The strongest documented historical TV salary figures in the available records are Angus T. Jones at $250,000 per episode and Miranda Cosgrove at $180,000 per episode. Both amounts come from a May 2010 New York Post survey recorded by Guinness World Records—not a verified current salary list or a complete ranking of every child actor in television history.
Highest reported per-episode TV salaries
| Actor | TV role | Reported pay | Basis and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angus T. Jones | Jake Harper on Two and a Half Men | $250,000 per episode | May 2010 New York Post survey of casting agents, talent agents, and TV executives, as recorded by Guinness World Records. |
| Miranda Cosgrove | Star of iCarly; age 16 at the time | $180,000 per episode | The same May 2010 New York Post survey; Guinness identifies her as the highest-paid TV child actress in that survey. Guinness World Records. |
These are reported contract-rate figures tied to a particular survey and period. They should not be read as current salaries, inflation-adjusted comparisons, or proof that no child performer earned more in another era.
Why Miley Cyrus’s $25 million figure is different
Guinness World Records reports that Miley Cyrus was estimated to have earned $25 million in 2008, attributing the estimate to Forbes. It covered multiple income sources, including a concert tour, music sales, a book deal, and filming a movie based on her television series. It is an annual earnings estimate, not a per-episode television salary, so it cannot be ranked directly against Jones’s or Cosgrove’s episode rates. Guinness World Records.
What TV acting pay looked like in 2000
A June 13, 2000, Los Angeles Times report placed starring roles on prime-time network series at $15,000–$25,000 per episode, while similar cable roles were reported at $6,000–$7,000. Those are period-specific ranges, not present-day rates or a direct comparison with the later individual figures above. Los Angeles Times.
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The same article noted a casting consideration that complicates comparisons: some parts written as young characters were played by adults who could work longer daily hours and did not require teachers and guardians on set. Pay therefore reflected more than age alone; role, production, distribution, and working conditions mattered too.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why there is no definitive all-time ranking
Publicly reported figures do not provide a consistent dataset across decades. A sound comparison would need to distinguish per-episode rates from annual earnings, identify the season and date, account for age and role status, and separate network, cable, and other distribution. The available reports do not harmonize those details, so Jones and Cosgrove are best described as the top documented figures in this specific 2010 survey record—not definitive winners of every TV salary comparison in history.
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