Stripper Wages: How much money do strippers make?

In the current recession, there are hundreds of women who have turned to stripping to make ends meet for their families.  Despite the decrease in overall strip club attendance and spending, their new career wages are comparable to some very esteemed professions.

I get asked all the time, “How much money do strippers make?”  Well, it varies from a good night to a bad night, but suppose a stripper only averages $200/shift and she works 4x a week.  That is $800/week or $40k per year.  If she works 5x a week that is $1000/week or $50k per year.  When I first posted this article in the fall of 2007, most of the strippers I knew were averaging $500/shift, working 4 shifts a week, which translated to a 6 figure business.

Some strippers are still making that kind of money (the ones who have taken DancerWealth certainly are!) However most of the exotic dancer I know have taken a 20% or more hit to their profits due to the slowing economy.

I spent a good 2 hours researching the Bell Curve Statistics of Professional salaries.  If you are not a statistician, let me explain.  In this case the bell curve measures the distribution of salaries from the lowest 10th percentile, the middle 50th percentile, and the highest 90th percentile.  The bell curve measures data more accurately than an average does.  The average is a poor measurement of data because one very high or one very low number can completely skew your average.  (Snooze, snooze….I was a math teacher remember???)

All Figures are Given in Thousands of Dollars except M means Million.

I included baseball players because it cracks me up how these Minor League guys waltz into the Strip Club during Spring Training.  They love to tell the doorstaff that they should get in for free because they’re baseball players, and they think the girls should give them free dances because they’re baseball players.  The new girls eat it up because they think they’re sitting on the lap of the next Derek Jeter.  Uh….nope….homeboy is only making $2500 a month!! Also notice that even though the newspapers report that the average baseball salary is 2 million, most of that money is going to the top players like Bonds, Jeter, Sosa, etc.  The majority of the guys in the league are pulling $385K.  Not too shabby…but a far cry from the “average” 2 million.

What I found most depressing was the salaries for higher education.  Everyone knows public school teachers don’t make much money…but university professors aren’t far behind.  Look at the salary range for University Deans!  These are some of the brightest minds in the world…and they’re not making much more than a stripper?

It drives home the fact that EDUCATION does not equal MONEY anymore.  I wish I could change that equation but I can not.  Going to school, getting an advanced degree does not guarantee you a safe job with a pension, as many college grads are now finding out.

I am not saying that stripping is the solution for every attractive woman.  However, if you areconsidering becoming a stripper or want to make more money stripping, I can help.