MLS payrolls by team, 2026
MLS has no salary cap like the NFL or NHL: each club has a salary budget, but its Designated Players (up to three) count against it for only part of their pay, and allocation money can buy down others. A club's actual payroll can therefore run far past the budget, hence the wide gaps between clubs.
Here is each club's payroll, the sum of its players' guaranteed compensation, and the detail by player: this season's guaranteed compensation and base salary.
- League total
- 625 M$
- Average per club
- 20.8 M$
- Median
- 20.4 M$
- Highest
- 54.6 M$
- Inter Miami CF
Guaranteed compensation for the 2026 season: base salary plus signing bonuses and other guaranteed money, annualized. Base salary alone follows; it is greyed out when it equals guaranteed compensation. Each player's share is of the club's payroll.
| Player | Pos | Guaranteed comp. | Base salary | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers · 1.1 M$ | ||||
| Yohei Takaoka | GK | 842 k$ | 773 k$ | 3.8 % |
| Isaac Boehmer | GK | 174 k$ | 165 k$ | 0.8 % |
| Adrián Zendejas | GK | 113 k$ | 113 k$ | 0.5 % |
| Center backs · 5.3 M$ | ||||
| Sam Adekugbe | D | 1.39 M$ | 1.30 M$ | 6.3 % |
| Mathías Laborda | D | 1.19 M$ | 1.05 M$ | 5.4 % |
| Tristan Blackmon | D | 975 k$ | 975 k$ | 4.4 % |
| Ranko Veselinović | D | 782 k$ | 715 k$ | 3.5 % |
| Édier Ocampo | D | 454 k$ | 400 k$ | 2.1 % |
| Belal Halbouni | D | 230 k$ | 204 k$ | 1 % |
| Mihail Gherasimencov | D | 98 k$ | 88 k$ | 0.4 % |
| Tate Johnson | D | 89 k$ | 88 k$ | 0.4 % |
| Nikola Djordjevic | D | 88 k$ | 88 k$ | 0.4 % |
| Central midfielders · 5.8 M$ | ||||
| Ryan Gauld | M | 3.68 M$ | 3.50 M$ | 16.7 % |
| Andrés Cubas | M | 1.15 M$ | 1.00 M$ | 5.2 % |
| Oliver Larraz | M | 497 k$ | 450 k$ | 2.3 % |
| Aziel Jackson | M | 404 k$ | 240 k$ | 1.8 % |
| Jeevan Badwal | M | 113 k$ | 113 k$ | 0.5 % |
| Strikers · 9.8 M$ | ||||
| Thomas Müller | F | 5.15 M$ | 5.00 M$ | 23.4 % |
| Cheick Tidiane Sabaly | F | 1.41 M$ | 1.11 M$ | 6.4 % |
| Emmanuel Sabbi | F | 1.17 M$ | 1.08 M$ | 5.3 % |
| Brian White | F | 1.07 M$ | 1.07 M$ | 4.8 % |
| Kenji Cabrera | F | 440 k$ | 400 k$ | 2 % |
| Bruno Caicedo | F | 430 k$ | 390 k$ | 2 % |
| Rayan Elloumi | F | 104 k$ | 88 k$ | 0.5 % |
| # | Team | Payroll | vs median | Players | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Inter Miami CF | 54.6 M$ | +34.2 M$ | 27 | |
| 2 |  LAFC | 32.6 M$ | +12.2 M$ | 30 | |
| 3 |  Atlanta United FC | 27.9 M$ | +7.5 M$ | 29 | |
| 4 |  LA Galaxy | 26.4 M$ | +6.0 M$ | 29 | |
| 5 |  Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 24.6 M$ | +4.2 M$ | 32 | |
| 6 |  San Diego FC | 24.4 M$ | +4.0 M$ | 29 | |
| 7 |  FC Cincinnati | 23.5 M$ | +3.1 M$ | 29 | |
| 8 |  Nashville SC | 23.0 M$ | +2.6 M$ | 30 | |
| 9 |  Columbus Crew | 22.3 M$ | +1.9 M$ | 31 | |
| 10 |  Chicago Fire FC | 21.7 M$ | +1.3 M$ | 31 | |
| 11 |  New York Red Bulls | 21.7 M$ | +1.2 M$ | 35 | |
| 12 |  New York City FC | 21.5 M$ | +1.1 M$ | 36 | |
| 13 |  Charlotte FC | 21.5 M$ | +1.1 M$ | 31 | |
| 14 |  Toronto FC | 21.4 M$ | +1.0 M$ | 29 | |
| 15 |  Houston Dynamo FC | 20.9 M$ | +0.5 M$ | 29 | |
| 16 |  Austin FC | 19.9 M$ | −0.5 M$ | 26 | |
| 17 |  New England Revolution | 19.4 M$ | −1.0 M$ | 30 | |
| 18 |  Seattle Sounders FC | 19.1 M$ | −1.3 M$ | 28 | |
| 19 |  St. Louis CITY SC | 18.8 M$ | −1.6 M$ | 30 | |
| 20 |  Portland Timbers | 18.5 M$ | −2.0 M$ | 26 | |
| 21 |  San Jose Earthquakes | 15.8 M$ | −4.6 M$ | 32 | |
| 22 |  Minnesota United FC | 15.6 M$ | −4.9 M$ | 34 | |
| 23 |  Real Salt Lake | 15.3 M$ | −5.1 M$ | 38 | |
| 24 |  D.C. United | 14.5 M$ | −5.9 M$ | 30 | |
| 25 |  FC Dallas | 14.5 M$ | −5.9 M$ | 36 | |
| 26 |  Colorado Rapids | 14.1 M$ | −6.3 M$ | 30 | |
| 27 |  Orlando City SC | 13.7 M$ | −6.7 M$ | 27 | |
| 28 |  CF Montréal | 13.4 M$ | −7.0 M$ | 31 | |
| 29 |  Sporting Kansas City | 12.4 M$ | −8.0 M$ | 24 | |
| 30 |  Philadelphia Union | 11.7 M$ | −8.7 M$ | 32 |
Updated regularly (last updated October 4, 2026). Payroll: the sum of guaranteed compensation for every player under first-team contract, annualized. Guaranteed compensation: base salary plus guaranteed bonuses, annualized; performance bonuses are not included. The league's salary budget, which counts only part of Designated Players' pay, is not shown.