--- title: The List of Highest Paid TV Actors 2018 Is Here: Who Made It description: Jim Parsons tops the list of top-paid television actors for the fourth time with a whopping annual $26.5 million for the year. canonical: https://time.com/5433784/highest-paid-tv-actors-2018/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-24T21:28:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:38.561Z og:title: Here Are the Highest Paid TV Actors of 2018 og:description: Clocking in at a whopping $26.5 million og:url: https://time.com/5433784/highest-paid-tv-actors-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03eb23ad18347dec/69893d61b21a9c3add4ff4c8/highest-paid-tv-actor-2018-jim-parsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: 89th Annual Academy Awards - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are the Highest Paid TV Actors of 2018 twitter:description: Clocking in at a whopping $26.5 million twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03eb23ad18347dec/69893d61b21a9c3add4ff4c8/highest-paid-tv-actor-2018-jim-parsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are the Highest Paid Actors on TV in 2018 > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d57c8f39-d001-4b57-b152-29c943371230&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 24, 2018 9:28 PM UTC  HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actor Jim Parsons attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actor Jim Parsons attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood Christopher Polk—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 24, 2018 9:28 PM UTC [Jim Parsons](http://time.com/5287595/jim-parsons-boys-in-the-band/) has topped the list of highest-paid actors in the television industry for the fourth year in a row, after making a whopping $26.5 million before taxes in the past year. According to [_Forbes_](https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2018/10/24/highest-paid-tv-actors-2018-jim-parsons-leads-with-26-5-million/#4f7d0afeab2b), the [_Big Bang Theory_](http://time.com/3907021/big-bang-theory-legos/) star took first place over his co-star Johnny Galecki (who clocked in at no. 2 with $25 million) with extra income from endorsements and his executive producer role on spinoff show, _Young Sheldon_. Parsons and Galecki’s co-stars Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg tied for third place at $23.5 million yearly, thanks to other projects in addition to their _Big Bang_ salaries. The four CBS actors actually got paid less from the show in the past year when the original cast collectively chose to take a cut of about $1 million an episode to boost the salaries of fellow actors Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch. Rounding out the top 5 earners in TV is _NCIS’_ Mark Harmon at $19 million. See the rest who made the cut below. 6\. Ed O’Neill $14 million Modern Family 7\. Eric Stonestreet $13.5 million Modern Family 8\. Jesse Tyler Ferguson $13 million Modern Family 9\. Ty Burrell $12 million Modern Family 10\. 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