NEED TO KNOW
Every WNBA player has a maximum and minimum amount of money they can make each yearThe players who make the most money make less than $250,000 per yearWNBA players’ salaries come from less than 10% of the league’s Basketball Related Income (BRI)

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players have been fighting for pay equity for years.

Over recent seasons, both viewership and attendance of WNBA games have skyrocketed and reached an all-time high. The 2024 WNBA season reached a total of 54 million viewers across broadcasting networks and broke the record for viewership, per a season-end press release. Meanwhile, the WNBA had its highest attendance in 22 years, nearly doubling its numbers from the previous year.

Despite both attendance and viewership increasing, WNBA athletes make significantly less than NBA athletes. The average WNBA base salary is around $102,000, while the NBA average is about $13 million, according to Spotrac‘s data analyzed by Sports Illustrated and Basketball Reference.

Some of the most successful WNBA players sent a message to the league ahead of playing in the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in July 2025 by wearing warm-up shirts that read, “Pay us what you owe us.” The women wore the shirts as the players’ union is currently negotiating with the league to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

“That’s one of the things we’re in the room fighting for,” Caitlin Clark, who was a team captain, told USA Today of the shirts. “We should be paid more and hopefully that’s the case moving forward as the league continues to grow.”

Indiana Fever athlete and All-Star captain Napheesa Collier added, “We get a very tiny percentage of all the money that’s made through the WNBA, which obviously is made through the entertainment we provide. So we want a fair and reasonable percentage of that.”

Here’s everything to know about WNBA salaries.

How much do WNBA players make?

A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart playing in a basketball game in June 2024.

Ethan Miller/Getty

Nearly every player in the WNBA has a different contract that determines their tenure with a team and salary per year. WNBA salaries range from approximately $66,000 to $250,000 per year, according to Spotrac.

While salaries are determined by a series of factors and are unique for nearly every player, the only exception where players get paid the same is in their first year. Rookies who are drafted in the first through fourth picks all get paid the same as part of the WNBA’s CBA. In 2025, the first four WNBA draft picks all agreed to a four-year contract with their team that starts with $78,831 for their first season, with the next three years all slightly increasing, per HerHoopStats.com.

The rest of the rookies are paid depending on their draft numbers, with the lowest-paid rookies earning $66,079 their first season in 2025. However, those salaries are only guaranteed for those who are both drafted and make the roster, which maxes out at 12 players, that same year.

In addition to their base salary, players can do deals, campaigns and sponsorships with brands. Some players also receive bonuses.

How are WNBA salaries determined?

Arike Ogunbowale, Caitlin Clark and Allisha Gray playing in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game.

 Alex Slitz/Getty 

Besides rookies in their four-year contract, WNBA salaries are determined by the league’s Basketball-Related Income (BRI), which includes ticket sales, television rights and merchandise sales. In the NBA, approximately half of the BRI goes towards players’ salaries, while in the WNBA, less than 10% goes to player salaries, according to MarketWatch.

Each year, every WNBA team has a total maximum salary cap and a required minimum that they’re permitted to use on their team members, which was agreed upon in the 2020 CBA. For instance, in 2025, the salaries capped out at $1,507,100 and $1,261,440, per the CBA. The salary caps are slated to increase at a rate of three % each year, per The Athletic.

As for individual players, the CBA specifies both minimum and maximum salaries for players based on their years playing in the WNBA. Similar to the team salary cap, the minimum and maximum salary amounts increase each year. In 2025, the minimum player salary is $66,079 for players with two or fewer years of service and $78,831 for players with three or more years of service.

Meanwhile, the regular maximum for players in 2025 was $214,466. However, the highest salaries in the 2025 WNBA are around $250,000, as those players fall into the “supermax” category. Players qualify for the “supermax” salary if they stay with the team past their rookie contract or if they have at least five years of experience with a team and return as a veteran or free agent.

What is the average WNBA salary?

A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Alysha Clark playing with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023.

 Ethan Miller/Getty

The average WNBA base salary is estimated to be $102,249, according to the data of 222 players obtained by Spotrac and analyzed by Sports Illustrated.

Some of the players who make a salary similar to the average include Las Vegas Aces center Kiah Stokes, Indiana Fever shooting guard Sophie Cunningham and Dallas Wings point guard Tyasha Harris.

Who is the highest-paid player in the WNBA?

Jackie Young with the Las Vegas Aces in 2024 and Kelsey Mitchell with the Indiana Fever in 2025.

David Becker/Getty; Ron Hoskins/NBAE/Getty 

Since the 2020 CBA doesn’t allow for players to earn more than $249,244 in 2025, there are three players who make around that in their base salary.

Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell has the highest 2025 base salary contract with the maximum $249,244, per Spotrac. Meanwhile, Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young has the highest two-year contract, with $504,900 that averages $252,450 over two years.

Fellow Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd and Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale fall right behind Mitchell at $249,032. In addition, there are around two dozen players — including Brittney Griner, Kahleah Copper and Breanna Stewart — who make between $200,000 and $248,000.

What is Caitlin Clark’s salary?

Caitlin Clark playing with the Indiana Fever in 2024.

Dylan Buell/Getty

When Caitlin Clark was picked as the No. 1 draft pick by the Indiana Fever in 2024, she signed a four-year contract to earn a total of $338,056 over that time. Although Clark’s contract averages an annual salary of $84,514, she earns a specified amount each year that increases over time, per HawkeyesWire.

She made $76,535 for her first year in 2024; $78,066 in 2025, and will make $85,873 in 2026 and $97,582 in 2025.

Prior to playing professionally, Clark became a household name while playing with the University of Iowa from 2020 to 2024. During her time with the Hawkeyes, she was not paid, but she was allowed to participate in NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) deals as of 2021. Clark made around $3.4 million in NIL deals at Iowa after working with State Farm, Gatorade, Nike, Buick and Bose, according to ON3.

Clark continued focusing on her sponsorships after she was drafted and reportedly signed an eight-year $28 million contract with Nike, according to the Wall Street Journal. She also maintained her partnerships with Gatorade and State Farm, in addition to launching collaborations with Wilson, Hy-Vee and Eli Lilly.

What is Angel Reese’s salary?

Angel Reese playing with the Chicago Sky in May 2024.

David Sherman/NBAE/Getty 

Angel Reese signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Sky during the 2024 WNBA Draft, totalling $324,383. As she was the 7th overall pick, she was placed in the second tier of base salaries.

Reese made $73,439 for her first year in 2024; $74,909 for her second year in 2025, and will make $82,399 for her third year in 2026 and $93,636 for her fourth year in 2027, per Spotrac.

Similar to Clark, Reese also became a famous college athlete when she played for Louisiana State University from 2022 to 2024. During her time there, she also took advantage of NIL deals and reportedly earned around $1.7 million with companies like PlayStation, McDonald’s and Amazon, according to USA Today. Among her major deals was a multi-year partnership with Reebok.

After Reese joined the Chicago Sky, she continued focusing on her sponsorships, including an endorsement deal from Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces and her extended Reebok deal. In addition to her partnerships, Reese launched her Unapologetically Angel podcast in 2024.

Reese has not disclosed her total income, but when asked if she had an estimated net worth of $2 million, she said the approximation was “way off.”

“I’m able to soon retire my mom, I can pay off my mortgage, my family, everybody’s taken care of … One thing about me, I have a really good circle around me, and I think that’s really important,” Reese said at ComplexCon 2024, according to Sports Illustrated.

However, she also clarified that her WNBA salary isn’t paying the bills, including her $8,000 rent.

“I just hope y’all know, the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all,” Reese said in 2024. “I don’t even think it pays one of my bills, literally.”

How are WNBA players advocating for fair pay?

Kiki Iriafen, Gabby Williams, Jackie Young, Sonia Citron and Brittney Sykes playing in the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game.

Steph Chambers/Getty

WNBA players are in the process of negotiating a new CBA with the league after they opted out of the agreement established in 2020.

“The WNBPA Board of Player Representatives and WNBPA Executive Committee have decided to opt out of the 2020 WNBA/WNBPA CBA on behalf of the collective,” the WNBA Players Union announced in October 2024. “It’s business.”

The league and the union must agree on a new CBA before the current one expires on Oct. 31, 2025. In addition to asking for an increase in player salaries, the union is also asking for upgraded facilities and better health and family planning.

“This is a defining moment, not just for the WNBA, but for all of us who believe in progress,” Seattle Storm star and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said in a statement at the time. “The world has evolved since 2020, and we cannot afford to stand still. If we stay in the current agreement, we fall behind.”

She added, “We’re not just asking for a CBA that reflects our value; we’re demanding it, because we’ve earned it.”

With three months left to come to an agreement, several WNBA athletes showed their support for the union by wearing powerful shirts ahead of the WNBA All-Star Game in July 2025. The players wore warm-up shirts that read, “Pay us what you owe us” on the front. Fans seemed to side with the players, as they chanted “Pay them!” at the end of the game, according to NBC News.