Coco Gauff is the world’s highest-paid female athlete, earning an estimated $33 million in 2025, according to Forbes. She tops a list of the highest-paid female athletes dominated by tennis, with seven players from the sport in the top 10.
Last updated: 8 October 2026. This guide uses the latest full-year earnings lists, which cover 2025. We will update it when the new lists arrive in December 2026.
But the story behind the highest-paid female athletes is about more than prize money. Most of their income comes from sponsors, not competition. Here is who earns the most, how they do it, and how women’s sport is closing the gap.
The Top 10 Highest-Paid Female Athletes
Forbes ranks athletes by total earnings over a calendar year. The table below shows the 2025 figures, split into money earned in competition (on the field) and money from sponsors and business (off the field).
| Rank | Athlete | Sport | Total | On the field | Off the field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coco Gauff (USA) | Tennis | $33m | $8m | $25m |
| 2 | Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) | Tennis | $30m | $15m | $15m |
| 3 | Iga Świątek (Poland) | Tennis | $25.1m | $10.1m | $15m |
| 4 | Eileen Gu (China) | Freestyle skiing | $23.1m | $0.1m | $23m |
| 5 | Zheng Qinwen (China) | Tennis | $22.6m | $1.6m | $21m |
| 6 | Madison Keys (USA) | Tennis | $13.4m | $4.4m | $9m |
| 7 | Nelly Korda (USA) | Golf | $13m | $3m | $10m |
| =8 | Naomi Osaka (Japan) | Tennis | $12.5m | $2.5m | $10m |
| =8 | Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) | Tennis | $12.5m | $8.5m | $4m |
| 10 | Jessica Pegula (USA) | Tennis | $12.3m | $5.3m | $7m |
Source: Forbes, 2025 calendar-year earnings. Figures are estimates in US dollars.
Who Made Places 11 to 20?
The second half of the Forbes top 20 shows just how varied women’s sport has become. Basketball, golf, athletics, skiing and rugby all feature:
- 11. Caitlin Clark (basketball): $12.1m
- 12. Amanda Anisimova (tennis): $11.3m
- 13. Sabrina Ionescu (basketball): $10.5m
- 14. Jeeno Thitikul (golf): $10.3m
- 15. Angel Reese (basketball): $9.4m
- 16. Paige Bueckers (basketball): $9.1m
- 17. Jasmine Paolini (tennis): $8.3m
- =18. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (athletics): $8.2m
- =18. Lindsey Vonn (skiing): $8.2m
- 20. Ilona Maher (rugby sevens): $8.1m
Ilona Maher’s place is a sign of how social media is changing the game. The rugby sevens star built a huge online following, and brands followed.
Why Tennis Dominates the Highest-Paid Female Athletes List
Tennis has dominated these lists for decades. In 2019, every woman in the Forbes top 11 played tennis. In 2025, the sport still filled 10 of the top 20 places, Forbes reported.
Why? There are two big reasons. First, tennis is a truly global sport, so stars attract sponsors from every continent. Second, the four Grand Slams pay men and women the same prize money.
However, that equal pay took decades to win. The US Open led the way in 1973, followed by the Australian Open in 2001, Roland Garros in 2006 and Wimbledon in 2007, Tennis.com reported. In 2026, the US Open handed each singles champion a record $5.5 million, NBC reported.
Elena Rybakina, who won that US Open title, shows the difference prize money makes. You can read how she did it in our report on Rybakina’s US Open win.
How the Highest-Paid Female Athletes Make Their Money
Above all, here is the most striking fact on the list. Roughly 72% of the top women’s earnings came from off-field deals, Forbes found. For the top men, it was the other way round, with about 71% coming from salaries and prize money.
For example, Gauff earns most of her money off the court. She earned about $8 million from tennis and around $25 million from brands. Her sponsors trust her to reach young fans worldwide, and she has topped the Forbes list two years running.
Eileen Gu takes this even further. The Olympic freestyle skier earned only around $100,000 in prize money, yet still banked an estimated $23 million from sponsors, Forbes reported. Her fame across both the USA and China makes her a marketing dream.
Basketball’s Big Breakthrough
Women’s basketball now has a strong presence on these lists. Caitlin Clark earned an estimated $12.1 million in 2025, just outside the Forbes top 10. Sabrina Ionescu ($10.5m), Angel Reese ($9.4m) and Paige Bueckers ($9.1m) also made the top 20.
Almost all of that money came from sponsors. Clark’s WNBA base salary in 2025 was just $78,066, according to the University at Buffalo Law sports forum.
However, that is now changing fast. The new WNBA deal agreed in March 2026 raised the salary cap from $1.5 million to $7 million per team. It also lifted the maximum salary to $1.4 million and the average to about $583,000, the WNBA said.
Want to know more about Reese’s rise? Read our full profile: Angel Reese: Height, Stats, Records and Career.
Forbes vs Sportico: Why the Numbers Differ
In fact, two major lists track women’s earnings, and they rarely agree exactly. Sportico also ranks Gauff first, with $31 million, and gives her the top spot for a third straight year, the WTA reported.
The biggest gap concerns Clark. Sportico puts her 2025 earnings at $16.1 million, placing her sixth, while Forbes estimates $12.1 million, Sports Illustrated noted.
In addition, the rules differ. Forbes left out Simone Biles because she had not competed since the Paris Olympics. Sportico included her, with $11 million from sponsors alone, Tennis Now reported. Both lists rely on estimates, so treat every figure as a guide rather than an exact number.
The Gap Between Men and Women
Women’s earnings are rising, but the gap with men remains huge. The Forbes top 20 women earned a combined $293 million in 2025, up 13% on the year before. The top 20 men earned more than $2.3 billion, about eight times as much.
No woman made the Forbes top 50 for all athletes in 2026. The cut-off for that list was $54.6 million, and Gauff fell more than $20 million short. The last woman to make it was Serena Williams in 2023, Forbes reported.
Even so, the trend is positive. The entry point for the women’s top 20 rose from $6.3 million to $8.1 million in a year, and 14 women earned more than $10 million. Deloitte expects elite women’s sport to generate around $3 billion in revenue in 2026. For more on the pay debate, read our guide to how much women footballers earn.
Football’s Top Earners
No footballer made the Forbes top 20, but salaries are climbing. In January 2026, Trinity Rodman signed a three-year deal with the Washington Spirit reportedly worth more than $2 million a year, making her the best-paid player in the women’s game, beIN Sports reported.
In England, the Women’s Super League does not publish salaries. However, minimum full-time wages were introduced for the 2025–26 season, Inside World Football reported.
African Stars and the Highest-Paid Female Athletes List
Unfortunately, no African woman appears on either list. That does not mean Africa lacks stars, but reliable earnings data is hard to find.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur has earned more than $14.3 million in career prize money, according to the WTA. Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon also earns well from prize money and bonuses, including $70,000 for a world title and $100,000 for a world record at the 2025 World Championships, People Daily reported.
Meanwhile, many websites publish “net worth” figures for stars such as Tobi Amusan and Asisat Oshoala. However, these estimates usually lack any clear source, so we have left them out.
Who Could Join the Highest-Paid Female Athletes in 2026?
The next lists will cover 2026 earnings, and some big changes are likely. Here are three trends to watch.
Bigger WNBA Salaries
Under the new deal, WNBA salaries jumped sharply in 2026. Clark’s salary rose to about $530,000 and Bueckers’ to $499,200, the University at Buffalo Law sports forum reported. That is still small beside their sponsor income, but it helps basketball players climb the list.
Record Tennis Prize Money
Prize money keeps rising at the Grand Slams. In 2026, the Australian Open paid A$4.15 million to each singles champion, Wimbledon paid £3.6 million and the US Open paid $5.5 million. Players who win big titles, such as Rybakina, could earn far more on the court than before.
New Stars, New Markets
Players from fast-growing markets, such as China’s Zheng Qinwen, can attract huge sponsorship deals. In Africa, rising athletes could follow if more brands invest in the continent’s sport.
How the Highest-Paid Female Athletes Rankings Are Worked Out
Forbes counts prize money, salaries and bonuses as on-field earnings. Off-field earnings include sponsorships, appearance fees, licensing and business income, estimated through industry sources. Taxes and agents’ fees are not deducted.
As a result, the figures are estimates, which is why Forbes and Sportico sometimes differ by a few million dollars. Even so, both lists agree on the big picture: tennis leads, sponsors pay most, and basketball is rising fast.
Highest-Paid Female Athletes: Quick Answers
Who is the highest-paid female athlete in the world?
Coco Gauff, with estimated earnings of $33 million in 2025, according to Forbes. Sportico also ranks her first.
Who is the highest-paid female footballer?
Trinity Rodman, after signing a deal reportedly worth more than $2 million a year with the Washington Spirit in 2026.
Is any woman in the top 50 highest-paid athletes overall?
No. For the third year running, no woman made the Forbes top 50 for all athletes.
Have Your Say
Which athlete do you think deserves a bigger payday? Share your view in the comments, and bookmark this page, because we will update the rankings when the 2026 earnings lists are published in December.
