AlthoughGilmore Girlsconstantly hints at the extravagant wealth of the titular family, the show never tells viewers exactly what their net worth is.The cast ofGilmore Girlsall played important roles in the story of the series, but there’s no doubt about whom the show’s true stars were. Kelly Bishop’s Emily, Lauren Graham’s Lorelai, and Alexis Bledel’s Rory were the three eponymous Gilmore girls. Across three generations, the two navigated the perils of personal, romantic, and professional life, as well as the hard parts of sharing a family.
WhileGilmore Girls’ most divisive storylinesplit up Rory and Lorelai for quite some time, the central trio remained the focus of every season of the series. The same was true of 2016’s revival,A Year in the Life, which picked up a decade afterthe originalGilmore Girlsfinaleto offer viewers an update on the dysfunctional family. Although the Gilmores still had their troubles in that revival, one thing the family rarely struggled with was money. Throughout the original series and the reboot, the Gilmore family is extremely wealthy.
How Much Richard Likely Earned From His Insurance Company
Richard’s Annual Income Alone Was Likely Well Above $200,000
The sources of the Gilmore family’s wealth aren’t as straightforward as their jobs, since much of their money is inherited. That said, it is clear thatRichard Gilmore’s job as the Executive Vice President of a large insurance company would be extremely well paid.Glassdoorestimates an Executive Vice President’s average salary at well over $200,000 with Richard’s years of experience, but insurance companies in particular tend to offer incredibly large salaries to employees at Richard’s level. As such, viewers could reasonably estimate that Richard’s salary might even be multiple times the above sum.
Glassdoorplaced an estimate of $544,000 on the annual salary of an Executive Vice President at a real-life American insurance company in 2023.
After all, a 2024Bustlearticle on the topic noted thatGlassdoorplaced an estimate of $544,000 on the annual salary of an Executive Vice President at a real-life American insurance company. This doesn’t take into account bonuses or Richard’s many investments, which viewers are informed make him exorbitant sums of additional money. Much like viewers missedRory’s childhood years inGilmore Girls, the audience never got much insight into how much extra money was added to Richard’s income by his savvy investments. However, viewers do know how much money his mother left Rory in a trust fund.
The fact that the Gilmores had money to invest in Walmart is itself a clue to their level of wealth, and how much of it predates even Richard’s birth.
Trix bequeathed Rory $250,000 and, since Rory was born in 1984, viewers know that this money is now worth $784,590 in 2025 US dollars, according to theUS Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is without even mentioning the family’s shares in Walmart, which could net them millions every year in dividends alone depending on how early they invested in the supermarket chain. Of course, the very fact that the Gilmores had money to invest in Walmart is itself a clue to their level of wealth, and how much of it predates even Richard’s birth.
The Gilmores Would Have Inherited A Lot Of Wealth
The Gilmore Family Are Historically Wealthy
Much is made of Richard’s investing acumen throughoutGilmore Girls, to the extent that an unsuspecting viewer might even be tricked into thinking that Richard earned his wealth on his own. In reality,the Gilmore family has huge amounts of inherited wealth, as evidenced by Trix’s trust fund for Rory. Richard attending Yale is one of many pieces of evidence that his family comes from old money, as is the occasional reference to arriving in America on the Mayflower. Clearly, the Gilmores are a rich family with holdings well into the millions.
AlthoughA Year in the Life’s storysees Emily downsize to a house on Martha’s Vineyard, the Gilmore family home is another clue to the sheer level of wealth they own. The house that Richard and Emily live in, their many gifts to Rory, their live-in staff, and their lavish purchases make it tough to imagine just how wealthy they are supposed to be in-universe. Various sources online claim that the net worth of the Gilmore family is in the neighborhood of $50 million, and this estimate does account for most of their displays of wealth.
It Would’ve Cost Tens Of Millions For Emily & Richard To Buy Rory’s Yale Building
Rory’s Yale Building Is A Testament to the Family’s Wealth
However, it remains impossible to calculate the exact net worth of the Gilmore family, even if details like Emily trying to buy a private jet just to upset Richard should give viewers an idea. One concrete clue can be found inRory’sGilmore Girlsseason 6 storyline, whereinEmily and Richard promised to have a building in Yale named after their granddaughter. This plot is largely forgotten as the show moves into season 7, and the reason for this becomes obvious when viewers interrogate the practicalities of such a purchase.
If Richard and Emily ever wanted to see the Rory Gilmore Astronomy Tower, they would have needed to part with the annual GDP of Tuvalu.
According to a 2019 article from the real-lifeYale Daily News, the naming rights of a science building on the university campus could go for a cool $100 million. Granted, this would have been a little bit less back in the 2000s when the series was set, adjusting back for inflation. However, a quick trip to theUS Bureau of Labor Statisticsinflation calculator proves that $100 million in 2025 would still have been worth $62,895,600 back in 2006 when season 6 aired. As such, if Richard and Emily ever wanted to see the Rory Gilmore Astronomy Tower, they would have needed to part with the annual GDP of Tuvalu.
The Gilmores Weren’t The Richest Family In Gilmore Girls
Logan’s Huntzberger Family Were Even More Wealthy
With all this evidence, it would be easy to assume that the Gilmores were the wealthiest family in the world of the series. However, not only wasLorelai’s love interest Christopherfrom a similarly wealthy family, but there was another clan with money that made even the Gilmores seem positively working-class. Logan’s family, the Huntzbergers, were most likely billionaires, judging by the coded references to their wealth.
When Logan’s mother says “There’s your money and then there’s our money,” she indicates in no uncertain terms that there is a different level of wealth beyond the Gilmore family. While this is true, it means thatLogan Huntzberger would be a member of the 1% in real life.For his family’s money to make the Gilmores seem like they live within modest means, the trust fund kid would need to be a literal billionaire and thus the richest character inGilmore Girlsby a stretch.
