The three major unions for actors that negotiate minimum salaries are the Screen Actor's Guild (or SAG), the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (also known as AFTRA) and the Actors Equity Association, sometimes called just Equity.
Payscale.com notes the following annual salaries for actors according to area of work (as of 2009):
Professional stage actor/actress--$38,369
Movie and film actor/actress--$98,264
Broadway actor/actress--$62,500
TV and soap opera actor/actress--$130,000
The minimum weekly salary in 2009 for an Equity performer on Broadway is $1,611, between $2,000 and $5,000 for a SAG-affiliated film performer and $4,000 for an AFTRA performer.
Under other contracts (known as schedules) actors can be paid as much as $50,000 for a movie or $30,000 for a television episode.
SAG members earn $126 per eight-hour day for motion picture work for non-speaking, or "extra" roles.
For this same work, AFTRA pays $146 per hour of work on a soap opera or a network variety show.
The vast majority of actors in the United States are non-union and work for little or no pay.
Non-union actors generally make the best salaries on national theater tours. Companies such as the Periwinkle Theater for Youth employs actors at $400 weekly for such tours.