In 2024, Inter Miami had the highest average player salary in Major League Soccer (MLS) at over *** million U.S. dollars per year. At the other end of the scale, the average player at CF Montreal earned just over ******* U.S. dollars per year. Major League Soccer is the highest division of professional soccer in the United States.

In 2022, the minimum annual salary for senior MLS players was ** thousand U.S. dollars, while reserve players earned a minimum of ****** U.S. dollars. Lorenzo Insigne, the highest-paid player in the MLS, earned approximately ********** U.S. dollars a year.

Lionel Messi was the highest-paid MLS player in 2025, earning over 20 million U.S. dollars per year. Toronto FC's Lorenzo Insigne ranked second, with a guaranteed annual income of over 15 million U.S. dollars.

In 2024, Inter Miami's total payroll amounted to approximately ***** million U.S. dollars, more than any other Major League Soccer (MLS) team. Meanwhile, CF Montreal's total wage bill for the same year came to roughly **** million U.S. dollars.

In 2024, Cristian Arango was Real Salt Lake's highest-paid player, earning around 2.1 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Diogo Gonçalves earned roughly 1.8 million U.S. dollars a year.

In 2025, Emil Forsberg was the New York Red Bull's highest-paid player, earning over six million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting earned around 3.5 million U.S. dollars per year.

Aleksey Miranchuk was Atlanta United's highest-paid player in 2024, earning around 3.7 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Stian Gregersen earned an annual salary of over 1.1 million U.S. dollars per year.

With each player taking home a handsome 8.32 million U.S. dollars every year, the NBA is the professional sports league with the highest player wages worldwide. In second place is the Indian Premier League, an annual cricket competition contested each year between eight franchises representing eight different Indian cities.

Big money in the NBA Although the wages that players in the NBA take home are astronomical, the average annual salaries vary from one team to another. Whilst the New York Knicks pay their players an average of 7.08 million U.S. dollars a year, Portland Trail Blazers spent around 10.04 million U.S. dollars annually on each of their stars in 2019/20. NBA salaries have tremendously increased throughout the years reaching 8.32 million U.S. dollars in 2019/20 compared to 4.6 million U.S. dollars in 2015/16.

In 2024, Los Angeles FC's highest-earning player was Olivier Giroud, who had an annual salary of almost 3.7 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Aaron Long earned just over 1.3 million U.S. dollars per year.

In 2024, Kévin Cabral was the Colorado Rapids' highest-paid player, earning nearly two million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Djordje Mihailovic earned over 1.6 million U.S. dollars a year.

Christian Benteke was DC United's highest-earning player in 2024, with an annual salary of around *** million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, former Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich earned around *** million U.S. dollars per year.

In 2024, Mikael Uhre was Philadelphia Union's highest-paid player, earning over two million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Dániel Gazdag earned around 1.8 million U.S. dollars per year.

Luis Muriel was Orlando City's highest-paid player in 2024, earning over 4.3 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Facundo Torres earned just over 1.8 millions U.S. dollars a year.

In 2024, Carles Gil was the New England Revolution's highest earner, with an annual salary of around *** million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Giacomo Vrioni earned over *** million dollars per year.

In 2024, Minnesota United's highest-paid player was former Norwich forward Teemu Pukki, who earned roughly 3.6 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Robin Lod earned over 1.6 million U.S. dollars per year.

In 2024, Jonathan Rodríguez was the Portland Timbers' highest-paid player, earning over 2.6 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Evander da Silva Ferreira's annual compensation amounted to around 2.4 million U.S. dollars.

Hugo Cuypers was the Chicago Fire's highest earner in 2024, receiving over 3.5 million U.S. dollars a year. Meanwhile, Gastón Giménez earned over 1.6 million U.S, dollars that year.

In 2024, Hany Mukhtar was Nashville SC's highest earner, with an annual salary of 5.2 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Walker Zimmerman earned approximately 3.5 million U.S. dollars per year.

Lionel Messi was Inter Miami's highest-paid player in 2025, earning over 20 million U.S. dollars per year. Meanwhile, Messi's former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets earned around 8.8 million U.S. dollars per year.

Christian Espinoza was the San Jose Earthquakes' highest-earning player in 2024, with an annual salary of over two million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Carlos Gruezo earned nearly 1.7 million U.S. dollars per year.