The main characters of Friends had different jobs in different areas, and although they sometimes struggled to get money, they always found something, but out of all of them, who would earn more in the real world? The comparison between each of the characters and their respective careers, closes some of the important plots of the series throughout its seasons.
Friends followed the lives of a group of six young adults in New York City who did their best every day to balance their social, personal, and professional lives, while dealing with everything that adulthood threw at them. All of the main characters on Friends struggled with their jobs at some point and had money problems, which has raised the question of which character would earn the most in real life.
One of the most incredible aspects of Friends, and one that fans have pointed out for years, was how they were able to afford those apartments by having the jobs that they had. Although many have now confirmed that they would not have been able to afford the apartments and lifestyle they had, it is interesting to look at their individual cases to see who might come closest to affording it.
According to a report by Mentalfloss regarding salaries in the United States, Monica (Courteney Cox), for example, is the one who closes the list as head chef and the one who could earn the least money in her career. Next up is Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), whose “musical career” would make more money than Monica, though that’s not counting her work as a masseuse. Then comes Chandler (Matthew Perry), who at the end of Friends was working in the advertising world as a copywriter, followed by Rachel’s work in the fashion world.
The first two of this interesting list are curious. Ross (David Schwimmer), doesn’t have a well-known job, but as a paleontologist he would earn much more than his colleagues, and last but not least, at the top of the list is Joey (Matt LeBlanc), as his different acting roles would give him the success necessary to be the character with the most money.
Of course, this information and numbers don’t really affect the arcs of the main Friends characters, but it’s a fun comparison between real life and their own little universe. The funny thing is how the character who wrestled the most (Joey) would end up earning the most, and one of the characters with the most stable career (Monica) ended up earning the least.
