Mariska Hargitay Makes 6 Figures From Each Law & Order Episode

Detective Benson isn’t living on cop paychecks anymore.

With more than two decades as Detective Olivia Benson, Mariska Hargitay‘s SVU salary is in the hundreds of thousands. But how much does she make per episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit? Spoiler alert: Her salary is much, much bigger than we expected.

Hargitay made her debut as Detective Benson (now Commander Benson) on Law & Order: SVU, a spinoff of Law & Order, in September 1999.  The show followed Detective Benson and her partner, Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), as they worked in the Special Victims Unit in a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department. Meloni starred in the series for 12 seasons until he left in May 2011. Hargitay remains in the series.