Kenan Thompson is the highest paid SNL cast member, earning an estimated $2–3 million per year, far surpassing Will Ferrell’s historic $367,500 yearly salary from over two decades ago.

Who is the highest paid SNL cast member? The highest-paid current cast member on SNL is undoubtedly Kenan Thompson, who has been on the show a record-setting 21 seasons (since 2003). For context, the next-longest run was by Darrell Hammond, who acted on SNL for 14 seasons from 1995 to 2009.

Currently, there are five cast members who make $25,000 per episode on SNL. These are Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Kyle Mooney, Colin Jost, and Kate McKinnon. Thompson also holds the record for the longest-running member of the show. He's starred in a total of 18 seasons since 2003.