Salaries in professional football: how much players earn by league and level
The public image of professional football is dominated by the salaries of Haaland (£525,000 per week), Salah (£400,000) or Mbappé. 0.1 % of the world's professional players. The vast majority of professional footballers earn much less than people imagine — and in the lower divisions, many supplement their salaries with other jobs.
Understanding how much you earn at each level is fundamental to making smart career decisions: what leagues you aim at, what offer to accept, when to jump abroad, and how to plan financially. In this article I present you real data on league salaries, by level, and by gender.
- Average wages in Europe's top leagues
- Salaries in second and third divisions
- Salaries in emerging leagues and minors
- Women's Football: Wages and Evolution
- What does a footballer live on besides salary?
- The average player's financial reality
Top Leagues of Europe: the real numbers
| League | Average annual salary | Average weekly wage | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League (England) | > 4,2 M | 80,000 | £20,000 - £525,000/week |
| The League (Spain) | > 2,3 M | 44,000 | €15,000 - €700,000/week |
| Bundesliga (Germany) | >= 1.8 M | 35,000 | €10,000 - €400,000/week |
| Series A (Italy) | > 1.7 M | -33.000 | €8,000 - €350,000/week |
| Ligue 1 (France) | 1 M | 19,000 | €5,000 - €400,000/week (PSG distorts average) |
| Saudi Pro League | Variable (very high for stars) | Variable | USD 20,000 - USD 4,000,000/week for stars |
Second and Third Divisions: The Reality of the Majority
| League/Level | Typical annual salary | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Championship 2nd English Division | £300,000 - £1,000,000 | Huge disparity: clubs that drop from Premier pay much more than the newly promoted. |
| League 2 (2nd Spanish division) | €100,000 - €400,000 | Big difference between historic clubs (with high budget) and small clubs. |
| 2. Bundesliga (2nd German division) | €200,000 - €600,000 | High competitive standard. Good quality of life in Germany. |
| League One/Two (3rd-4th English Division) | £50,000 - £200,000 | At League One, 41% of players work part time as coaches, referees or in sports trade. |
| National League Fifth English Division | £20,000 - £80,000 | Most of them are semi-professional, many of them have another job. |
| 1st RFEF / 2nd RFEF (3rd-4th Spanish division) | €20,000 - €80,000 | Semi-professional level. Many young players in development. |
Emerging Leagues and Alternative Markets
| League | Average weekly wage | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Eredivisie (Holland) | ~USD 15,000 | Young player development league. |
| MLS (USA) | ~$12,000 | Great disparity between designated players and the rest. Midsize of ~USD 350,000/year. |
| J-League (Japan) | ~USD 8,000 | Good infrastructure, modest but stable wages. |
| Brazileirão (Brazil) | ~USD 6,000 | Huge disparity between Flamengo/Palmeiras and minor clubs. |
| Professional League (Argentina) | Variable | Impacted by inflation and exchange rate. Big clubs pay in dollars; boys in pesos with low wages. |
| Scandinavian Leagues | €2,000 - €10,000 | Modest wages but good quality of life. Excellent as a gateway to Europe. |
Women's Football: Wages and Evolution
Professional women's football has experienced significant wage growth in recent years, driven by FIFA regulatory frameworks, new television agreements, and league professionalization.
Midsize: ~USD 85,000/year. Minimum: USD 40,000 (27% since 2025). 72% of teams offer health insurance and retirement plans. Women’s football league pays best.
The league with the highest wage growth: +41 % year-on-year. Top players earn £200,000+ per year. Growth is driven by equitable distribution of TV revenue.
Salaries in growth but significantly smaller than Anglo-Saxon leagues. The gap with male football is narrowed but still wide (the top players earn 38-44% of their male peers).
What does a footballer live on besides salary?
The base salary is only part of a professional player's income. Additional components may include:
Performance bonuses. Goles, assists, games played, classifications to European competitions, promotions, titles. In some contracts, bonuses can represent 20-40 % of total income.
Image rights. Clubs pay for the use of your image in merchandising, advertising and media. In big clubs, this can be a significant component of the contract.
Personal sponsorships. Sports brands (botines, clothes), local sponsors, commercial agreements. They are only relevant to players with media visibility.
Sign-up premiums. A single payment when signing a contract. More common in high-value transfers.
The average player's financial reality
- The average career of a professional footballer lasts 8-10 years. If you start at 20 and retire at 30, you have to live the next 50 years with what you saved in those 10.
- Taxes are charged between 40% and 55% of gross salary in most European countries. If your contract says €1 million per year, your net salary can be €500,000-€600,000.
- The staff member's commissions The industry standard is around 10% of your remuneration.
- Most professional players are NOT millionaires. A second division player who earns €200,000/gross year, after taxes and commissions, takes home ~100,000. It’s a good salary, but it’s not a fortune — and if he doesn’t save, he gets nothing at 32 years old.
- Financial planning is part of the trade. Players who finish their career without financial problems are the ones who started saving and investing from young people, not the ones who won the most.
Related articles
- Football player contracts: structure, clauses and common errors
- Football player's rights: everything the club won't tell you
- Image rights in football
- Commissions of football agents
- Playing football abroad: country guide by country
- Women's Football: Opportunities, Leagues and Regulation
This guide is based on data from Capology (season 2025-2026), Off The Pitch, PL Football (December 2025), FCV International Football Academy, WS FC7, GiveMeSport, SalarySport, and verified sources of leagues and players unions. Wages are approximations based on public data and can vary significantly between clubs within the same league. This guidance is informative and does not constitute financial advice.
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