Big Brother’s current grand prize is $750,000. The runner-up gets $75,000, and America’s Favorite Houseguest is worth another $50,000. Those are the headline prizes, but they are only part of the money in the game: houseguests can also earn a weekly stipend and win cash in competitions.
The amounts have not always been the same. Big Brother paid a $500,000 grand prize for its first twenty-two seasons before raising the winner, runner-up and America’s Favorite prizes together in Big Brother 23.
- Winner: $750,000 since Big Brother 23.
- Runner-up: $75,000 since Big Brother 23.
- Third place: no standard placement prize after Big Brother 1.
- America’s Favorite: $50,000 since Big Brother 23.
- Previous grand prize: $500,000 from Big Brother 1 through Big Brother 22.
- Weekly stipend: houseguests are paid, but the publicly documented rate has changed and the current standard amount has not been confirmed.
How much do you win on Big Brother?
Big Brother currently pays $750,000 to the winner of the US main series.
That has been the grand prize since Big Brother 23 in 2021. Before that, the winner received $500,000 from the first season in 2000 all the way through Big Brother 22 in 2020.
The grand prize is not necessarily everything a houseguest takes home. Cash can also turn up inside competitions and twists, and America’s Favorite is a separate audience prize that can be added to placement money. The show’s winner record tracks who actually collected the main prize each season.
What does second place get on Big Brother?
Big Brother’s runner-up currently receives $75,000.
The runner-up prize has changed twice. Big Brother 1 was the exception: Josh received $100,000 for second place. From Big Brother 2 through Big Brother 22, the runner-up prize was $50,000. It increased to $75,000 when the main prize increased in Big Brother 23.
That makes the history:
- Big Brother 1: $100,000.
- Big Brother 2–22: $50,000.
- Big Brother 23 onward: $75,000.
Does third place get prize money on Big Brother?
Big Brother does not have a standard third-place prize in the modern game.
Big Brother 1 is the exception. That season ended with three finalists and the viewing public choosing the winner. Eddie received $500,000, Josh received $100,000 for second, and Curtis received $50,000 for third.
From Big Brother 2 onward, the game has ended with a final two competing for the winner and runner-up prizes. The third-place houseguest does not receive a separate third-place award.
That does not necessarily mean third place leaves with no money. Houseguest stipend payments and any cash already won in competitions are separate from a third-place prize.
How much is America’s Favorite Houseguest worth?
America’s Favorite Houseguest currently pays $50,000, and the money is separate from the winner and runner-up prizes.
The audience prize began at $25,000, although it did not begin under its modern name or eligibility rules. Big Brother 7 introduced a viewer-voted $25,000 America’s Favorite Juror prize. Big Brother 8 did not award it, and Big Brother 9 and 10 again limited the $25,000 vote to jurors.
From Big Brother 11, the modern America’s Favorite Houseguest version opened the vote beyond the jury. The prize remained $25,000 through Big Brother 22, then doubled to $50,000 in Big Brother 23.
It can stack with a placement prize. A finalist — or even the season winner — can also receive America’s Favorite if the audience chooses them.
Has the Big Brother prize money changed?
Big Brother’s main grand prize changed for the first time in Big Brother 23, but the complete payout structure has moved at several points.
- Big Brother 1 — 2000: $500,000 winner, $100,000 second place, $50,000 third place. No America’s Favorite prize.
- Big Brother 2–6 — 2001–2005: $500,000 winner and $50,000 runner-up. No standard third-place prize and no season-end favorite prize.
- Big Brother 7 — 2006: $500,000 winner, $50,000 runner-up and the first $25,000 viewer-voted favorite-juror prize.
- Big Brother 8 — 2007: $500,000 winner and $50,000 runner-up; no favorite prize was awarded.
- Big Brother 9–10 — 2008: $500,000 winner, $50,000 runner-up and a $25,000 viewer prize limited to jurors.
- Big Brother 11–22 — 2009–2020: $500,000 winner, $50,000 runner-up and $25,000 America’s Favorite Houseguest.
- Big Brother 23 onward — 2021–present: $750,000 winner, $75,000 runner-up and $50,000 America’s Favorite Houseguest.
The important oddball is Big Brother 1. Its $100,000 second-place and $50,000 third-place awards belong to that season alone; they were not the standard prizes for the early years.
Do Big Brother houseguests get paid if they don’t win?
Big Brother houseguests receive a weekly stipend even if they never win the grand prize, and the stipend continues for jurors while they remain in jury sequestration.
The number needs an important warning: there is no safely verified permanent current weekly rate. A cast contract published in 2011 put the stipend at $750 per week. By Big Brother 19, Elena publicly described the standard rate as $1,000 per week, including her time in the jury house.
That does not make $1,000 the confirmed Big Brother 28 rate. Contracts change, returning players can have different arrangements, and the current standard figure has not been publicly established well enough to publish as fact.
The live-feed archive shows why making jury mattered financially as well as strategically. Late in Big Brother 12, houseguests were estimating that a full summer’s stipend came to roughly $8,500 to $10,000. Contemporary coverage from the same era also repeatedly described jurors as continuing to collect the stipend while sequestered.
Published eligibility rules also make an unusual distinction at the very end: the final two receive their placement prizes rather than the ordinary weekly stipend.
Do Big Brother winners pay tax on the prize money?
Big Brother prize money is taxable income in the United States, so the advertised prize is not the same as the winner’s final after-tax amount.
There is no honest single number for what a winner “really keeps.” The tax bill depends on the person’s circumstances. Cody publicly said that roughly $220,000 in taxes came out of his $500,000 Big Brother 22 win. Derek F later described paying roughly $30,000 in total taxes on his $75,000 runner-up prize from Big Brother 23.
Those are their own accounts, not a formula that can be applied to every houseguest.
The documented payment rules also say stipend and prize winnings are not paid until after the final episode has aired. There is not enough reliable public information to state a universal exact payment date or installment schedule for every season.
Can Big Brother houseguests win other money?
Big Brother houseguests can win cash and other prizes during the season in addition to the main placement prizes.
Money has appeared in veto competitions, Head of Household competitions, Pandora’s Box, audience twists and standalone luxury competitions. Some seasons have handed out $5,000 or $10,000 prizes that a houseguest keeps even if they never reach the final two.
That is why “how much did this houseguest win?” and “what was the grand prize?” are not always the same question. A juror can leave with a stipend plus competition cash, while a finalist receives the much larger placement prize.
What about Celebrity Big Brother and the Big Brother spin-offs?
Celebrity Big Brother and the US spin-offs use their own prize structures and should not be mixed into the numbered Big Brother record.
- Celebrity Big Brother US: $250,000 to the winner.
- Big Brother: Over the Top: $250,000 to the winner.
- Big Brother Reindeer Games: $100,000 to the winner.
Those figures belong to different formats. They are not changes to the $750,000 grand prize used by the main US series.