Explore the salaries of the top WNBA players and discover who is the highest paid player in the league. Learn more about the biggest WNBA contracts and average salaries.
The WNBA has exploded in popularity in recent years, with emerging stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese joining the likes of A’ja Wilson among the best players in the WNBA.
Despite the increase in viewership when it comes to the women’s game, there remains a sizeable salary gap between the WNBA and the NBA.
Nevertheless, the extra exposure for the league and a $2.2 billion media rights deal signed in 2024 should bode well for higher WNBA pay in the future
So, how much do WNBA players make, and who are the players with the highest WNBA salaries? Here, we reveal the top 10.
Highest paid WNBA players
1. Jackie Young
Jackie Young is currently the highest paid player in the WNBA. The Las Vegas Aces shooting guard signed a two-year extension worth $504,900 in 2024, with her average annual value of $252,450 becoming the highest WNBA salary.
Young was the first overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft and is a two-time champion, having won back-to-back titles with the Aces in 2022 and 2023.
2. Kelsey Mitchell
Kelsey Mitchell is the second-highest paid WNBA player due to a 1-year, $249,244 contract extension the guard signed in 2025 free agency.
Mitchell was drafted with the second overall pick in 2018 by the Indiana Fever – who are among the favourites in the basketball odds to win the WNBA title – and has spent her entire WNBA career with the franchise. She is due to be a free agent at the end of the 2025 season.
3. Jewell Lloyd
Another Las Vegas Aces player, Jewell Lloyd, features among the top WNBA salaries, ranking third on the list. Also a No. 1 pick from the 2015 WNBA Draft, Lloyd played the first 10 years of her career with the Seattle Storm before being traded to the Aces before the 2025 season.
The 31-year-old signed a two-year, $491,016 contract with Seattle before being traded, and her $245,508 average annual salary is the third-highest in the WNBA.
4. Kahleah Copper
Next on the list is Kahleah Copper, the Phoenix Mercury wing who is currently playing on the second year of a two-year, $490,118 contract she signed before the 2024 season, with an average annual salary of $245,059.
Copper is in her 10th WNBA season after beginning her career with the Washington Mystics before playing for the Chicago Sky for seven seasons. She’s due to be a free agent at the end of the current season.
5. Arike Ogunbowale
In the fifth spot is Arike Ogunbowale, a four-time WNBA All-Star who was drafted with the No. 5 overall pick by the Dallas Wings in 2019.
Ogunbowale is currently in the final year of a three-year, $725,952 extension she signed with the Dallas Wings in 2023, with an average annual salary of $241,984. Ogunbowale’s three-year deal is actually the biggest WNBA contract by total value.
6. Gabby Williams
Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams has the sixth-highest salary in the WNBA, as she’s playing on a one-year, $225,000 contract she signed with the team before the 2025 season.
The 28-year-old power forward was drafted by the Chicago Sky in 2018 and spent the first three seasons of her career with the team before being traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in 2021, and then to the Storm in 2022.
T7. Alyssa Thomas
Two players are tied for seventh on the list, with an annual salary of $215,000. The first is Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, who signed a one-year qualifying offer of that value before the 2025 season.
A perennial WNBA All-Star, Thomas is in her first year with the Mercury after being traded to Phoenix by the Connecticut Sun, with whom she spent the first 11 years of her career.
T7. Satou Sabally
Tied with Thomas’ $215,000 salary is her Phoenix Mercury team-mate, Satou Sabally, who signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Wings before the 2025 season.
She was traded to the Mercury in February 2025 as part of the four-team deal that also sent Thomas to Phoenix.
T9. Brittney Griner
Brittney Griner is one of the most famous WNBA players ever and is paid accordingly, with one-year, $214,466 contract ranking inside the top 10 among WNBA salaries.
Currently the tallest WNBA player at 6ft 9in, Griner is in her first year with the Atlanta Dream after playing 11 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. She is a six-time WNBA All-Star and was drafted first overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft.
T9. Brionna Jones
Griner’s Atlanta Dream team-mate Brionna Jones is also currently playing on a one-year, $214,466 contract that she signed before the 2025 season.
Jones is a three-time WNBA All-Star who played for the Connecticut Sun for the first eight years of her career.
T9. Natasha Howard
Rounding out the list is Natasha Howard, who has a one-year, $214,466 contract with the Indiana Fever, tied with Griner and Jones.
A 12-year WNBA veteran, Howard was drafted by Indiana in 2014 and has played in Minnesota, Seattle, New York and Dallas before rejoining the Fever before the 2025 season.
Who is the highest paid WNBA player of all time?
In terms of total career earnings, Skylar Diggins-Smith is the higest paid WNBA player ever. The 34-year-old Seattle Storm guard is a 10-year WNBA veteran and is in the second-year of a two-year, $422,685 contract which pays her $214,466 in 2025, taking her total career WNBA earnings to $1,779,385.
