secrets, or did that $10k paycheck ended up being dropped altogether? After all, the show is wildly expensive to produce.
So even if you they the first person voted out of the season, contestants on a new season of Survivor can make a minimum of around 13.5 thousand dollars... assuming that reunion bonus is somehow still in play. That's not too bad for only 3 days spent on the island. And rather than starving (although some Survivor alums think the contestants are getting more food) and being mentally exhausted, the pre-jury get to go on a vacation for the second half of their 26 day trip (which was formerly 39 days). While this can be frustrating for some folks who would rather go home than being stuck in Ponderosa and on the trip, it's not a terrible way to spend one's time after being an early boot.
How Much Do The Top Placing Survivor Castaways Make?
Everyone knows that since Survivor’s first season back in 2000, the grand prize for the winner is $1 million. This was briefly doubled to entice the winners back for Season 40, the show is mostly consistent with its prizes. And for Season 50 the extra million was added as a result of that MrBeast cameo and coin flip twist. But castaways who fail to win their season can still make a big chunk of change. And after learning about this, it makes sense why players fight to make it just one day further in the Emmy-winning series.
For instance, the second place castaway in any given Survivor season is typically given a whopping $100,000. While this is before taxes, it’s a substantial consolation prize. Similarly, the third place contestant makes $85,000. And although everyone on Survivor is hoping to win the million, simply making the final tribal council guarantees a pretty penny-- especially combined with the previously mentioned $10K reunion sum. Since the second and third place have such a big disparity, every single vote matters at Final Tribal. In the case of Rachel's win on Survivor 47, Kyle gave Sam his vote instead of Rachel so that he'd edge out Sue for second place.
What About The Castaways In The Middle?
While we’ve got an idea of how much the Survivor cast makes if they’re first boot or make it to Final Tribal Council, most castaways are someplace in the middle. Luckily some notable alumni have been open about their earnings, which goes up with every vote survived.
Two-time Survivor contestant and podcast host Corinne Kaplan is one alum (whom I hope gets on House of Villains) that has helped peel back the curtain on how much castaways can end up taking home who place in the middle of the seasons’ ranking. She made a whopping $45,000 total for placing seventh in Survivor: Gabon, which I personally think is one of the best Survivor seasons. That same season she made her legendary Jury Speech about Sugar. And when returning for Survivor: Caramoan and placing 12th, her payout was $20,000. So while it’s risk to take so much time off from work to film the show, contestants on Survivor can definitely make a pretty penny from appearing.
Someone is Going To Win Way More Than Even 2 Million Dollars At Some Point
Season 51 of Survivor will begin the "Open Era" of the long-running series, and fans have largely no idea what to expect. Seemingly any twist could show up at any time, but that's not the only major change coming. In a conversation with E! News, Jeff Probst revealed that the coin toss for a million is going to return. As fans will recall, Rick Devens famously flipped the MrBeast coin in Survivor 50, resulting in the prize pot being doubled to $2 million. It was a thrilling moment that's inspired a new way that Survivor is approaching its grand prize.
While speaking to the outlet, the showrunner/host revealed how the coin tossed is being brought back in a new way for the Open Era. As he put it:
Same rules as 50 with one difference. If you call it incorrectly, you as a coin flipper are out, that million dollars rolls into the next season of Survivor. So in Survivor 51, at some point, a player’s going to flip a coin for a million dollars. If they land it, the prize pool will be $2 million for 51.
That's definitely a wild new twist, and it should be interesting to see how it plays out. It doesn't look like MrBeast is going to stick around as part of the coin clip twist, but it has the potential to multiply the $1 million prize a number of times depending on whether or not the coin toss is successful. I'm personally not a big fan of all the game's twists, but this one sounds thrilling.
Then There's The Sia Prize(s)
Years ago singer-songwriter Sia came out as a Survivor super fan. After storming the stage to award Tai money for saving his chicken friend in Kaoh Rong, Sia made a habit of out awarding tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to castaways who she particularly likes. This opened another door to possibly make some cash for the contestants.
In Season 44, she awarded fan favorite contestant Carolyn $100k, as well as Carson and Lauren $15k each. Her reasoning changed every season, but it opened the doors for folks to make some more money while on the popular CBS show. For Survivor 45, Sia gave $100k to Katurah, while Kaleb and Jake each got $15k. Unfortunately, Probst announced at the end of Season 46 that Sia was no longer awarding money to the contestants... even though some fans thought Bhanu was going to be an obvious choice for her.
While we went a few seasons without the Sia prize, the "Chandelier" singer rejoined the chat for Survivor 50. She awarded a cash prize of $100K to the player voted Fan Favorite online. That honor eventually went to the one and only Cirie Fields. Only time will tell if she gives out more money in Season 51.
What About Taxes?
Of course, all of these sums of money are BEFORE taxes are paid out. While OG winner Richard Hatch famously went to jail for tax evasion and failing to report his winnings, most players presumably pay up. Season 49's winner Savannah Louie got real with E! Online about just how much of that million dollar prize she ended up paying. She claims she ended up pocketing about $380,000, so the majority of her prize money ended up going to the government shortly after it hit her bank account.
Survivor is clearly the adventure of a lifetime, and the long-running CBS competition show has been known to change the lives of its contestants. And it turns out there’s a wide margin for prize money depending on how long you outlast. Because in addition to TV exposure and an adventure in Fiji, castaways can earn anywhere from $12,000- $100,000 when not taking home the title of Sole Survivor. And winners now have the potential to take hom more than $1 million.
CinemaBlend will keep you updated on all things Survivor as details about the show’s future become public. That includes the recently completed 50th season, which featured returning Survivor players. The stakes were especially high since the grand prize was a whopping $2 million, and it should be interesting to see if the amount gets doubled on Season 51 or beyond.
Survivor airs new episodes Wednesdays as part of the 2026 TV schedule, and streams the next day on Paramount+. We'll just have to wait and see if live reunions return, which could open the door for a hefty appearance fee for the cast. Although after Jeff Probst's blunder spoiling Rizo's elimination at the Season 50 reunion, I'm not holding my breath that well see it back.
