It’s pretty common knowledge that professional athletes make a lot of money.

There’s no disputing that, especially with Patrick Mahomes signing a contract worth half a billion dollars this past offseason.

But sometimes it’s hard to fathom how much MORE money they make than an everyday person.

So we decided to compare those athletes’ massive salaries to an average worker’s in their hometown.

Let’s take a look.

Work 692 years

One of the top paid players in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes, will make $45 million this year just in salary. That doesn’t take into account all of the money from endorsements and other investments.

But even without the extra money, he will make 692 times more each year than an average Kansas City worker.

So to put that number in perspective, an average worker would have to work 692 years to make as much as Patrick Mahomes will make in one.

Combined, these 10 players will make $345 million dollars, or more than the GDP of Micronesia!

Every player on the top ten most paid are quarterbacks, with five players making over 500 times more than an average worker in their city.

Some of these players have brought Super Bowl glory to their teams, while others are fighting for a starting job next season.

2984x minimum wage

Once you take a look at how these salaries compare to the minimum wage, the wealth gap becomes extremely concerning.

Patrick Mahomes will make 2984 times more than someone making a minimum wage of about 15,000 per year.

So someone working minimum wage would have to start working from about 1000 B.C. to make as much as he does in one year. Then they would have to work until 5000 A.D to make it again.

Seven of those top players make 2000x per year more than the minimum wage. Even if their contracts were only for 5 or so years, they would still make more than someone on minimum wage would make in about 225 lifetimes!

Vs. The average players

Let’s be honest, not every NFL player is going to make $45 million dollars for 10 or more years.

In fact, most NFL players make about $880k per year, and their career lasts about 2.5 years on average.

Depending on the location, this is about 10-13x more than the average worker in their home city.

Additionally, every player in the NFL should make at least the league minimum of $660,000 per year, which is nothing to turn your nose at.

Some quick math shows us that they make about 10x more than an average worker does each year.

Even if those players’ careers only last 2.5 years, they will make about $1.65 million over that time. With the average salary being about $2.15 million over the same period.

For an average worker, it would take 20-30 years to make that same amount of money, depending on the city.

So if you want to be a millionaire, becoming an NFL player might be a good idea.

Sources