Ever wondered which television actresses were earning the biggest paychecks back in 2016? From long-running sitcoms and crime dramas to breakout network hits, some of TV’s biggest female stars were bringing home impressive fortunes. Their salaries reflected more than just acting talent—they were also tied to ratings, years on a successful series, endorsements, and their overall star power.
Television had become an enormous business by this point, and established stars had plenty of leverage when negotiating new contracts. A successful show could run for years, creating a loyal audience and giving its leading actors the opportunity to command much larger salaries.
Some of the names on this list were already household favorites, while others were enjoying major breakthroughs. From Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory to NCIS, Scandal, and Grey's Anatomy, these actresses were among the biggest earners on television in 2016.
Here are 15 of the highest-paid television actresses of 2016, ranked by their reported annual earnings.
15. Zooey Deschanel – New Girl – $7 Million
Zooey Deschanel had already established herself as a recognizable film star before becoming the face of Fox's New Girl. The sitcom, which premiered in 2011, gave her the opportunity to demonstrate that she could successfully carry a television series as its leading actress.
By its sixth season, New Girl was no longer attracting the enormous audience it had during its early years, but it remained a familiar and profitable part of Fox's lineup. Deschanel's established name and popularity also made her valuable to the network. Her reported earnings reached approximately $7 million for the year.
14. Emily Deschanel – Bones – $7.5 Million
Emily Deschanel had spent more than a decade playing Dr. Temperance Brennan on Fox's long-running crime drama Bones. The series premiered in 2005 and developed an exceptionally loyal audience, helping Deschanel turn her central role into a highly lucrative television career.
With the show's 12th and final season approaching, Deschanel had become one of the most recognizable faces in procedural television. Her reported earnings for the year were around $7.5 million, reflecting both the longevity of Bones and her importance to the series.
13. Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep – $7.5 Million
Julia Louis-Dreyfus was already television royalty thanks to Seinfeld, but her career received another major boost with HBO's political comedy Veep. As Vice President Selina Meyer, she delivered an acclaimed performance that earned her multiple Primetime Emmy Awards.
Her television success, combined with endorsement opportunities and decades of name recognition, helped make Louis-Dreyfus one of the industry's highest-paid actresses. In 2016, her reported annual earnings were approximately $7.5 million.
12. Patricia Heaton – The Middle – $8 Million
Before starring as Frankie Heck on The Middle, Patricia Heaton had already enjoyed enormous success as Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. Her ability to turn two different sitcom roles into major television successes made her one of the most dependable comedy stars on TV.
Heaton's income also extended beyond her sitcom work. Her Food Network series, Patricia Heaton Parties, premiered in 2015 and added another source of revenue. With numerous award nominations and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her reported earnings reached about $8 million.
11. Pauley Perrette – NCIS – $9.5 Million
Pauley Perrette became one of the most recognizable members of the NCIS cast through her portrayal of forensic scientist Abby Sciuto. By 2016, the CBS crime drama had been running for more than a decade and remained one of the biggest shows on American television.
Perrette's character was particularly popular with viewers, giving her considerable value to the long-running series. With NCIS continuing to attract a huge audience, her reported annual earnings reached approximately $9.5 million.
10. Julie Bowen – Modern Family – $10 Million
Julie Bowen's career changed dramatically when she landed the role of Claire Dunphy on Modern Family. The ABC sitcom became one of the defining comedies of its era, and Bowen quickly emerged as one of its standout performers.
Her performance earned multiple Emmy nominations and two wins, while endorsement work with brands such as Neutrogena added to her income. By 2016, Bowen was reportedly earning around $10 million annually.
9. Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife – $10.5 Million
Julianna Margulies spent seven seasons as Alicia Florrick on the acclaimed CBS drama The Good Wife. The role became one of the defining performances of her career and earned her numerous awards, including several Screen Actors Guild honors.
With the series reaching its final season in 2016, Margulies was reportedly earning about $10.5 million for the year. Her earlier work on ER had already established her as a respected television actress, making her one of the industry's most accomplished stars.
8. Priyanka Chopra – Quantico – $11 Million
Priyanka Chopra was already one of India's biggest entertainment stars when she made her American television breakthrough with ABC's Quantico. Her success in Bollywood had given her an enormous international following, and the television series introduced her to an even wider American audience.
Chopra's expanding international career, combined with her film work and television success, helped push her reported earnings to approximately $11 million. Her growing profile in Hollywood made her one of the most interesting crossover stars of the period.
7. Stana Katic – Castle – $12 Million
Stana Katic became a television favorite through her role as Detective Kate Beckett on ABC's Castle. After seven successful seasons, the actress had established herself as one of the central attractions of the series.
Her reported earnings climbed to roughly $12 million during the show's eighth season. Although Castle was approaching the end of its run, Katic's lengthy time on the series had already made her one of television's better-paid actresses.
6. Kerry Washington – Scandal – $13.5 Million
Kerry Washington became a major television star thanks to her starring role as Olivia Pope on Scandal. The political drama had developed a passionate audience, while Washington's performance turned her into one of the most recognizable actresses on network television.
Her income wasn't limited to acting. Major endorsement partnerships with brands including Apple, Neutrogena, and Movado helped boost her overall earnings. In 2016, Washington was reported to have earned around $13.5 million.
5. Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order: SVU – $14.5 Million
Mariska Hargitay had become synonymous with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit by 2016. After nearly two decades playing Detective Olivia Benson, she had become one of the most familiar faces in television crime dramas.
The longevity of SVU played a major role in Hargitay's earning power. With millions of viewers continuing to tune in, her reported annual income reached approximately $14.5 million. Few television performers had remained at the center of a successful drama for quite as long.
4. Ellen Pompeo – Grey's Anatomy – $14.5 Million
By the time Grey's Anatomy entered its 13th season, Ellen Pompeo had spent more than a decade portraying Meredith Grey. The medical drama had become one of the longest-running and most recognizable shows on network television.
Pompeo's position as the central star of the series gave her substantial negotiating power. Despite the enormous demands of producing a long-running television drama, she remained one of ABC's most valuable performers. Her reported annual earnings were around $14.5 million.
3. Mindy Kaling – The Mindy Project – $15 Million
Mindy Kaling built her television career from the ground up. After gaining widespread recognition as a writer, producer, and performer on The Office, she went on to create and star in The Mindy Project.
Kaling's income came from several areas of her creative career, including television and writing projects. Her willingness to take control of her own career also made her an important voice in discussions about women in entertainment. Her reported earnings for the year reached approximately $15 million.
2. Kaley Cuoco – The Big Bang Theory – $24.5 Million
Kaley Cuoco's rise to the top of television's salary rankings was closely connected to the extraordinary success of The Big Bang Theory. Playing Penny, Cuoco became one of the sitcom's most recognizable stars as the series developed a massive international audience.
By 2016, the cast had become famous for negotiating enormous salaries, with Cuoco among the highest-paid members. Her reported earnings reached an impressive $24.5 million, putting her comfortably ahead of most other actresses on this list.
1. Sofia Vergara – Modern Family – $43 Million
Sofia Vergara takes the top spot, and the gap between her reported earnings and those of the other actresses is remarkable. The Modern Family star reportedly earned around $43 million, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in the entertainment industry at the time.
Her fortune wasn't built entirely on her television salary. Vergara had developed an impressive business portfolio and worked with a number of major brands through endorsement agreements and other ventures. Her role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on Modern Family helped keep her in the spotlight, giving her an ideal platform for expanding her business interests.
With television success, endorsements, business ventures, and a huge international fan base all working together, Vergara had turned her celebrity status into a powerful personal brand. That combination explains why she could reportedly earn tens of millions of dollars more than many of her fellow television stars.
Final Thoughts
The 2016 television landscape was clearly dominated by actresses who had something more than a successful show behind them. Longevity, audience loyalty, recognizable characters, endorsement deals, and business opportunities all played a major role in determining how much these stars could earn.
From Zooey Deschanel's New Girl success to Sofia Vergara's remarkable combination of television and business ventures, the list shows just how lucrative a long-running television career could become. And while the figures above are historical estimates from 2016 rather than current salaries, they offer an interesting snapshot of the entertainment industry's biggest female earners during that era.
Which actress from this list do you think deserved her massive paycheck the most?