Ever wonder how much strippers actually make and where the money goes?

43 comments

• Clubber

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  15 years ago

  jj, My original post, "jj, A self portrait?" was posted when you still had that picture up. When you asked, "Clubber- a self portait....what do you mean?", I replied, "jj, I was speaking of the tongue on the cock. :)" Hope that clears it up, and I have no use for pictures.
• gk

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  15 years ago

  I had a very good dancer friend who made well over $100K per year during the peak of her career. At her club she ws the top earner and I doubt if anyhone did as well as she did. Now we're talking midwest major regional market, not a big metropolis or resort destination where I'm sure big money is not only possible, it's more the norm. But that is also a factor of how many dancers an establishment keeps on a staff. I'm convinced that most successful clubs like to manage outcomes, that is, keep dancers from getting too heady (no pun intended) about success and money by manipulating supply (dancers) thus dilluting income. I know some dancers who live very well. But I know more dancers who just eak out a living from moment to moment. And by living in "the moment" they often have difficulty making long-term decisions about their money.
• judyjudy

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  15 years ago

  Clubber- you need to say how you really feel.......you never know you just might get what you ask for............ you never asked me what my fantasy is...............who know it might just fit in.....
• steve229

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  15 years ago

  No matter how much they make, they all seem to drive crappy looking cars. Maybe that's more a function of bad/no credit?
• Clubber

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  15 years ago

  jj, A self portrait?
• Clubber

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  15 years ago

  steve, I think some dancers can afford nice cars, but would you want yours parked with a bunch of drunks coming in and out of a parking lot in their cars all evening?
• chandler

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  15 years ago

  Actually, many strippers themselves have only a vague idea of how much they make. They keep track of their earnings only intermittently, and by the time they do, they've spent much of it without recording what went out (As if!) Their guess is probably no better than ours.
• Dougster

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  15 years ago

  Depends on the economy. During the height of the dot com boom even the fuglies could score $200k/y no problem. Rumors exist of girls even scoring in the $400-500k/y range back then. Then during the sub prime boom thing got ridiculous again, top girls probably making around $100-150k/year. Things dried up pretty quickly after that and $75k was considered good, these days, no idea, but very few are making seriously good money no matter how much they bring to the table.
• Dougster

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  15 years ago

  As for what they spend it on, very few save anything at all. Knew stripper who indicated to me she had made over $1 million, but at the end of it couldn't even afford to buy herself an averagish car. A very, very smallish percentage do save. Some bought several houses. Even with the real estate bust they still made alot of money just for bouncing around on guy's dicks. The stereotypes are true: most of the money is spent on drugs, deadbeat boyfriends, clothing, trips, partying, and screaming babies.
• minnow

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  15 years ago

  Yes, and yes, though don't dwell on it that much. There were 2 polls on "pink site" (circa 2007-2008), one on how much they made, and one on how many shifts(nights/days)/wk. they danced/stripped. Median annual income was in $40-$50K range, median nights/wk. was 3-4. I vaguely recall ~ 10% of respondents indicating that they made >$100K, in other threads, many dancers have had shifts over $1K, though not always on consistent basis.
• gatorfan

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  15 years ago

  Good point about comparing the good year(s) and now. TB- local jack joint around me is interesting, the club is mostly immigrants and some americans I'd guess would meet your description of drugs, babys, etc. I still think there is alot of burning cash but I've heard how the immigrants send the money back home to help family, etc. In current economic conditions, I'd probably guess minnows figures of $50K might be a fair estimate. I've heard girls making $1000 a 7 hour day before but I'd guess that was the exception and $200-$300 a day was probably more realistic. Dougster- Do you believe the girl who said she made a million? I know believing anything a stripper says is breaking a cardinal rule, but did it seem even plausible or more like a line of BS?
• custom101

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  15 years ago

  I guess it also depends on whether they receive income "off the clock" with OTB's, private parties, escorting, and such. If you include that stuff, I would say that it is very possible and plausible that the top girls in the right clubs clear over 100k. Throw in that they probably have guys buy them clothes and gifts, there are probably a few girls that can live "lavish" lifestyles during the peak of their careers. A million dollar dancing girl could have been achieved and still can be achieved. If the girl kept herself in great shape, has been doing it for 15 or more years, and earned above average dancer pay with some exceptional years thrown in. However, the majority of girls do not have the ability to consisently break into the 100k club.
• potheadpl

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  15 years ago

  Let's not forget to factor in the expense of douchebag loser boyfriends. Those have to be expensive. I overheard one girl on the phone asking her boyfriend if she'd earned enough money to come home yet. LOL
• Clubber

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  15 years ago

  I can only report on one I know for a fact, my ATF. She made a lot of money (exact count, no idea), so much so that she only danced a few years and "retired". Now she has a condo on the beach, drives her Porsche, and lives on investments. She did no drugs or drink and lived in public housing, so most everything she made, she saved. A smart one, she is!
• samsung1

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  15 years ago

  One dancer I talked to said she makes $400 on her average days. However, on that particular day she was complaining because it was already 9 pm and she only had made $150 and was there for 6 hours already. (Her house fee is $50 and $10 tip out and the club is upscale). She is not even that hot and spends a lot of her time going out to the smoker's patio for breaks. No T&A at all on her. And her dancers were mostly just air and she was so skinny that her bony ass hurts when she grinds. I can't imagine her getting a lot of repeat customers even though she said most of her business comes from repeat regulars. I also remember being at closing time at Tuscl_bro's jackjoint a couple months ago and the dancer was receiving her cash from selling drink tickets. It was either $140 or $240 and she seemed excited as if that was the most she ever made. She probably did not have to pay any house fees so there was no gamble of coming into work. I also remember seeing an ad for Centerfolds club (Columbus club near the airport) and the ad claimed it guaranteed dancers $100/day for their first month. I think dancing would be a decent part time job if I was a girl LOL but I don't think it would be a full time thing because of the uncertainty and the fact that you do not receive health benefits (but I suppose if I was a single mother on welfare I would not care about health benefits!)
• jguy

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  15 years ago

  A club near me is probably the exception. I was talking to a girl and she was complaining that she had a couple of slow days and only made about $600 on each of those nights. On most nights I would say she makes $1000. Some girls do much better than that. And she is not the only one. The club only schedules girls for 7 days/month and most girls don't work elsewhere. The club is not known for really high mileage either.
• judyjudy

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  15 years ago

  Well I can tell you that most nights I go out I make somewhere between $500.00 and $750.00. I think I could actually make more if I were to open up my offerings(legs) so to speak. However, I am not in it for that.....although a few clients have tempted me me................................
• slickpeter

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  15 years ago

  The convention inthe Motor City would be a great idea. I know one dancer who averages $700 per night after tip out ---and for uncle sam and the IRS she reports $7.50 per hour she is in the club ---- she lists her occupation as a waitress - has been doing this for years and never has had and IRS issues
• judyjudy

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  15 years ago

  I would love to have a convention here in Detroit.........This would need to be planned out well in advance to be sure I would be able to get on stage ........or if we have an issue there maybe a more private venue would be more appropriate. Your thoughts?
• 10inches

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  15 years ago

  most girls bitch and whine that they only make a couple of hundred a night after tip out. one of my previous ATF's however did it the smart way, saved most of her money, avoided loser BF and drugs, then after only 3 years she retired to Florida to live at the beach, finished her college degree (now is a banker in Miami) plus married a very successful lawyer. she's only 28 and has it made cause she was smart!!
• how

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  15 years ago

  judyjudy said, "maybe a more private venue would be more appropriate." A completely private venue would be most appropriate; perhaps I can be that temptation that does get you to open up... ;)
• judyjudy

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  15 years ago

  how- how do you know what will get me to open up?
• DandyDan

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  15 years ago

  I had a conversation about this fairly recently with one of the dancers at my favorite club and she said she can almost always make $300 in a night, regardless of which night it is, but some nights there, some girls struggle to make $100, a fact I find amazing considering that if they sell a champagne room dance, that's $65 they keep right there. This is also a middle-of-nowhere location, though, and sometimes in the middle of the week, they don't have huge amounts of customers. I wouldn't know if any live lavish lifestyles, but I know a couple who can't, since they got kids. The only other one I know about is a girl at my #3 club, she can always make $100 a night during the week and $200 on weekends. But she has to sell more dances to get to a given amount than a girl at my favorite club.
• Clubber

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  15 years ago

  I think we know it isn't a money thing with jj, and she says, "although a few clients have tempted me", so it might be possible if the right guy came along, she might oblige. That said, a convention/contest seems more appropriate. Normal TUSCL convention, and then jj can be the sole judge of the competition, and of course, she would determine and present the prize! For jj only... Never once above did I mention a gang bang!
• casualguy

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  15 years ago

  A lot of dancers in my area I don't believe are making very much money. How many times have you heard a dancer saying or happy that she has enough money to make tip out? I've heard that a few times even though one time the dancer said that after she was only there for an hour or two. In one club I believe a manager told me they were pulling in a few hundred a week but you have to remember some dancers work only 3 or 4 days those weeks. That was when things were better too. One of my current favorites was excited to tell me after she got back from the beach that at the beach during one busy week, she made $4000 that week. Things were booming back then and it was a busy beach weekend. At another club, a lot of the dancers were moonlighting from other real jobs and didn't even dance on a routine basis. I have to say I am more impressed by a dancer telling me what her real job is outside of the club and she's only moonlighting on the weekend or whenever the club allowed it. Now if a dancer has kids and no proper health insurance to help pay doctor bills etc. her costs are even higher. I believe dancers in some other areas are making more money with their better looks or living in an area with richer customers. I've cut back my spending and I believe many others have too so dancers aren't making as much most of the time like they once did. If things get a lot worse, I wouldn't be surprised if some strip clubs start closing down due to the poor economy. I give it another year or two though before we get to that point.
• Dougster

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  15 years ago

  Most people are rather bad with figuring out averages just by intuition. It's not just strippers but anyone where the income is rather variable. For instance if a stripper made $400, $400, $300, $30 on four nights I won't be surprised if, intuitively, she felt the average was around $350, when it's actually $282.5. gator: Yes I believed the stripper about the $1 million. I contributed about 1% to that just myself. So all she needed was 99 other equally bad PLs. She worked during the absolute boom too: mid 90s to mid 2000s. She had the breasts, moves, and hustling skills to pull it off too.
• gatorfan

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  15 years ago

  I think some girls do better jobs than others at keeping track. It sounds like Dougsters "The Million Dollar Stripper" (by the way a great idea for a remake of an old 70's TV show) probably kept much better track and savings of the money she made.
• harrydave

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  15 years ago

  Another data point from Phoenix clubs. My GF worked one day a week for about 3 to 4 hours. She brought home about $4,500 in a year. I know, because I helped her file back taxes so she could get on the State's radar and qualify for in-State tuition. Based on conversations and observation, I would say the stripper who puts in several shifts a week will bring in $150 to $200 per shift, or maybe $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Some will do much better, some will do much worse. If you figure the successful and hard working girls do 2x better, thats still very decent if you hide it from the tax man.
• SuperDude

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  15 years ago

  Most young dancers have reckless spending habits. A good night gets spent at the mall the next day--so I hear. Saving for a car is possible, but not likely. They give the boyfriend money to keep his car together. We could go on, but dancers have no desire to have customers manage their finances. They have made their choices as adults and it's none of our concern or business.
• Player11

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  15 years ago

  My ATF says she is making $500 - $1000 a shift. Assuming I am not the only one she is fucking in CR or VIP that could be an accurate estimte. She gets her husbands paycheck, about $1300 - $2000 a month from me, and her club earnings. A law student, she says she saves half of what she earns. She may work at the club 3 days a week. Often when we meet for otc session at $200 she says since she saw me she is not going in to club that day. I think the $500-$1000 figure is high. There are times I have met her before she went to club and times i saw her right after she got off work at club. As she has been easily available I do not believe there are many other clients. Tough to estimate her total earnings.
• shadowcat

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  15 years ago

  This is just too tough to answer. There are too many variables. I know dancers that have a $200/day goal and then leave. Others that make 5 times that. Others that have borrowed money from me to make their tip out, so that they could leave. I only know of one dancer that pays taxes. She and her husband bought a $175K home a few years ago. He is retired army. To qualify for the loan she had to declare $60K in strip club earnings. Pissed her off to have to pay taxes!
• steve229

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  15 years ago

  One dancer wanted to move to a nicer apartment (and could afford to), but couldn't get a lease because they wanted to see W-2's, paystubs, etc.
• judyjudy

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  15 years ago

  Clubber- a self portait....what do you mean?
• arbeeguy

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  15 years ago

  Dancers incomes vary all over the map, just as singers and musicians. And small business owners. Shadowcat pretty much nailed the subject, and I will reinforce his point. There are a few dancers (very few) that can clear $100,000 or more per year. With the right talents they can get into the right clubs and rake in tons of cash. Then there are the wannabees, the parttimers, the druggies, etc etc many of whom don't make any more than they would at WalMart. Soooo many variables in this equation.
• Player11

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  15 years ago

  There are a lot of discussions of this at [view link] It is a site exclusively for strippers but a lot of insights can be gained from their conversations with each other.
• judyjudy

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  15 years ago

  Arbeeguy- it all depends what you are after..........
• Clubber

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  15 years ago

  jj, I was speaking of the tongue on the cock. :)
• judyjudy

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  15 years ago

  Clubber- I have one of those in my pics............do you need more?
• gatorfan

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  15 years ago

  I forget who mentioned he knew a stripper who made alot of money and had to report $60K to qualify for a loan. It's interesting to wonder how many of the sub-prime "liar" loans you hear about on the news were given to strippers to buy house, cars, or whatever else. With everything that's happened, it has to be more difficult for strippers to get those loans, so will strippers resort to A) Loans in someone else's name? or B) Will strippers start reporting more income to the IRS? or C) Any other ways?
• DoctorDarby

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  15 years ago

  I don't think estimating the earnings and spending habits of strippers is any easier to generalize about than trying to figure the same things out for anybody. People blow smoke about their money all the time. Adult entertainers are no different (i.e, the million dollar stripper). Some do good. Some don't. Some spend wisely on college and kids, others piss it away on booze and drugs. It's the same thing for the rest of the world. One of the reasons that some guys say they hate strip clubs and strippers is their broad assumption that the money they spend on dancers is somehow ill-gotten and will be ill-spent. It's an unfair assumption that has all kinds of negative consequences for dancers ,customers, clubs, and the business in general. Assuming that all strip club earnings are somehow "dirty money" makes it easy for legislators to pass laws that would limit (and potentially ruin) the whole industry with no regard for the people who work in it.
• Player11

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  15 years ago

  My take on it is probably $1000 a week is considered good unless they do extras which would mean more. There is a thread on [view link] about this. I think a lot of them consider $200 a good nite.
• bornloser

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  15 years ago

  I know a dancer, who is still dancing, who makes 2 grand a week but lives at home with her parents and no longer has a car. She was totally incapable of managing her cash. Heard she had a room in her old apartment crammed full of clothes and shoes she would never wear. I think even an average stripper should make around $800 a week. And they will never qualify for a regular job that pays that good .For everyone who manages her cash and lives well, there are 20 who can't for various reasons; dope, pills, "her old man" etc.
• DandyDan

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  15 years ago

  I don't have any idea what is considered "good" by dancers. I think $1000 a week has to be good, but it depends on their work schedules. One of my favorites has a legitimate job (in real estate) and only works Friday and Saturday at the club. I doubt she could make $1000 in a week. This topic makes me think of the Nickelback song "Shakin' Hands": Far too pretty to be givin' it cheap That's why she's makin' six figures workin' three days a week