Here’s how much our favourite fictional characters would actually earn

From Mad Men to Succession and Sex and the City, some of the biggest films and TV shows of all time centre around characters who work in the media.  

Following a staggering 165% increase in Google searches for the term “jobs in the media industry UK”, our team of PR and communications experts delve into how much fictional characters that work in the media would actually earn in real life.

From Carrie Bradshaw to Frasier Krane, we have calculated how much the characters spend every year and whether their income would support their fictional lifestyles². It turns out that characters that work in the fashion industry or have an obsession with clothes are more likely to be in debt than others that work in the media: 

Let’s break it down:

Carrie Bradshaw – Sex and the City

Salary: $72,568 

Living expenses: $163,632 

What’s leftover: -$91,064 

Considering Carrie Bradshaw’s obsession with designer shoes, it’s no surprise that the sex and dating columnist from Sex and the City is nearly $100,000 in debt. Taking into account Carrie’s job, where she works for a New York City newspaper as a columnist, Carrie earns around $72,568 a year. With this in mind, and considering her cost of living over the entire year ($163,632), Carrie spends way more than her annual income³. Carrie, maybe cut back on the shopping sprees, hun? 

Emily Cooper – Emily in Paris 

Salary: €60,000

Living expenses: €133,845 

What’s leftover: –$73,845 

Emily in Paris’s Emily Cooper, a social media strategist at a boutique marketing agency in Paris, earns around €60,000 a year. Regardless of her generous salary, her cost of living is €133,845,  which means Emily spends €73,845 over her annual income. That is, of course, taking into account her yearly expenditure on her designer wardrobe. It also doesn’t help that Emily lives in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Paris, a stone’s throw away from the Pantheon, a famous Parisian monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.  

Miranda Priestley – The Devil Wears Prada 

Salary: $80,000

Living expenses: $652,444

What’s leftover: -$572,444

Due to its top tier cast and iconic styling, The Devil Wears Prada is one of the most renowned comedy-dramas of the last 16 years. One of the film’s main characters and a powerful fashion editor of Runway Magazine, Miranda Priestly, earns a whopping $80,000 a year. Still, with her living expenses totalling $572,444, she is clearly living way beyond her means. Our research suggests it’s Miranda’s apartment rent that tips her living expenses over the edge, as she pays a staggering $624,000 on her 74th Street New York townhouse.

Kendall Roy – Succession 

Salary: $34,000,000

Living expenses: $1,414,300 

What’s leftover: $32,585,700 

As well as exposing the characters who work in the media who are in debt, we can also reveal those who are left with a hefty amount of cash, even after spending a significant amount on their yearly living expenses. Succession’s Kendall Roy, co-chief operating officer at media conglomerate Waystar Royco, is the highest earner out of the top 10 TV characters mentioned above. Kendall earns over $34,000,000 as CEO of Waystar Royco, but his living expenses don’t even touch the sides, and Kendall is still left with just over $30,000,000 a year to spend how he likes. 

Kat Edison – The Bold Type 

Salary: $80,000 

Living expenses: $57,288 

What’s leftover: $22,712

The Bold Type’s Kat Edison is a social media manager for a fashion magazine in New York City and earns a generous salary of $80,000. With a large salary, a rich family, and healthy spending habits ($57,288 a year on living expenses), Kat is left with over $22,000 every year to spend on whatever she likes; this works out at around $2,363 a month. 

Fraiser Crane – Fraiser 

Salary: $65,000 

Living expenses: $45,786 

What’s leftover:  $19,214 

Working as a radio presenter in Seattle, Fraisier Crane earns a hefty yearly salary of $65,000. Compared to New York, living expenses such as rent, travel costs, and food is a little bit cheaper – and this shows, with Frasier having nearly $20,000 of disposable income left over every year to spend on whatever he likes.  

Tony Johnson – After Life 

Salary: £35,000 

Living expenses: £25,314 

What’s leftover: £9,686 

Tony Johnson, the main character in After Life and local journalist for a UK newspaper, earns a respectable £35,000 a year. Considering Tony’s minimal living costs, such as rent, travel costs, food and dog care, the journalist is still left with nearly £10,000 a year to spend on whatever he likes. This amount of money is likely to go far with his mundane lifestyle.

Samantha Jones – Sex and the City 

Salary: $275,000 

Living expenses: $76,732 

What’s leftover:  $198,268

Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones works high up at a PR company in New York and earns a whopping $275,000 a year. Samantha lives in the Meat Packing District in New York, a renowned area for expensive apartments. With this in mind and considering her extra living expenses that rack up a total of $76,732, the PR pro is still left with $198,268 to spend on whatever she likes. Fancy lending us a few pennies, Samantha? 

Don Draper – Madmen 

Salary: $220,000

Living expenses: $52,189 

What’s leftover:  $167,811

Madmen’s Don Draper, a creative director at an advertising agency in Manhattan, New York, earns a substantial annual salary of $220,000. Even though Don Draper works in Manhattan, he lives in suburban Ossining with his family, which considerably brings his living expenses down. Compared to Don Draper’s bulky salary, his living expenses total a mere $52,189, which means he’s left with nearly $170,000 disposable income every year. 

Malcolm Tucker – The Thick of it 

Salary: £89,034

Living expenses: £29,315 

What’s leftover:  £59,719 

Working as Director of Communications for the Government in the TV show, The Thick of it, Malcolm Tucker earns a salary of nearly £90,000 a year. Considering his living expenses for the year, which come to a total of £29,315, Malcolm is still left with a comfortable £59,719 of disposable income every year. 

Choosing a career in the media industry 

It’s great to see such a huge spike in searches for media jobs in the UK. The likes of PR and journalism are really great industries to work in, and it’s great that some of the most famous TV shows and films centre around characters in these types of roles. 

With more and more people choosing a career in the media and opting for degrees in journalism, PR, and social media, we thought we’d provide some insight into how much you could potentially earn in different media roles. Of course, our research and calculations are based on fictional lifestyles, so if you choose to work as a social media strategist and you love buying new clothes, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be in debt, it just means you’ll look fashionable heading into the office!

If you’re looking to kickstart your career in the PR and communications industry, we have some positions available at Wild PR that might be of interest. Want to know more? Please visit:  https://wild-pr.co.uk/vacancies/ 

Sources:

1. Google Trends data for the search term “jobs in the media industry UK” correct as of February 2022
2. Study calculation = total cost of living expenses – average yearly salary
3. Study figures gathered by researching average living costs and yearly salaries according to the fictional character, their job and their lifestyle. Full list of sources can be found here.