How Much Money Porn Stars Really Make

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Ever wonder about pornstars earnings? Don’t worry. Plenty of people have thought the same. Some people are unsure as to whether this is a career you get into if you want to make a huge sum of cash, or one where you will be constantly struggling to make ends meet. That is what we want to talk about on this page.

It is worth noting that not everybody is going to be successful when it comes to porn. If you want to be successful, then you need to dedicate a lot of time to it. Some of the top porn stars are filming multiple scenes per week. It is all they do. It hampers with their life.

Many people getting into the business may struggle with just one or two scenes, and then they move on because the industry is not for them. In order to make the big bucks, you also need to be incredibly lucky. We are going to talk a little bit about this throughout the page.

Who Makes More – a Male or Female Actor?

In the vast, vast majority of cases, it is female actors that are going to be making the big bucks in the porn industry. The only way in which a man is taking home a healthy paycheck is if they are popular, or if they are starring in a lot of movies.

That being said, quality men in porn are difficult to get hold of. Most people would imagine that it is quite simple to pop a chubby when you are with a pretty lady. Most of the time, it is. However, now try and pop a chubby with cameras pointing at you, and maybe a dozen or so people. It isn’t so simple! If you are known for being able to perform on camera as a man, then you will likely be getting a lot of steady work.

It is worth noting that in some cases, men that do not perform well on camera (i.e. perform the money shot) will often not get paid for scenes that they star in. This is probably why many men drop out of the business pretty quickly. It is not a decent way for them to make an income.

So, why do women command so much cash in porn? Well, it is because people want to watch them a lot more. We bet that if you have a favorite porn star, it is probably a woman. Only a few male actors have gone onto having proper stardom. Most of the time, they are nothing but a background role.

At this point, we do want to point out that a female’s career in the porn industry will never last as long as a man’s career. This means a man is likely to make a lot more over the course of their career than a male.

How Much Money Does a Pro Actor Make in the USA?

• Most successful porn actors in the business will make somewhere between $800 and $1,000 per scene they star in.

A lot of this will be dependent on the type of scene being performed. This is something that we are going to discuss in a bit more depth shortly.

How Much Money Does a Pro Actor Make in Europe?

• The income for starring in European porn is a little bit lower. It errs closer to 500-Euros per scene. Although, there is less variation in the pay rates.

Part of the reason as to why porn pay is so low in Europe is because the industry really only thrives in certain areas. It isn’t due to strict legislation or anything, it is more that there is a limited market for certain types of porn. This can command a lower price as a result.

The market isn’t as competitive either. You do not have to work hard to try and get the best porn stars to act in your movies. This means that you need to throw less money at people to incentivize them to act for you.

The low pay rate is part of the reason as to why so many European porn stars end up heading to the United States to star in porn. Yes. The market is a lot more competitive, but if they do end up being successful with their acting, then they could take home a far more sizeable paycheck.

Average Porn Star Monthly Income/Salary

This is dependent on the porn star. According to stars, a female would be asked to star in about 100 scenes per year at the prime of her career (which will only be a few short years). This could make the average yearly income along the $100,000 a year mark. This works out at a little under $9,000 a month. However, this is ONLY going to be for the top performers.

There are a lot of people that would struggle to film more than one or two scenes per month. The business is not there. The internet is making potential income go down too. We reckon that, in recent years, this figure is probably far closer to $2,000 or so per month.

You must also remember that porn stars have a lot of expenses too. Their agency fees are quite high. This means that they need to be kissing goodbye to between 10 and 30% of their income. On top of this, they need twice-monthly STD tests, which brings the potential money they make down even further.

What Types of Scenes are the Highest Paid?

If it is male on female action and you are a female porn star, then you will get paid for more for this type of scene than if you were paired up with a woman. This is because heterosexual sex scenes pay more for women.

If you are a man and you have to bang another man, then you will probably get paid more for this than you would with a heterosexual sex scene, for obvious reasons.

If there is any sort of ‘extra’ thrown into the scene e.g. anal, double penetration etc. then the woman may be able to pick up a little bit of extra cash on top of things. Basically, the less ‘straight sex’ it is, the more somebody is going to end up being paid.

If you are a top porn star and you have starred in a particular type of scene before, then you may find that you will be able to get a slight bonus if you dive into it for the first time. For example; if it is the first time doing anal on camera, then you will probably get paid more for it.

Of course, if there is a little bit of acting involved (i.e. you have to perform from a script), then you will likely be paid even more for your services.

The Most Paid Porn Stars – Men and Women

In this section, we want to go through some of the highest paid porn stars in the business. Do bear in mind that a lot of this income will be unobtainable for the average porn star. This is because these people spent decades building up their porn empire.

Jenna Jameson

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If there is one porn star that has made more than anybody in the business, it would be Jenna Jameson. She has been kicking around for an exceedingly long time now. Although she doesn’t really star in porn as such now, she has made over $30-million across the course of her career.

Peter North

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This guy is worth $11-million. Now, he doesn’t star in much porn nowadays. In fact, the bulk of the people on this list no longer star in porn, but he is still very active in the porn industry. He regularly produces major porn movies through his production company. He has also said that he is more than happy to dive into porn again for the right price. This lad is probably one of the most recognizable men in the industry.

Traci Lords

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Putting aside the rather controversial start to her career, Traci Lords has certainly made it big. She has even starred in mainstream movies off of the back of the success of her porn career. By all accounts, she has a few million sitting in the bank, which isn’t too shabby.

Jesse Jane

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With $9-million in the bank, most of the income for Jesse has come from porn, plus selling her own sex toys. By all accounts, she also has her own alcohol range on the market too. This means that she has had to dabble in a lot of different areas to make her money!

Ron Jeremy

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Yes. We know he has been shunned by the porn industry due to his behavior, but Ron Jeremy still remains one of the most successful men in the business. He has starred and directed in more porn movies than any other male. This is probably why he has almost $10-million to his name.

Additional Income for Porn Stars

Of course, starring in porn movies will only account for a small fraction of pornstars earnings. In this increasingly competitive world, pornstars need to look to other areas to make a bit of extra income. Luckily, the internet has made this simpler than ever before.

It is not uncommon to find some top pornstars kicking about on some of the most popular cam sites. After all, many of these stars know that they have fans, and these fans are probably willing to throw a couple of extra bucks in their direction if they see them perform on a top cam website.

If you head to any major cam site, then you will find that they often focus heavily on porn stars that are streaming on their site. After all, this is how they make the vast majority of their income.

You may also find that certain pornstars have started to dabble in the world of selling videos and pictures. Sites such as OnlyFans have made this incredibly easy. In fact, we can barely think of a major pornstar that isn’t making at least a small amount of cash through platforms like this.

Many of the top porn stars in the world are able to claim top dollar for their extra content sold through these platforms too. After all, they already have a ton of fans that would really, really enjoy their content.

There will be a limited number of pornstars that will try and make a little bit of cash by operating phone sex lines. However, this is increasingly rare. This is because it does take up a whopping amount of time, and perhaps the best way for most people to make money is through one of the other methods where they can snap a couple of pictures and be done with it. it is a much, much more passive way of making some cash.

Finally; porn stars may also make a bit of extra cash with their premium social accounts. Think along the lines of Snapchat here. The porn star will sell the ability to be their friend on these platforms. If you are their friend (this will normally be through a monthly subscription service), then they will start to send content to you, much like you would receive content from any of your other friends on Snapchat.

Some of the porn stars may even talk to you, although do not expect this to happen with some of the largest pornstars in the world. If they talked to people on their Snapchat, they wouldn’t have much time for whatever else it is they do!

Conclusion

So, there you have it. You now have a ton of information on pornstars earnings. We have tried to ensure that this information is as ‘up to date’ as possible. However, do bear in mind that this is going to be impossible on occasion. The world of porn is everchanging. A few years ago, half of the income methods available to pornstars didn’t even exist (e.g. OnlyFans). Who knows how things are going to change going forward?