Big Bang Theory Stars That Make Less Money Than You Think

"The Big Bang Theory" is one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, and the long-running series, which was on the air from 2007-2019, undoubtedly helped launch and solidify many of the core cast of actors' careers in the industry, like "Judging Amy" alum Jim Parsons, "8 Simple Rules" star Kaley Cuoco, and former "Roseanne" star Johnny Galecki (via IMDb).

In addition to the three main cast members, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, and Mayim Bialik rounded out the "Big Bang" lineup, along with a slew of recurring guest stars, like "Star Trek" alum Wil Wheaton, who played himself, Kevin Sussman, who played comic book shop owner Stuart Bloom, and John Ross Bowie, who played the role of Barry Kripke.

And given the show's impressive 250-episode run, the recurring guest stars — and even some of the core cast members — on "The Big Bang Theory" surely made a pretty penny from their gigs, right? Well, not entirely. Read on for the surprising salaries and net worths of some of the stars of "The Big Bang Theory."

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Wil Wheaton, who famously played himself as Sheldon Cooper's nemesis on "The Big Bang Theory," is only worth about $1 million, and made only $20,000 per "Big Bang” episode (via ScreenRant). Wheaton's per-episode salary comes as a surprise, given his impressive list of acting credits, as well as the salaries of other secondary characters (which we'll get to later).

Per IMDb, Wheaton's been in over 130 productions spanning almost four decades, including the critically acclaimed coming-of-age tale, "Stand By Me," opposite Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman, and the late River Phoenix, and also starred in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" from 1987-1994.

In addition to his work on-screen, Wheaton's also a seasoned voice actor, and having worked on multiple video games, including "Ghost Recon 2," "Everquest II," and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories," and has voiced numerous characters in animated shows like "Teen Titans," "Naruto," "Legion of Superheroes," "Ben 10: Alien Force," "Transformers: Power of the Primes," and more.

Kevin Sussman, who is undoubtedly best known for playing comic book shop owner Stuart Bloom on "The Big Bang Theory," is worth around $3 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. Sussman appeared on 84 episodes of the beloved long-running sitcom, and according to ScreenRant, he made roughly $50,000 per episode.

Like his on-screen character, Sussman also worked at a comic book store before he landed his "Big Bang Theory" role, which he revealed in an interview with Glitched Online in 2018. "Yeah, just coincidentally, they didn't actually know that when I got the role..." Sussman told the outlet of previously working at a comic shop, jokingly adding that his experience helped him "boss" people around on set. "I, of course, told them, because I like to sort of, y'know, boss them around about, like, what they have wrong in the comic book store."

In addition to his work on "The Big Bang Theory," Sussman has also appeared on "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp," "Freeloaders," "Weeds," "My Name Is Earl," "Burn After Reading," "Ugly Betty," "Hitch," "ER," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Almost Famous," "The Sopranos," and more (via IMDb).

Although Melissa Rauch served as one of the core seven cast members on "The Big Bang Theory," having appeared on a whopping 209 episodes from 2009-2020, she was paid less than her "TBBT" co-stars for years. Per Celebrity Net Worth, Rauch is worth a cool $20 million, which is obviously a lot of money; however, according to ScreenRant, the "True Blood" alum made only $45,000 per episode when she joined the cast during Season 3, which was less than some of the secondary characters at the time.

By the end of the series, Rauch made over $425,000 per episode, due in part to her fellow cast members, Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar, each giving $100,000 of their salaries to Rauch and "Big Bang Theory" star Mayim Bialik so they could earn a fairer rate per episode. For comparison, the five core cast members were making around $1 million per episode, while Rauch and Bialik were only making less than $200,000 (via Hollywood Reporter).

According to Celebrity Net Worth, John Ross Bowie, who is best known for playing the role of Barry Kripke on "The Big Bang Theory," is worth around $3 million. Bowie appeared on 25 episodes of the wildly popular sitcom, and according to ScreenRant, the comedian made a cool $50,000 per episode from the time he first appeared on the show until he filmed his last episode.

While Bowie's per-episode salary for his stint as a secondary character on "The Big Bang Theory" is quite impressive, it's nowhere near the amount of money the rest of the cast made; however, his long list of acting gigs have also undoubtedly contributed to his overall net worth. In fact, Bowie's had roles in productions like "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause," "Because I Said So," "Reno 911!," "Children's Hospital," "Retired at 35," "Episodes," "Speechless," "Feel Good," "Generations," just to name a few (via IMDb).

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mayim Bialik, who is best known for portraying Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on "The Big Bang Theory," is worth around $25 million. Like her co-star Melissa Rauch, Bialik made around $200,000 per episode during the middle seasons of the show, while the core five cast members made roughly $1 million per episode. As previously mentioned, the core five took $100,000 pay cuts for the show's last two seasons so Bialik and Rauch could earn a fairer salary per episode (via HuffPost).

Despite the pay disparities between her and her fellow "Big Bang" co-stars, Bialik looked back fondly on her decade-long experience on the show during an interview with Us Weekly in April. "I would like our show to be remembered as a show that really demonstrated how the other half lives or how most of us live, which is kind of on the outside in some way," she told the outlet. "I think everyone has a little bit of outsider in them."

In addition to her work on "The Big Bang Theory," Bialik starred on the hit '90s series, "Blossom," as the titular character, and then worked as a neuroscientist — just like her "Big Bang" character. Most recently, she replaced Mike Richards as the interim "Jeopardy!" host after Richards, who served as an executive producer on the show, stepped down due to multiple scandals and two alleged discrimination lawsuits (via NBC News).