Ellen Pompeo’s yearly Grey’s Anatomy salary is sparking debate
Topics: Grey's Anatomy, Celebrity, Entertainment, Money
Madison Burgess
Featured Image Credit: Anne Marie Fox. / Disney via Getty Images
Topics: Grey's Anatomy, Celebrity, Entertainment, Money
Grey’s Anatomy fans have been left divided after discovering what Ellen Pompeo’s annual salary is on the beloved TV show.
The 56-year-old American actress is synonymous with the Shondaland show, having fronted it as Dr. Meredith Grey since it began all the way back in 2005.
Since then, while other cast members have come and gone (including a lot of characters being killed off), Pompeo has remained as the titular character, more than two decades on.
Although she has taken a step back from her full-time on-screen role, she still maintains a significant presence on the show, appearing on screen for a few episodes per season and serving as an executive producer - and she has no plans to leave any time soon.
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She told El País last year that it would ‘make no sense, emotionally or financially’.
This is because the actress is raking in a whopping $20 million per year as of 2017, after she signed an industry-changing, landmark contract ahead of the 14th season of Grey's Anatomy.
As per E! News, she told the publication: “The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces.
Of I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn't make any money. To me, it doesn't make any sense that everybody [else] gets to profit off of my hard work. And emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show."
And in March 2025, during an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she elaborated on how she told Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes the figure she was planning to push for,
Pompeo said: "I said to her: 'I'm going to go in and ask for this much. Are you cool with that?'" she said. "[Rhimes] was like, 'Yeah, no one's going to give it to you. You have to ask for it.'"
“Women should always push the envelope. All anyone can say is no.
"The actress explained: “I became aware at a really early age that people with money had power. “I didn’t have any power as a young woman. And I didn’t like the way that felt.” “To be financially independent, to me, is what makes me the happiest and makes me feel the most free. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.”
“As a woman, I’m sure you know how freeing it feels to have financial independence. You don’t have to be with any man you don’t want to be with. For women, financial freedom is true independence.”
As mentioned, the high number has sparked conversations online, with some people praising the star and others surprised by the figure.
One X user penned: “I'd keep going too for US$20 million,” while a second added: “nowadays she's not even properly on the series with a salary like that. If it were me, I'd drag it out for the series to last forever.”
A third worked out: “For seven episodes, that's 3 million for each, meaning basically half a million per minute of screen time.”
While a fourth wrote: “$20M EVERY FREAKING YEAR, no wonder she’s not leaving lmaooo.”
And someone else pointed out: “She is also a producer of the series. And she records the narration for almost all episodes.”
While others chimed in with: “And it's because she barely shows up in these last seasons,” and “I wouldn't leave either, just narrate the series and pop up every now and then - dream job.”
Tyla has contacted a representative for Pompeo for comment.