Who Knew You Could Get So Rich From Being a 'Teen Mom'? Here's How Much the Stars Make

MTV's Teen Mom has changed a lot since the reality series first premiered a decade ago. Back in 2009, MTV understandably got a lot of backlash for glorifying teen pregnancy, but times have changed and these days, the show is doing so well, it's even launched a couple of spinoffs like Teen Mom OG, Teen Mom 2, and Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.

Since the franchise has been so successful, fans are obviously wondering whether the stars on the show are successful as well. So, how much do Teen Mom stars make? Should we all have gone straight from high school to the reality show?

Keep reading to find out.

Janelle has an estimated net worth of $30,000 as of 2024, per Celebrity Net Worth. Although MTV initially cut ties with Jenelle after her husband David, whom she filed for separation from in March 2024, shot and killed their dog, she was welcomed back to the show in 2024.

To give you an idea as to how much Janelle has made from a show, she revealed during a 2015 radio interview that she had made "a little bit over half [a million]" from the series by that point. "I'm not really allowed to discuss it," she added.

According to Radar, she might have made more than some of her co-stars. "Jenelle gets paid $75,000 a year and her mom gets paid $65,000: she calls her an overpaid babysitter," a source said, adding that Jenelle also benefitted from many perks like gift cards and free meals.

Another article later published by Cheat Sheet posited that Jenelle collected the same fee as her fellow original cast members on Teen Mom 2: $300,000. However, her net worth was believed to be significantly lower than her co-stars' at the time due to the extensive legal bills she has had to handle.

According to Radar, Chelsea made $250,000, just like her co-stars, to film Season 6. Like Jenelle mentioned, the stars have many NDAs in place to make sure we never know *official* numbers, but we'll take this figure from a trusted source.

But her baby daddy notes that the stars make more each season they return to the show. Makes sense!

The mother-of-three is also a bonafide influencer, hawking weight-loss programs, beauty and fashion products and home decor. Makes sense she would monetize her 6.7 million Instagram followers. Who wouldn't? According to multiple sources, Chelsea has an estimated net worth of between $1 and $3 million.

Briana joined the Teen Mom 2 cast in 2018 in Season 8, so it makes sense that she gets paid less than her co-stars. But the $20,000 she reportedly takes home for a season is a pittance when compared with the rest of her cast who are making ten times that sum.

But since everyone's petty, get this: Her co-stars were upset that she was making so much money. Because they claim that they also made $20,000 back when they were on their second season. Salty!

As of 2024, Briana's net worth is estimated to be somewhere around $750,000 (unconfirmed).

Kailyn's smart not to put all her proverbial eggs in the Teen Mom 2 basket, and with the highest net worth of her fellow co-stars, it seems her plan has paid off. While her net worth was estimated to be around $2 million, some sources speculate it has since dropped to $25,000.

When she's not in MTV's reality spotlight raking in $300,000 per season, the mother-of-three is also a New York Times bestselling author. What! Her children's book Pride Over Pity earned her that prestigious accolade, and she's also the co-host of the weekly podcast Coffee Convos with Lindsie Chrisley of Chrisley Knows Best.

Leah earns roughly $250,000 a season, and has an estimated net worth of $50,000, per Celebrity Net Worth. The mother of twins not only collected some hefty checks from her reality TV appearances, but also earns an income from her work as a realtor and author.

Things have definitely changed since Teen Mom OG first hit the air, as evidenced by the fact that Amber used to earn $280K a year from MTV, which back then were broken up into two $140,000 six-month contracts.

While the rest of the salaries we've written up here are predominantly culled from the grapevine, Amber actually testified about her earnings when she landed herself in court for domestic violence and neglect back in 2011.

Although Amber tried to revive her career and let's say, livelihood, by writing a book of her own, her net worth these days is about $10,000 due to her legal troubles and the child support she pays her ex, who has primary custody of their daughter Leah.

Even people who don't watch Teen Mom recognize Bristol from her teen pregnancy during her mother, Sarah Palin's vice presidential campaign. But just because she's a household name doesn't mean she makes more than the other stars on the show. Unfortunately for her.

According to a source close to her, "Bristol came in hoping for a very big payday, and really thought she could and would get $500,000. None of the Teen Moms ... made close to that when they first started or even now," Cheat Sheet reported. Instead, she made $250,000 for her first season (hey, that's so much better than Briana) and will likely make more for every additional season she's offered.

As of 2024, her net worth sits at $500,000, according to Celebrity Net Worth, thanks to her Instagram endorsements, cameos on other programs, and the success of her best-selling book. However, the young mother quit the show in 2019.

There are Teen Mom stars who live off of MTV alone, and then there are others, like Catelynn, who use it as an opportunity to launch other ventures. In addition to the $500,000 she is rumored to make per season on Teen Mom, she and her husband Tyler also have an online clothing boutique and wrote a book together called Conquering Chaos.

The two also tried their hand at their own MTV show, Reunited, about people who had been adopted reuniting with their birth parents, but the show was cancelled after just one episode.

Together, the couple is worth $1.5 million — enough to buy new cars and renovate their farmhouse in Michigan.

Like her co-stars Catelynn, Bristol and Kailyn, Maci also fancies herself an author and published her memoir, Bulletproof, back in 2015. Although Cheat Sheet reports that the mother-of-three makes half a million dollars per season like the rest of the cast who've been there since Day 1, she still lives a modest life and even shops at Wal-Mart.

Maci wrote in her memoir, “Reality TV can make you very famous, but you basically get the s–t end of the deal: Everyone knows your name and talks about you, but there’s no red-carpet prestige or glamorous piles of money. Once you become a so-called reality TV star, people immediately think you’re a high-end celebrity and you travel the world and have a mansion and so much money and all these other things they associate with having your face on television."

She continued, "The fact is, my real life isn’t that much different from what it would have been without MTV. I still live in Chattanooga and go to Wal-Mart and buy bread and milk." Today, Maci's estimated net worth stands at $10,000, per Celebrity Net Worth.

Unlike the rest of the Teen Mom and Teen Mom OG cast, this newcomer was already quite known in the MTV world. That's because Cheyenne starred in Are You the One? years ago, and later made her comeback to the network thanks to The Challenge: Rivals III.

Athough she probably made $250,000 for her first season like Bristol, it's likely that she has some money saved up from her past TV appearances and doesn't mind making only about $20,000 per Teen Mom episode. After all, that still puts her in a better financial place than many of her co-stars, since Cheyenne is worth a hefty $450,000.

Ashley reportedly earned $500 per episode and, over the course of her time on the show, accumulated an estimated $30,000. In addition to her reality TV income, Ashley launched a skincare line, Sirens Arch, which is expected to boost her annual earnings.

Jade reportedly earned around $5,000 per episode and has an estimated net worth of $250,000, according to The Sun. She married Sean Austin in 2023. According to her Instagram bio, she is a salon owner and realtor, indicating she isn't relying solely on her reality TV earnings.

While the exact amount Mackenzie made per episode is unknown, multiple sources report her net worth is around $1.3 million as of 2024. In addition to her TV appearances, Mackenzie likely earns income as a personal fitness trainer and regularly posts on her Instagram @bodymymafitness.