Minor league baseball is where big-league dreams are built, but the paychecks are a world away from the majors. After years of criticism and a 2023 agreement that finally put minor leaguers under a collective bargaining agreement, pay has risen sharply and players are now paid nearly year-round. Here is what a minor leaguer actually makes in 2026, level by level.
2026 Minor League Pay by Level
These are the 2026 weekly minimum salaries for each level of affiliated minor league baseball. Players earn these salaries during the championship season.
| Level | 2026 weekly minimum |
|---|---|
| Complex / Rookie | $710 |
| Single-A (Low-A) | $885 |
| High-A | $935 |
| Double-A | $1,040 |
| Triple-A | $1,250 |
What That Adds Up To in a Year
Most minor leaguers playing in the U.S. earn somewhere between $18,000 and $44,000 per year once everything is counted. A Rookie-level player at the minimum lands near the bottom of that range, while a Triple-A veteran on a bigger contract sits at the top. The reason the annual number is higher than the weekly rate alone is that players are now paid for far more of the calendar than they used to be.
It Is Not Just the Weekly Check
Since the 2023 CBA, minor leaguers get paid for nearly year-round work, a big change from 2019 when they were only paid in-season. On top of the season salary, teams pay about $660 per week during spring training and for required offseason training (or roughly $260 per week if a player trains at home). Clubs also provide rent-free furnished housing during spring training, the regular season and required offseason work, plus two nutritious meals a day at the facility. Those benefits meaningfully raise the real value of a minor league deal.
Why Minor Leaguers Make So Much Less Than the Majors
The gap is enormous. The 2026 Major League minimum salary is roughly $780,000, more than 30 times what a Rookie-ball player earns for a season. The minors are a development system: clubs carry hundreds of players across several levels, and only a fraction reach the majors. The recent raises and the CBA have narrowed the worst of the gap, but minor league pay remains modest by design.
More From Our Money Series
Curious what the people running the games earn? See what sports officials make across the major leagues, and our breakdown of how much MLB umpires make.
