The Amazing Race Prize Money: How Much Do Winners Actually Get?

Contestants on the reality show face surprising tax implications after winning the multi-million dollar prize on The Amazing Race.

Amazing Race Prize

latest season of The Amazing Race, Season 38, just finished up, with a team finally getting their hands on that big million-dollar prize.

This time, we saw some familiar faces from Big Brother, like Jag Bains, Taylor Hale, and Chelsie Baham, racing around the world with their family and friends.

But everyone always wonders: what do the winners actually get, and is that million dollars really worth a full million after all is said and done? Let’s break down the money side of the show’s famous reward.

The Million-Dollar Reality Check

Since the show first started back in 2001, the grand prize has always been advertised as a cool $1,000,000. The big catch, though, is taxes, which take a huge chunk out of the winnings.

According to an accounting expert, winners usually lose about 30% to federal taxes alone—that’s roughly $300,000 right off the top!

Once you add in state taxes, contestants can hand over up to $400,000 of their prize money. So, they end up taking home closer to $600,000.

That’s still enough money to change your life, but it’s not the full million that’s printed on the giant check they get on TV.

Beyond the Main Prize: Those “Free” Trips Aren’t Exactly Free

During the race, teams often win extra prizes like awesome vacations, new cars, and other cool stuff.

While they sound amazing, a former contestant, Mark “Abba” Abbattista, shared that these “free” trips come with their own tax problems.

For example, a vacation package worth $10,000 might trigger a tax bill of $3,500.

Plus, these trips often don’t include everything, so winners still have to spend their own money on food and other things.

Even worse, contestants often don’t even get to pick the destinations. Abbattista said many winners never even use these extra prizes because of all the hidden costs.

Consolation Prizes for Everyone Else

What about the teams who don’t win the whole race? The show doesn’t officially say how much non-winners get, but Abbattista confirmed that everyone receives “some kind of money for the order that you come in.”

This means the longer a team stays in the race, the more money they walk away with, which is a nice little financial bonus even if they don’t make it to the final finish line.

So, Is It Worth the Hassle?

Even though they take a huge hit from taxes and those extra prizes can be a pain, competing on The Amazing Race is still a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

The winners still get a massive amount of cash, they get to be on TV, and they experience an adventure most people can only dream about.

The finalists from this season—including Jag and Jas Bains, Joseph and Adam Abdin, and Taylor Hale and Kyland Young—all got to have that amazing experience, no matter who ended up winning the slightly-less-than-a-million-dollar prize.