Does the cast of 60 Days In get paid?

On 60 Days In, the stakes are always high considering that if the contestants are sniffed out as undercover moles and they don’t tip off the producers and camera crews with their secret code words or hand signals, they could really be in danger. So you’d think they actually make a little money doing it. Alas, that’s really not the case. 

While A&E doesn’t disclose the participants’ salary for the duration of the show, someone who claimed they “used to work in reality TV” broke down some numbers for curious fans on Reddit. The user wrote that the budget for a one hour A&E show is about $375,000, noting that, after production costs, participants probably get paid somewhere around $3,000 per episode. So it’s not like they are spending 60 days in jail for free — but it’s not like they’re winning the lottery, either. 

As per the News & Tribune, the jails where the show films really make some money. Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, for example, told the outlet that he received about $60,000 from the network as payment for allowing the show to be filmed in the jail. Noel said, “[The money] will go to training and equipment actually for the jail, so anything that we do that can approve the jail operations.” 

The series also reimburses jail staff for any extra time they have to work due to filming.

Written by: Nicki