If you're like most TV viewers, you've had a moment of confused outrage while watching Friends, trying to figure out how on earth these people can afford to live in such swanky, spacious Manhattan apartments on their random salaries. Well, a recent rundown on Glassdoor [1] has cleared up any confusion about how much your favorite TV characters make (even if the actors portraying them make 7,000 times more). Curious to know how much Detective Holmes or Deputy Director Leslie Knope pulls in each year? Keep reading to find out.
Walter White, Breaking Bad
Job: chemistry teacher
Median annual salary: $47,492 [2]
Not every chemistry teacher also has a storage unit piled high with cash, of course.
Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock
Job: detective
Median annual salary: $61,632 [3]
Benedict Cumberbatch's handsome face, though? Priceless.
Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation
Job: deputy director, Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation
Median annual salary: $117,537 [4]
This number was not adjusted for yearly waffle expenses.
Danny Tanner, Full House
Job: broadcast journalist
Median annual salary: $50,707 [5]
Hopefully he makes a bit more than this in San Francisco, since owning that gorgeous Bay Area property [6] is not cheap!
Nick Miller, New Girl
Job: bartender
Median annual salary: $33,000 [7]
This number probably doesn't include tips, and an adorable, funny, plaid-clad bartender like Nick Miller probably does OK in that department.
Hannah Horvath, Girls
Job: staff writer
Median annual salary: $49,679 [8]
Hannah has had several jobs (and a few nonjobs), but her gig at GQ was one she probably should have stuck with for a while.
Michael Scott, The Office
Job: regional sales manager
Median annual salary: $105,290 [9]
Michael may make a bit less in Scranton, PA, but he can still afford a few more Sandals vacations than the average person.
Sheldon Lee Cooper, The Big Bang Theory
Job: physicist
Median annual salary: $105,290 [10]
Things that make you go, "Bazinga!" It really does pay to be a nerd.
Jane Villanueva, Jane the Virgin
Job: elementary school teacher
Median annual salary: $46,967 [11]
Jane's had a few different jobs during the time we've known her, and her schoolteacher gig probably paid the most. But if she ever takes off as a romance novelist, that's where she could find the big bucks.
Ross Geller, Friends
Job: professor
Median annual salary: $114,134 [12]
Ross's geeky paleontology obsession really paid off in the end.
Joyce Byers, Stranger Things [13]
Job: cashier
Median annual salary: $18,560 [14]
Even before any stranger things [15] happen, the struggle is very real for Joyce, a single mom on a cashier's salary.
Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
Job: nuclear plant safety inspector
Median annual salary: $37,100 [16]
Seems like someone in charge of nuclear safety should earn much more than this!
Tony Soprano, The Sopranos
Job: waste management consultant
Median annual salary: $92,564 [17]
Bada-bing! This isn't even taking into account Tony's side "jobs."
Sookie St. James, Gilmore Girls [18]
Job: professional chef
Median annual salary: $45,720 [19]
Sookie has so much passion for her profession, she'd probably do it for free (you have to double-strain the duck sauce, Luke!), but it's nice that she and Jackson can provide a comfy Stars Hollow living for their little family.