‘Teen Mom’: How Much Money Do Jenelle Evans, Chelsea Houska, Others Make? A Lot, Or Not Much, Actually
How much money do the stars of the Teen Mom franchise make? Some of them make quite a bit, actually — at least, depending on your definition of “quite a bit.”
As InTouch Weekly reports, the members of the extensive Teen Mom family, like just about all reality TV stars, are bound by tight confidentiality contracts, which means that they can’t talk publicly about how much dough they’re raking in. However, you can tell just from watching the show that some of them are getting some pretty generous checks — you can see as the show progresses how the stars have bought better accommodations, better cars, and have even had “some work done” (a polite way of saying “plastic surgery”).
Thanks to some digging around by the InTouch Weekly staff, it’s possible to get a general idea of how much the stars are making. Perhaps not surprisingly, they don’t all make the same amount.
Here is a list of the Teen Mom stars and their estimated wealth, from poorest to richest.
Briana DeJesus
Compared to her co-stars, Briana is downright poor. By most estimates, she’s only making about $20,000 per season. After taxes, she doesn’t even have enough left to buy a decent used car.
Maci Bookout
Maci, similarly, doesn’t appear to be making much at all. In her book, Bulletproof, she says that she still shops at Wal-Mart.
“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. 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.”
Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra
Each of them has made enough money to buy their moms new cars and, in what may be the weirdest gift ever given from one sibling to another, Tyler paid for his sister to get “a boob job.”
Jenelle Evans
Depending on whom you ask, Jenelle is either making a pittance or she’s making quite a bit.
Speaking to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, radio station WKZL, Jenelle hinted that she’s made about half a million from the show. However, another source, speaking to Radar Online, suggested that her salary is far more modest, although it includes “perks.”
“Jenelle gets paid $75,000 a year and her mom gets paid $65,000: she calls her an overpaid babysitter. She also gets a lot of gift cards to places like The Olive Garden from MTV as a bonus payment.”
So there you have it: $75,000 a year, plus Olive Garden gift cards. Of course, $75,000 is a pittance in, say, Southern California. But in North Carolina, where Jenelle lives, it’s decent money.
Chelsea Houska
Compared to Jenelle, Chelsea is making bank. Her ex, Adam Lind, claimed that she was making about a quarter of a million per season.
Amber Portwood
Back in 2011, the Today show reported that not unlike Chelsea, Amber is making something in the quarter-million-per-year range.
Kailyn Lowry
Like her colleague, Chelsea, Kailyn is rumored to be pulling in about $300,000 per season, give or take. And like her colleague, Farrah Abraham, Kailyn has other side-hustles going on, including endorsement deals and a podcast.
Farrah Abraham
Farrah is, by far, the richest member of the Teen Mom extended family — but most of her cash hasn’t come directly from the show that’s made her famous. It’s come from sequels and spinoffs, like Couples Therapy,Single AF, and so on, as well as her multiple side-hustles, such as her partnership with CamSoda. Estimates indicate that she’s made about three and a half million since hitting the big time.
