WNBA Salaries 2026: Max, Minimum & Average Pay (New CBA)

In 2026, the WNBA minimum salary is $270,000. Last year's supermax was $249,244. Every player in the league now earns more than the best contract available twelve months ago.

That is the headline number from the new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement ratified on March 22, 2026, and it is only the beginning. The 2026 WNBA salary cap jumps to $7 million, the average player salary rises to $583,000, and for the first time in league history, the top players can sign contracts worth more than $1 million. After 17 months of negotiations, here is a complete breakdown of every salary tier, the new rookie scale, and what the new CBA means for every player in the league.

The WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association ratified a landmark seven-year CBA on March 22, 2026. The deal runs through 2032 with an opt-out after 2031 and projects more than $1 billion in total player compensation over its lifetime.

Here is every number you need to know:

The Salary Cap: From $1.5M to $7M in One Season

The most structurally significant change in the new CBA is how the salary cap is calculated. Under the previous agreement, the cap was a fixed number that increased by a flat 3% annually. Under the new deal, the cap is tied directly to league and team revenue which means: as the WNBA grows, the cap grows with it.

In 2026, the salary cap is set at $7 million per team, up from $1.5 million in 2025. That is a 367% increase in a single offseason. For context: the entire 2025 WNBA team cap was lower than what a fringe NBA player earns on a minimum deal.

By 2032, the league projects the cap to reach $11 million, provided revenue growth continues on its current trajectory. The cap can adjust a maximum of 10% in either direction each year, with a larger window of 13% allowed after the first season.

Supermax and Veteran Max: The First Million-Dollar Contracts

For the first time in WNBA history, players can sign contracts worth more than $1 million. The supermax, available to players who have won an MVP award, is set at $1.4 million for 2026, representing 20% of the salary cap. The veteran max, for elite players who have earned All-WNBA First or Second Team honors, sits at approximately $1.19 million (17.5% of cap).

Both figures are expected to scale with revenue. By 2032, the league projects the supermax could exceed $2.4 million based on current financial models.

Who qualifies for the supermax? Players who have won an MVP award. Currently, that list includes A'ja Wilson (three-time MVP) and Breanna Stewart, among others. Napheesa Collier, who was instrumental in the WNBPA's negotiating committee, is also expected to earn a supermax-level deal.

Who qualifies for the veteran max? Players who have earned All-WNBA First or Second Team recognition without winning an MVP. This tier is the broadest category for elite veterans and will include a significant portion of the league's established stars.

The Minimum Salary: The Real Story of This CBA

The star salary increases generate headlines, but the minimum salary story is where this CBA is most transformational. Before the new deal, the minimum salary for a first-year player was $66,079. Many veterans, including some who had been in the league for several seasons, were earning less than $90,000.

Under the new CBA, minimum salaries range from $270,000 to $300,000 in 2026 based on years of service, rising to between $340,000 and $380,000 by 2032. Every WNBA player, regardless of draft position or years in the league, will now earn a salary that clears what the best players in the league made just 12 months ago.

This matters because the WNBA has always had an unusually wide gap between its star salaries and its floor. That gap didn't just limit earnings, it forced the majority of the league's players to seek overseas contracts during the offseason to supplement their income, often risking injury and shortening careers. The new minimum addresses that structural problem directly.

The 2026 Rookie Salary Scale

The new CBA establishes a completely restructured rookie contract scale. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft will earn $500,000, nearly six times what Paige Bueckers earned when she was taken first overall last year. Salaries scale down from there based on draft position, but every first-round rookie will earn at least $289,133, which already exceeds last year's supermax.

All existing rookie-scale contracts have also been adjusted upward. Players on active rookie deals, including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and Paige Bueckers, will have their remaining contract years recalculated under the new scale.

The EPIC Provision: How Rookies Can Fast-Track to Max Deals

One of the most significant elements of the new CBA is a mechanism called EPIC: Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract. It creates an accelerated pathway for high-performing rookies to reach max-level salaries before their rookie deal expires.

How it works: If a player on a rookie contract earns All-WNBA First or Second Team honors, they become eligible to renegotiate the fourth year of their rookie deal and sign a three-year extension at the max rate. Win MVP on a rookie deal, and they qualify for a supermax extension.

Caitlin Clark as a case study: Clark made the All-WNBA team as a rookie in 2024. Under EPIC, she is eligible for a max deal in 2027. With a strong 2026 season, she could sign a supermax extension by 2028. Her 2026 salary, adjusted under the new CBA, is projected at $530,000, up from the $85,973 she would have earned under the old deal.

EPIC effectively eliminates the situation where a player's market value wildly exceeds their contractual salary for years at a time. It is the mechanism that gives the new CBA teeth for players who outperform their rookie deal immediately.

Revenue Sharing: The Engine Behind Every Number

Every salary figure above is technically a floor, not a ceiling. That is because the new CBA includes the first comprehensive revenue-sharing model in women's professional sports history. For the first time, WNBA players receive approximately 20% of gross league and team revenues, which means that every number in this article is expected to grow as the league grows.

Under the previous CBA, salary caps were fixed numbers set in advance. A team could have a record-breaking revenue year and player salaries would not change. The new structure eliminates that disconnect. As the WNBA adds teams: Portland and Toronto begin play in 2026, Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030) to follow, and as media rights valuations increase, the revenue pool players draw from expands automatically.

Beyond the Paycheck: What Else the CBA Delivers

Charter air travel: Codified for the first time, with first-class accommodations across all league events. The charter commitment alone is projected to cost over $300 million over the life of the deal.

Housing: League-provided housing for all players through 2028, and for players earning $500,000 or less through 2030.

Award bonuses, fully restructured: Championship players receive $60,000 (up from $22,908). MVP earns $60,000 (up from $15,000). Defensive Player of the Year earns $30,000. Rookie of the Year earns $15,000. All-WNBA First Team earns $30,000. All bonuses scale with the cap starting in 2027.

Life insurance: Benefits raised to more than $700,000 per player.

Retirement: Increased team contributions to 401K accounts and a one-time payment of $100,000 for retired players with 12 or more years of service.

Pregnancy protections: Pregnant players receive a de facto no-trade clause, and salary cap exceptions are created for injured or pregnant players.

Roster expansion: Minimum roster size increases to 12 players, plus two developmental roster spots that do not count against the cap.

Season length: Up to 50 games in 2027-28, and 52 games from 2029-2032, up from 44 in 2026.

The Bottom Line

This is not a salary story. It is a structural story.

The old CBA set fixed numbers and called them progress. The new CBA builds a self-escalating engine, one tied directly to the league's revenue, meaning every number published today is a minimum, not a maximum. As the WNBA's media rights deals mature, as five new franchises come online, and as viewership records continue to be broken, the salary figures in this article will look modest by the time the deal expires in 2032.

The clearest proof of that? Just days after the CBA was signed, the Connecticut Sun sold for $300 million. Franchise owners are not paying that price for the league as it is today, they are paying it for what they believe it becomes. The new salary structure is the players finally getting a seat at the same table.

The league's 30th season tips off May 8. For the first time in its history, every player suiting up will earn a salary that reflects the value of the product they have built.

Frequently Asked Questions: WNBA Salaries 2026

What is the maximum WNBA salary in 2026? The maximum WNBA salary in 2026 is $1.4 million, available to players who have won a league MVP award (supermax). Players who have earned All-WNBA First or Second Team honors without an MVP qualify for the veteran max, which is approximately $1.19 million.

What is the minimum WNBA salary in 2026? The minimum WNBA salary in 2026 ranges from $270,000 to $300,000 depending on years of service. This is a dramatic increase from the 2025 minimum of $66,079, and notably higher than last year's supermax of $249,244.

What is the average WNBA salary in 2026? The average WNBA salary in 2026 is approximately $583,000, up from roughly $120,000 in 2025. By the end of the seven-year CBA in 2032, average salaries are projected to exceed $1 million annually.

What is the WNBA salary cap in 2026? The WNBA team salary cap for 2026 is $7 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025, a 367% increase in a single season. The cap is tied to league revenue and is projected to reach $11 million by 2032.

How much does the No. 1 WNBA draft pick make in 2026? The No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft earns $500,000 in base salary. The full four-year rookie contract is valued at approximately $2.2 million.

How much will Caitlin Clark make in 2026? Caitlin Clark is projected to earn $530,000 in 2026, up from $78,066 in 2025. Her salary was adjusted under the new CBA's EPIC provision, which recalculates existing rookie deals upward. Because she earned All-WNBA honors as a rookie, she is also eligible for a max contract extension in 2027.

What is the EPIC provision in the WNBA CBA? EPIC stands for Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract. It allows rookie-scale players who earn All-WNBA First or Second Team honors to renegotiate into a max deal, or MVP winners into a supermax deal, before their rookie contract expires. It is designed to eliminate the gap between a player's market value and their contractual salary.

How much do WNBA players make compared to NBA players? The NBA minimum salary in 2025-26 is approximately $1.1 million, still higher than the new WNBA maximum of $1.4 million. However, the gap has narrowed significantly. The previous WNBA supermax was $249,244; the NBA minimum has exceeded that for years. The new CBA is the first meaningful step toward closing that disparity.

Sources: WNBA/WNBPA Term Sheet (March 21, 2026), ESPN, Sportico, CBS Sports, RotoWire, Yahoo Sports, CNN, Cronkite News. Veteran salary projections are estimates: free agency finalized April 2026.