These queens made some serious coin on 'Drag Race,' henny!
Over the years, the cash tips on RuPaul's Drag Race and All Stars have increased significantly. This has benefitted queens who often spend thousands of dollars to get their looks together in preparation for the show.
At this point in Drag Race herstory, winning a maxi challenge during a regular, flagship season comes with a reward of $5,000. There are also occasional mini-challenges worth $2,500.
On All Stars, winning a maxi challenge and its subsequent lip sync for your legacy results in a tip of $10,000. And since the introduction of the Lip Sync Assassin format, those cash tips occasionally roll over from week to week. During certain seasons, queens have made $20,000 or even $30,000 from rolled-over cash tips.
Flagship seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, as well as All Stars, have both maintained the had the grand prize of $100,000 that was first established in season 4. Almost a full decade later, season 14 slightly increased the Drag Race grand prize to $150,000.
That season 14 increase was followed by All Stars 7, the highly-anticipated "all-winners" season, which had its grand prize set to $200,000 for the title holder of Queen of All Queens. That season also introduced a now-frequent "second-tier" title winner who goes on to win a cash prize of $50,000. So far, that lower-tier category has been presented as the Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses on All Stars 7, the Queen of the Fame Games on All Stars 8, and the Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown in season 16.
With so many new seasons scheduled for 2024 and beyond, it's time to break down the top 10 highest-earning queens in RuPaul's Drag Race herstory!
10. Jaida Essence Hall – $127,000
Drag Race season 12 was plagued by the global lockdown and the controversies surrounding a disqualified contestant. But against all odds, Jaida Essence Hall still came through in the competition and made some pretty coin during her time on the show. In her original season, Jaida made $15,000 from three maxi challenge wins ($5,000 each). At the finale, she then won the $100,000 grand prize and received a cash tip worth $2,000 from Pantene.
A few years later, the Essence of Beauty herself competed on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 7 and earned $10,000 from a legacy lip sync win. Adding it all up, Jaida made $127,000 on the show.
8-9. Alaska – $130,000
Alaska also didn't make any money in season 5 but cashed in a lovely $130,000 on All Stars 2. Considering that All Stars 2 aired back in 2016 — and most of the other top earners come from more recent seasons — Alaska reigned as the highest-earning Drag Race queen for a few years. Her total earnings combine the $100,000 grand prize plus $30,000 from three maxi challenge and lip sync wins.
Some fans will remember that Alaska won four maxi challenges on All Stars 2. However, her third win happened during an episode where the eliminated queens had a chance to come back, which meant that the lip sync for your legacy was between Alyssa Edwards and Tatianna instead.
8-9. Trinity The Tuck — $130,000
Trinity The Tuck made $120,000 from the show while competing on All Stars 4. Her earnings came from winning two maxi challenges and their subsequent lip syncs (worth $10,000 each), plus the grand prize of $100,000, of course!
Over the years, Trinity came out as trans and nonbinary, and also was cast in the first-ever all-winners season of Drag Race. Throughout All Stars 7, she earned $10,000 from one lip sync win. The math shows that the All Stars 4 "twinner" has cashed in $130,000 on RuPaul's Drag Race.
7. Raja — $135,000
Raja received a grand prize of $75,000 after winning Drag Race season 3. She turned out to be the last Drag Race winner to not win the long-standing $100,000 prize that was established in season 4 and remained the exact same up until season 14. Over a decade later, the OG fashion queen came back to compete on the all-winners All Stars 7 season, where she made $10,000 from one lip sync win.
In the end, Raja also won the Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses lip sync smackdown. Along with that title, Raja also earned a cash prize of $50,000. After crunching all the numbers, Raja has made $135,000 from competing on RuPaul's Drag Race twice.
6. Shea Couleé — $150,000
After not winning any money on Drag Race season 9, Shea Couleé came out swinging for All Stars 5 and obliterated her competitors. Aside from winning the $100,000 that came with her All Stars crown, Shea also earned $30,000 from two maxi challenge and lip sync wins, totaling $130,000 altogether.
On All Stars 7, Shea repeated her track record of winning every lip sync she was in. Throughout the all-winners season, she won two maxi challenges and won both of those lip syncs for her legacy. As a result, Shea earned $20,000 from two lip sync wins on All Stars 7. In total, Shea has made $150,000 from her three appearances on Drag Race.
5. Willow Pill — $159,500
Season 14 winner Willow Pill is among the highest-earning queens in Drag Race herstory. Producers announced that the grand prize had been increased to $150,000 just one week before the grand finale of Drag Race season 14 — a significant increase from the annual $100,000 that had been awarded to winners since the fourth season of the flagship series.
Besides making $150,000 for winning Drag Race, Willow also earned a few cash tips over the course of the season. Willow made $5,000 from a maxi challenge win, $2,500 from a mini challenge win, and $2,000 from the grand finale tip sponsored by Olay, which added up to $159,500.
4. Nymphia Wind — $218,250
Nymphia Wind reportedly made $218,250 as a result of her victories throughout season 16 of Drag Race.
Let's break it down: Nymphia made $11,250 from winning three maxi challenges, and also earned $5,000 from winning two mini challenge. She, along with the entire cast of season 16, were all tipped $2,000 by Olay during the finale. Nymphia was then crowned America's Next Drag Superstar and granted the $200,000 grand prize.
3. Sasha Colby — $222,000
The legendary Sasha Colby cashed in a grand prize of $200,000 after being crowned America's Next Drag Superstar in season 15. She was the first winner of a U.S. flagship season to receive that amount of money as the grand prize.
Over the course of season 15, Sasha also earned $20,000 from winning four maxi challenges ($5,000 each) and received a $2,000 cash tip from Olay at the finale. Altogether, Sasha made a gag-worthy $222,000 during her flawless Drag Race journey.
2. Jimbo — $230,000
Even though Jimbo had already competed in the first seasons of Canada's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs. the World, she didn't actually make any money during those first two seasons. Thankfully, things were very different on All Stars 8 and Jimbo was able to get compensated for her accomplishments.
Besides the $200,000 grand prize for winning All Stars 8, Jimbo also cashed in a total of $30,000 throughout the competition. $10,000 came from winning a lip sync for your legacy (against Silky Nutmeg Ganache), and $20,000 were earned by winning a total of four maxi challenges ($5,000 cash tip for each win). The math lands on Jimbo cashing in a total of $230,000 during All Stars 8.
1. Jinkx Monsoon — $332,500
Jinkx Monsoon made $100,000 when she won RuPaul's Drag Race season 5. She then returned for the all-winners edition of All Stars 7 and was crowned the Queen of All Queens, taking home a record-breaking grand prize of $200,000.
Jinkx also made quite a few dollars over the course of All Stars 7. For instance, she earned a cash tip of $2,500 for winning the reading challenge and won three lip syncs worth $10,000 each. Between the her original run in season 5 and her comeback story arc on All Stars 7, Jinkx has earned $332,500 from her two times competing on Drag Race.