Stranger Things is a Netflix show that has been around since July 2016. Created by the Duffer Brothers, it takes place in Hawkins, Indiana, in the ’80s, and focuses on supernatural events. The second season, which helped earn the title of the most in-demand digital original series from the Guinness Book of World Records, came in 2017, followed by Season 3, which broke viewing records in 2019. The fourth season will have two parts, with one dropping on May 27 and the other, on July 1, and Season 5 will serve as the final chapter of the story.
With the popularity and success of Stranger Things, one has to wonder: What are the net worths of the stars, and which actor has made the most money from this series?
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder has been entertaining fans for years, starring in popular films like Heathers, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Little Women and getting her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. When it comes to Stranger Things, she landed the role of Joyce Byers, the single mother of Jonathan and Will Byers. During the first two seasons, Ryder earned $100,000 per episode and about $1.7 million overall. After that, her pay was increased to $350,000 for each episode, meaning she brought in roughly $3 million for Season 3 alone. In all, Winona Ryder’s net worth is estimated at $18 million.
Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown is known best for playing the telekinetic Eleven, for which she won an MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Performance in a Show and a Teen Choice Award for Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress, but she has also been seen in projects such as Enola Holmes and the Godzilla films. Brown started her own beauty brand, Florence by Mills, too. For her Stranger Things salary, she made $80,000 for Season 1, $270,000 for Season 2, and $2.7 million for Season 3, helping to give Millie Bobby Brown an overall estimated net worth of $10 million.
David Harbour
David Harbour has appeared in superhero films, as he played Scanlon in The Green Hornet in 2011, Dexter Tolliver in Suicide Squad in 2016, and Alexei in Black Widow in 2021. He was the titular character in Hellboy from 2019. And, of course, he is Jim Hopper in Stranger Things and even won a Critics’ Choice Award for this role. His salary during the first two seasons was $100,000 per episode, making his total earnings somewhere around $1.7 million. He was then bumped up to $350,000 for each episode, meaning he made $3 million for the third season. And overall, David Harbour’s net worth is estimated to be around $6 million.
Gaten Matarazzo
Gaten Matarazzo plays Dustin Henderson (and even won a Shorty Award for Best Actor) and has also, for instance, portrayed Gavroche in Les Miserables: The Broadway Musical and voiced Bubba in The Angry Birds Movie 2. The star has been vocal about cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD), as well, a condition he and his character share. He raises awareness for CCD, promotes events, and collects money for CCD Smiles, in order to assist in paying for oral surgeries. Matarazzo’s salary for each Stranger Things season has been $10,000 per episode/$80,000 in all, $30,000 per episode, $250,000 per episode/$2 million in all, and $2.25 million in all, respectively, and Gaten Matarazzo has a net worth of $5 million.
Charlie Heaton
Charlie Heaton is part of the Stranger Things cast, as well, playing Jonathan Byers. This actor and musician was notably part of The New Mutants in 2020, too, as he portrayed Sam Guthrie and starred alongside Maisie Williams and Anya Taylor-Joy. In his role as Joyce’s oldest son, he earned $10,000 per episode/$80,000 in all during the first season, $30,000 per episode/$270,000 in all during the second season, and $250,000 per episode/$2 million in all during the third season. And this leads Charlie Heaton to an estimated net worth of $4 million.
Finn Wolfhard
In addition to playing Mike Wheeler on Stranger Things, Finn Wolfhard has worked on other shows and movies, as he played Richie in the It movies, voiced Pugsley in the animated film The Addams Family, and portrayed Trevor in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Beyond acting, Wheeler directed Night Shifts, a short film, and a music video for Spendtime Palace, and he is a singer and guitarist. On this Netflix series, his salary was $80,000 for Season 1, $270,000 for Season 2, and $2 million for Season 3, and in all, Finn Wolfard’s net worth has been estimated to be around $4 million
Noah Schnapp
Noah Schnapp is known for playing Will Byers, but he also voiced Charlie Brown in The Peanuts Movie in 2015, as well as that he acted alongside Adam Sandler in Hubie Halloween from 2020. In November 2021, Schnapp’s business, TBH (To Be Honest), came about, offering hazelnut spread that is vegan, that has more protein than, say, Nutella, and that is created with sustainable ingredients. When it comes to his Stranger Things earnings each season, he made $10,000 per episode, $30,000 per episode, and $250,000 per episode, respectively. Overall, Noah Schnapp’s net worth is an estimated $3 million.
Caleb McLaughlin
Lucas Sinclair is portrayed on Stranger Things by Caleb McLaughlin, who won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance by a Youth. Additionally, he has used his platform to encourage others to vote and to spread the message of self-love, starting social media campaigns like #EmbraceYourFace and #BeYourBiggestFan. Over the years, McLaughlin has been on shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Blue Bloods, and Ultra City Smiths, too, and it is reported that he makes $250,000 for each episode of Stranger Things. All of this and more have led to Caleb McLaughlin’s estimated to have a net worth of $3 million.
Sadie Sink
Sadie Sink, whose character on this show is Maxine “Max” Mayfield, has been in several other projects. Some of the TV series listed include The Americans, Blue Bloods, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, while the films include Eli and The Glass Castle. She narrated Dominion, all about the cons that come along with modern animal agriculture, and gained a Hollywood International Documentary Award. Furthermore, Sink appeared in all three parts of Fear Street on Netflix. Much of her success, though, is due to Stranger Things, and this has helped Sadie Sink is estimated to have earned an overall net worth of $1 million.