There is no verified actor-by-actor ranking of the How I Met Your Mother cast’s final-season salaries. The best-supported contemporary report gives the five leads a shared range of $90,000–$120,000 per episode in 2009; later estimates disagree about their pay near the end of the series. Here is what those reports say—and what they do not establish.
What the strongest contemporary report says
On January 9, 2009, TV Guide reported that Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, and Alyson Hannigan had signed new deals with 20th Century Fox after renegotiations. According to the report, their pay would be $90,000–$120,000 per episode—two to three times their previous pay. It also said one year had been added to their original seven-year contracts.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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How I Met Your Mother: The Complete Series | $58.41 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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How I Met Your Mother: Season 1 | $8.86 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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How I Met Your Mother: Season 4 | $6.64 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
How I Met Your Mother The Complete Series | $78.92 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
How I Met Your Mother: Season 3 | $8.45 | Buy on Amazon |
That is a shared range for the five actors, not a breakdown by performer. TV Guide attributed the deal information to The Hollywood Reporter; the article does not publish contract documents or name individual rates. It is the clearest contemporary figure available here, but it cannot be used to rank the cast members.
How the later salary estimates compare
Retrospective accounts offer higher figures for the final season, but they do not agree. Neither account provides a verified actor-by-actor contract schedule.
#1 Best Overall
| Report | Actors and amount reported | Period and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Net Worth | All five principal cast members: $250,000 per episode. The page also gives Hannigan’s later-season pay as $225,000–$250,000. | Described as final-season pay; publication date is not stated on the page. Retrospective secondary estimate without a robust source trail in the cited passage. |
| First Curiosity | $225,000 per episode for most of the principal cast; $400,000 for Neil Patrick Harris. | Published in 2023. Retrospective secondary account that acknowledges official figures are unavailable. |
The reports conflict: one gives every lead the same $250,000 rate, while the other singles out Harris at $400,000 and puts most of the others at $225,000. The evidence cited does not establish which estimate is correct, or whether any individual actor earned more than another.
A cautious ranking: what can actually be ranked
Because no reliable primary source establishes individual final-season salaries, an exact ordering would imply more certainty than the available evidence supports. The fairest presentation is by evidence tier:
Rank #2
- Factory sealed DVD
- Best-supported figure, but not a ranking: TV Guide’s 2009 report of a shared $90,000–$120,000-per-episode range for Radnor, Segel, Smulders, Harris, and Hannigan.
- Retrospective equal-pay estimate: Celebrity Net Worth says all five were paid $250,000 per episode by the final season.
- Retrospective unequal-pay estimate: First Curiosity reports $400,000 per episode for Harris and $225,000 for most of the principal cast, while noting that official figures are unavailable.
These tiers rank the strength and nature of the claims, not the actors’ pay. No original contract, direct statement from an actor or representative, or reliable individual final-season salary schedule verifies an exact cast ranking.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Salary is not net worth or total earnings
Per-episode salary is compensation for an episode; it is not an actor’s net worth, total income from the series, or lifetime earnings. Nor do the cited reports establish how residuals or other income affected any cast member’s overall earnings. Those figures should not be combined to manufacture a more precise ranking.
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Best Value
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
Rank #4
Rank #3
- Factory sealed DVD
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