Modern Family Residuals Revealed: How Much Sofia Vergara and the Cast Still Cash In

Modern Family is one of those shows that snuck up on us and stayed for a decade-plus. Eleven seasons of mockumentary chaos, heart, and genuinely sharp jokes. We watched the kids grow up on camera, the adults refine their bits, and yes, the paychecks get very real. So, what did everyone actually make? Here is the money picture, start to finish.

Who got paid what, from pilot to farewell

• Ed O'Neill (Jay Pritchett): Season 1 about $95,000 per episode; by Season 11, $500,000.
• Julie Bowen (Claire Dunphy): Season 1 roughly $30,000–$60,000; Season 11, $500,000.
• Sofia Vergara (Gloria Delgado-Pritchett): Season 1 roughly $30,000–$60,000; Season 11, $500,000.
• Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy): Season 1 roughly $30,000–$60,000; Season 11, $500,000.
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell Pritchett): Season 1 roughly $30,000–$60,000; Season 11, $500,000.
• Eric Stonestreet (Cameron Tucker): Season 1 about $20,000; Season 11, $500,000.
• Sarah Hyland (Haley Dunphy): Season 1 around $25,000; by the end, over $100,000.
• Ariel Winter (Alex Dunphy): Season 1 around $25,000; by the end, over $100,000.
• Nolan Gould (Luke Dunphy): Season 1 around $25,000; by the end, over $100,000.
• Rico Rodriguez (Manny Delgado): Season 1 around $25,000; by the end, over $100,000.
• Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (Lily Tucker-Pritchett): joined in Season 3; paid about $35,000 per episode for several seasons, later bumped to roughly $70,000.

Those Season 11 numbers look wild because they are. Most seasons ran north of 20 episodes (with the exception of Season 11), so half-a-million per episode adds up very fast. The early seasons? Not so much. The jump from $20k–$60k to $500k for the adult ensemble is a story in itself, and it did not happen by magic.

Residuals: the forever money (well, sometimes)

Residuals are the ongoing payments people get when a show is reused after it first airs: reruns, syndication, streaming. Studios and producers calculate those payments, and unions like SAG-AFTRA, the WGA, and the DGA administer them.

Who typically gets residuals: actors with speaking roles, voice actors, stunt performers, directors, credited writers, musicians, Unit Production Managers, and Second Assistant Directors. Most other crew members do not participate.

Modern Family is now TV comfort food, which likely means healthy residual checks for the principals. Exact numbers are locked down, but one eye-popping data point has circulated: according to Giant Freakin Robot, Ed O'Neill reportedly pulls in about $10 million a year from residuals. For the rest of the cast, no reliable figures are out there.

Yes, they sued the studio. That is how they got those raises.

Back in 2012, several key cast members filed legal papers to void their contracts and force a pay renegotiation. The group included Sofia Vergara, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Eric Stonestreet. Ed O'Neill did not join the suit.

Why push that hard? Their contracts locked them down for years and limited outside work, and the pay did not reflect the show's breakout success. The cast skipped the first Season 4 table read to make the point. The endgame going forward was clear: if the show ran past Season 8, they wanted more than $300,000 per episode. Eventually, by the final season, the adult ensemble landed at $500,000 per episode.

'Modern Family has been a breakout critical and financial success. That success, however, has been built upon a collection of illegal contracts.'

That line comes from the court filings at the time, and it tells you everything about where their heads were. Not subtle. Also not wrong, given how the numbers shook out later.

The quick take

Modern Family started with modest TV-sitcom pay for most of the cast (with O'Neill a bit higher out of the gate), then rocketed into mega-money territory after a very public contract fight. Residuals likely keep the cash flowing, though only O'Neill's rumored annual haul has made it into the wild. Were they right to push back that hard? Depends on your tolerance for Hollywood math, but the results kind of speak for themselves.

Modern Family is streaming on Peacock Premium.