Andy Bassich makes between $4,500 and $5,000 per episode of Life Below Zero, according to his reported annual earnings.
Life Below Zero documents the lives of several Alaskans as they do everything they can to survive in the remote sub-zero-degree Alaskan wilderness.
Andy Bassich is one of the main characters of the show and he reportedly makes about $100,000 annually from the show. This sustains him throughout the year along with his earnings from the Alaska Yukon Adventure survival school.
About the Life Below Zero cast
Life in a big city can have its challenges, but for the cast of National Geographic’s Life Below Zero, every day is a struggle to survive. The Alaskan wilderness is breathtakingly beautiful, but this does not make its weather any less unforgiving.
The Life Below Zero documentary series follows the lives of groups of Alaskan natives.
These include Sue Aikens, Chip, and Agnes Hailstone, Glenn Villeneuve, Jessie Holmes, Andy Bassich, Erik, and Martha Mae Salitan, and Ricko DeWilde as they hunt, barter, and try their best to survive the cold.
Life Below Zero: How much does Andy Bassich make per episode?
Life Below Zero has been on the air since 2013 and the beautiful snow-covered Alaskan landscapes make a beautiful backdrop for the show.
However, most fans tune in to see whether the cast will survive yet another day in these freezing temperatures, which regularly dip below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fortunately, one thing that does make extreme survival easier is having enough cash flow to purchase the necessities that you cannot hunt or create yourself.
The good thing is that Life Below Zero’s cast is not simply a group of people being filmed for the enjoyment of others. The cast actually gets paid for their appearance on the show.
Moreover, given the fact the Life Below Zero regularly brings in awards, like the Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award, which the show recently won in 2022, these appearance fees should be on the higher end of the docuseries spectrum.
National Geographic and the cast of Life Below Zero have never officially disclosed how much the cast members make per episode, but reports have surfaced that Andy Bassich makes about $100,000 annually from the show.
Since approximately 20 episodes of the show are released every year, this would bring Andy’s earnings per episode to about $5,000. This aligns with reports that surfaced in 2019 the cast earns around $4,500 per episode.
To add to this, Andy also runs a survival school where he teaches individuals and couples basic skills to survive in the Alaskan Wilderness. These class fees also contribute to his annual income and net worth.
How much does Andy earn from his survival school?
Andy’s survival school is called “Alaska Yukon Adventure” and he runs it with Denise, another Life Below Zero cast member.
The school provides classes for individuals, couples, and groups with personalised learning experiences and hands-on training in everything from Alaska bush skills and dog mushing to general survival skills.
Although Andy has not disclosed exactly how much he makes from this survival school, they do charge $2,500 a week for individuals and $2,000 per week for couples, which adds up over the course of a year.
What is Andy’s net worth?
Many of the Life Below Zero stars have additional streams of income in order to ensure that they have an income throughout the year.
With all of the money that Andy reportedly makes from the show and his revenue from the Alaska Yukon Adventure, Andy has a reported net worth of just over $250,000.
This should be enough to keep him and his 25 sled dogs going through quite a few Alaskan winters.
How does Andy’s earnings compare to those of the other cast members?
Andy is but one of many people braving the Alaskan winters featured on Life Below Zero. Although he has been featured in over 85 episodes of the show through the years, there are also many other fan-favourite characters that fans of the show tune in to watch.
Since National Geographic has not officially disclosed home much each cast member on the show earns annually, for obvious reasons, it can be difficult to determine whether some fan-favourite or long-running cast members are paid more than the others.
According to the cast’s reported earnings, Sue Aiken and Glenn Villeneuve are the top-earners of the show, with a $200,000 annual salary.
They are followed by Andy, Chip, and Agnes Hailstone who all make about $100,000 annually. However, Andy still has one of the highest reported net-worths, because of his survival school earnings.