Sofia Vergara Is The Biggest Female Money-Maker On Television

published 4 September 2014

Sofia Vergara has been named television's highest-paid actress.

The Modern Family star has topped this year's Forbes list for the third consecutive year, after earning $37 million (£22.5m) between June 2013 and June 2014.

Although she earns a reported $325,000 (£200,000) per episode in the ABC sitcom, most of her earnings come from endorsement deals such as with Diet Pepsi, CoverGirl, Head & Shoulders and AT&T.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actress Mariska Hargitay ranked a distant second with $13 million.

The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting was third with $11 million, ahead of Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife), Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy) and Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) with $10 million.

The top 14 in full:

1. Sofia Vergara - $37 million
2. Mariska Hargitay - $13 million
3. Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting - $11 million
4= Julianna Margulies, Ellen Pompeo, Cobie Smulders - $10 million
7. Alyson Hannigan - $9.5 million
8. Amy Poehler - $7 million
9. Mindy Kaling - $6.5 million
10= Kerry Washington, Zooey Deschanel, Courteney Cox - $6 million
13. Claire Danes - $5 million
14. Lena Dunham - $3.5 million