This is our fourth week analyzing the salaries of your favorite TV show characters. Be sure to check out our previous posts which looked at the wages of characters on FOX, CBS, and ABC. This week we will be taking a look at how much the characters of NBC bring in every year working hard at many different jobs. Though the salaries are nowhere near what the actors who play these awesome characters are making, these salaries are still pretty high paying. Some of the careers on NBC shows include a firefighter candidate on the drama Chicago Fire, a Sergeant of an Intelligence Unit on Chicago P.D., and a Regional Director of the National Park Service on Parks and Recreation, and the salaries that some of these characters have definitely may surprise you!
Elizabeth Keen (The Blacklist), FBI Special Agent
Elizabeth Keen is probably one of the busiest TV show characters on air right now. She works with criminal Raymond “Red” Reddington trying to catch the most evil villains causing harm to United States citizens on the NBC drama The Blacklist. Keen has only been a FBI Special Agent for a short period of time. If we are going to analyze her salary, we would check out pay rates for this position on the low end. Entry level agents in Washington D.C. make $55,000 per year. This is close to the average median household income in the United States. Once she has been in her career for a few more years, she could be making a six figure salary.
Leslie Knope (Parks and Recreation), Regional Director of National Park Service
Leslie Knope is a TV show character that has been making us laugh for seven seasons on Parks and Recreation. The only thing she loves more than America and politics is her co-workers and husband, who she worked with at the Parks Department in Pawnee, Indiana. Her hard work paid off and she was promoted to Regional Director of the National Park Service covering the area of Indiana and the surrounding states. People that fill this role make around $70,000 per year. This salary plus Ben Wyatt’s as the City Manager will be helpful in the raising of triplets and eventually sending three kids to college at the same time.
Gabriela Dawson (Chicago Fire), Fire Fighter Candidate
Gabriela Dawson is a TV show character that recently changed jobs. During the first two seasons of Chicago Fire, Dawson spent her time as a paramedic saving lives on the streets of Chicago. When she was a paramedic, Dawson was raking in $54,000 per year. When she decided to become a firefighter, she may not have realized that she would be taking a pay cut to do so. First year firefighters, also known as Candidates, make $40,000 per year in the city of Chicago. However, once she becomes a seasoned veteran she could making up to $85,000 per year, which is a lot more than the salary of a paramedic.
Hank Voight (Chicago PD), Chicago Police Department Sergeant
When we were first introduced to the TV show character Hank Voight, we thought he was bad news. He was trying to destroy Matt Casey’s life on Chicago Fire after he turned his son in for drunk driving and causing an accident. Hank Voight then moved over to Chicago P.D. and runs the Intelligence Unit with the help of Erin Lindsay and Jay Halstead. Running a Department for the Chicago Police is not an easy task, so it would be safe to assume the people taking on these duties would be paid handsomely to do so, right? The average salary for a Sergeant in Chicago can bring home over $70,000 per year.
Olivia Benson (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), New York City Police Department Sergeant
Over in New York City, Olivia Benson is doing the same thing as Hank Voight is doing in Chicago. She is the Sergeant for the Special Victims Unit. She recently took on this role after Captain Cragen retired from the team. Prior to that, the TV show character Olivia Benson was patrolling the streets as a Detective. Sergeants in New York City, on average, make more than Sergeants in the Chicago area. Benson brings homes $78,000 per year, which will be very helpful in raising baby Noah. College tuition will not be cheap in the 2030’s when the little boy will be old enough to attend New York University. Maybe he will even follow in his mother’s footsteps and study criminal justice.
David Walton (About a Boy), Songwriter
About a Boy is a TV series that is based off the 2002 film that starred Hugh Grant and Toni Collette. The TV series is set in San Francisco, California and stars David Walton as Will Freeman, the character played by Grant in the movie. Will Freeman spends his days as a successful songwriter. He was able to write one very popular song. Because of this, he does not have to worry about working because he can still pay the bills without writing any more songs. Since his song was such a hit, Walton would have received mechanical royalties, performance royalties, and synchronization royalties. Those three type of royalties combined have made Walton a millionaire.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal), Forensic Psychiatrist
When Dr. Hannibal Lecter is not killing people and then eating their flesh, he spends his time as a Forensic Psychiatrist. This TV Show character is based off the character from the novel Red Dragon written by Thomas Harris in 1981. The novel was first turned into the movie Manhunter in 1986 with Brian Cox taking on the role of Dr. Lecter. Then the movie was remade in 2002 with the same title as the book with Sir Anthony Hopkins playing the role of Dr. Lecter as he had in the two previous films. Dr. Lecter brings home around $170,000 per year, which is plenty of money to afford healthy food so he can stop chewing on human flesh.
Which salary from your favorite NBC TV show character are you most surprised about learning? Let us know in the comments section below.
Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
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