Exactly How Much Money Was Howard Earning in The Big Bang Theory?
Fans always wonder why Howard struggled with money problems despite his lucrative job.
The CBS series The Big Bang Theory was one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved sitcoms of its era, proving that even the weirdest characters can become fan favorites with the right character development.
All of the main characters, except Penny, hold fairly important scientist positions that earn them quite a bit of income compared to other famous sitcom characters, but for some reason all of them, including Howard Wolowitz, lead fairly modest lifestyles.
Here's how much Howard actually earned from his job.
Howard was a fairly successful aerospace engineer, which, however, did not quite fit his lifestyle, as he repeatedly complained about his financial situation.
The average median salary of an aerospace engineer in the US is around $100,000, which makes Howard quite wealthy. So why he didn't save a lot of money while living in his mother's flat?
Firstly, Howard, like the other characters in The Big Bang Theory, lives in Los Angeles, a notoriously very expansive city, so his daily expenses must have been enormous.
Secondly, his mother didn't work at all, so Howard was probably paying her monthly rent and helping his mother out financially.
This alone practically wiped out most of his wages, but Howard also spent a lot of money on his hobbies.
Throughout the series it was emphasized that Howard spent huge amounts of money on collectibles and video games, making sure he could buy anything he wanted.
It seems that Howard was very bad at saving money and saw his monthly salary as an opportunity to buy something interesting and visit a strip club, where, according to Raj, one of the poles was named after him.
So, when Howard finally moved out of his mother's house and started living alone, his financial situation was precarious, to say the least.
Fortunately, he found Bernadette, a research pharmacist with an annual salary of about $200,000, and the two of them became quite a strong couple, making a lot of money for the family budget.