‘Big Brother,’ which airs its season 28 finale on Oct. 1, will give the winner thousands of dollars

NEED TO KNOW

• The Big Brother season 28 finale airs on Oct. 1
• Since season 23, the winners of Big Brother have been awarded $750,000
• However, the runner-up and America’s Favorite Houseguest also take home cash prizes

Another season of Big Brother has nearly wrapped — and a new winner will soon emerge.

The CBS competition reality series airs its season 28 finale on Oct 1. Contestants Taylor Brown, Drew Campbell and Rick Devens made it to the final three in the house, and one of them will be crowned the winner, taking home a six-figure grand prize.

When Big Brother first aired in 2000, the final houseguest took home $500,000. However, during the season 23 premiere in 2021, host Julie Chen Moonves announced that the prize money had increased to $750,000.

“We are adding a quarter of a million dollars to the grand prize,” she told the houseguests, per Gold Derby. “That’s right — the winner of Big Brother will receive $750,000. Soak it in.”

While the last houseguest naturally gets the biggest piece of the pie, they’re not the only contestants to earn cash during the reality show. Here’s everything to know about the Big Brother prize.

How much does the winner of Big Brother get?

Since 2021, Big Brother winners have taken home $750,000 — up from the half-million that earlier champions called life-changing.

“I remember I popped out of the chair when I saw my name on the last vote,” season 14 winner Ian Terry told Nerd Wallet in June 2018, per News 5 Cleveland. “Because it literally felt as if this giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”

Terry used his winnings to wipe out student loans, cover college tuition and buy a home and car. Other champions, like season 10’s Dan Gheesling, took a different approach, investing most of the prize and limiting splurges to practical purchases, like a condo down payment.

“I still work,” Gheesling told the outlet. “I still run a business every day. I’m not quote-unquote ‘rich.’ ”

When Ashley Hollis won season 27, she said she was “definitely not” going to spend the money.

“I’m going to live within my means, how I’ve been living this whole time,” Hollis told Entertainment Weekly after her win in September 2025. “I want to take my whole family on a trip. I’ll definitely give a good chunk of my money to my parents, just because they’ve given everything to me my entire life.”

She said she planned to save the rest of the money “and maybe buy a house in a few years and do all the adult grown-up things,” she told the outlet.

How much does the runner-up of Big Brother get?

Though the runner-up of Big Brother doesn’t get to walk away with close to $1 million, they don’t go home empty-handed. As of 2024, the second-place winner earns $75,000.

“The money is a bonus,” season 26 runner-up Makensy Manbeck told Parade in October 2024. “Absolutely, of course I’m going to miss out on 750k. But I did get $75,000, and I got a lot of self-worth in this process.”

Before season 23, the runner-up was awarded $50,000, per TV Insider.

How much does America’s Favorite Houseguest get?

In season 7, Big Brother introduced a third way for contestants to earn cash: America’s Favorite Houseguest. It was dubbed America’s Choice Jury Prize and was initially only handed out to jury members, according to TV Insider, but the series later expanded it to include all houseguests who competed.

America’s Favorite Houseguest is chosen by the fans who vote on the CBS website before the show’s live finale, where the winner is announced. The prize was initially $25,000, but it was upped to $50,000 in season 23.

How much do contestants get paid on Big Brother?

It’s not just the winners and fan-favorites who take home cash. Big Brother houseguests earn a weekly $1,000 stipend for as long as they’re filming.

“We’re paid a stipend per week,” season 19 contestant Elena Davies revealed on The Bachelorette alum Jason Tartick’s podcast Trading Secrets in July 2021. “$1,000 per week, [for] as long as you film. So if, like say you are the first person sent home and you only film six hours in the house, you get your thousand.”

Davies, who was evicted on day 68 before going to the jury house, said that because she “technically filmed the entire season,” she received the entire 13-week stipend.

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