The NBA and WNBA are the two top leagues for basketball in the United States for men and women, respectively. In the NBA, players took home an average annual salary of over 12 million U.S. dollars for the 2023/24 season, with the league's minimum salary set at 1.16 million U.S. dollars that year. In comparison, players in the WNBA received an average annual pay of 119.59 thousand U.S. dollars, with the highest-earning players in the WNBA receiving around 252 thousand U.S. dollars annually.

During the 2024 season, the team with the highest average annual player salary in the U.S. Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) was the Connecticut Sun with 139.89 thousand U.S. dollars. The Sun reached the semi-finals in the WNBA Playoffs in the previous year, being beaten by the New York Liberty.

During the 2024 season, Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces had the highest salary among players in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) with over 252 thousand U.S. dollars. In second place was Seattle Storm guard Jewel Loyd with 245.51 thousand U.S. dollars. How much do WNBA rookies earn? In the lead up to the 2024 WNBA season, one of the most pressing issues surrounding the league was the pay structure. The catalyst for this was the drafting of college basketball superstar Caitlin Clark as the No. 1 pick. Despite coming into the league as the all-time leading NCAA scorer, and potentially being the biggest draw to the league in the coming years, the WNBA's rookie salary scale dictates that Clark's base salary in her first year in the WNBA would only be a fraction of the top earners. Although Clark is likely to bolster her earnings through sponsorship deals, the league's salary structure is unlikely to change before the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires in 2027.
How much are men’s National Basketball Association (NBA) players paid? Compared to the top earners in the women’s league, the picture in the men's league is a little different. Some of the highest-paid male professional basketball players take home eye-watering amounts each year. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers currently sits at the top of the pile, earning 47.6 million U.S. dollars in the 2023/24 season for his appearances in the NBA, on top of a further 70 million U.S. dollars' worth of endorsements. Overall, average annual salaries in the NBA are much higher than in the WNBA. On average, NBA players took home more than 10 million U.S. dollars in 2023/24, while WNBA players earned roughly 116 thousand U.S. dollars in 2023.

Basketball is a commonly watched sport both in the United States and worldwide. The WNBA is an American professional women's basketball league established in 1996 and owned by the NBA. The regular season takes place in summer from May to August and the play-offs in September. WNBA has gained significant popularity over years, making it the highest paid women league worldwide. In 2019, the WNBA's average annual salary reached 75.18 thousand U.S. dollars per player and total salaries approximated to 10.83 million U.S. dollars.

For the 2024 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the minimum salary for players with three or more years of service in the league totaled around 77 thousand U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, those who had either no WNBA playing experience or less than three years in the league were entitled to at least 64 thousand U.S. dollars in payment. Player salaries in the WNBA are determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which is negotiated between the league and the players union (Women's National Basketball Players Association). The last CBA was concluded in January 2020 and set the league's salary structure for seasons through to 2027.

Founded in 1996, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league composed of 12 teams from the United States. The Indiana Fever registered the highest average attendance across the 2023 season with 17,036. That season, the Fever secured the services of college basketball sensation Caitlin Clark, who went on to break a series of rookie and all-time records. One such record was the number of assists made in a single WNBA game. Player salaries in the WNBA Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces was the highest earner in the WNBA in the 2024 season, having earned an annual salary of 252 thousand U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, looking at the average annual salaries in the WNBA vs. the NBA, the average WNBA player took home around 120 thousand U.S. dollars at the end of the year, which was nearly 100 times lower than the average NBA player salary. WNBA league records Since the opening season in 1997, former and current WNBA players have been setting high standards and surpassing old ones throughout the course of the competition. Sue Bird was the career games leader of the WNBA, having played 580 professional games prior to her retirement in 2022. Meanwhile, the WNBA's all-time scoring leader was Diana Taurasi, who began her career with the Phoenix Mercury in 2004. Overall, three WNBA teams held the record for most WNBA championships during the history of the league, all winning four championships apiece.

The statistic shows the average women's professional sports player salary by league in 2017/18. The WNBA had an average player salary of 74.76 thousand U.S. dollars for the 2017 season.