It’s impossible to watch “Gold Rush” and not develop admiration for the young but wise miner Parker Schnabel. Those who’ve been watching the show since earlier seasons know well how far he’s come both in knowledge about the business and as a person, leaving behind the teen we once saw on screen following his grandfather’s instructions.
Nowadays, Parker is the definitive main Gold Rush” star for his mining accomplishments, smartness, and agreeable personality. All of this has also awakened many expectations about the young miner, as people not only want to see him digging for gold, but also want to know what’s going on with his life off-screen, and with his finances.
So is Parker Schnabel’s life as luxurious as imagined as a young millionaire, or is his lifestyle something completely different? Keep with us to find out!
Net Worth
As seen in many seasons of “Gold Rush”, Parker Schnabel knows well what he’s doing whenever he sets foot in mining territory. The earnings we have seen him accumulatng since the second season of the show and spin-offs speak for themselves, yet there’s always some curiosity regarding how much he actually makes from this business.
According to online sources, Parker Schnabel’s net worth is over $10 million, as of early 2025, resulting from his mining endeavors, other businesses, and TV appearances. However, since Parker has never revealed details about his financial life, there’s no telling if these estimations hold as true as most fans assume.
As some specialized sites affirm, Parker’s “Gold Rush” salary is reportedly around $10,000 per episode, which is perhaps less compared to other reality TV salaries, themselves seldom revealed. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t making quite a lot from his mining business though, as only in the 14th season, Parker was seen making $15 million. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that these estimations are limited to gold prices, and it’s unclear how much Parker’s mining operation costs take from these numbers.
House & Lifestyle
While many expect Parker Schnabel to have a top-notch lifestyle full of gorgeous and expensive real estate properties, sports cars, and other luxuries, nothing could be farther from the truth.
When he’s not in the mining field, Parker enjoys quite a simple lifestyle, spending most of his time with his pets and traveling with friends and crew members. He’s also declared that his favorite thing to do during his holidays is simply spending time with family.
As Parker explained to People in 2024, he doesn’t own any real estate unrelated to his business, and ‘crashes’ on a friend’s couch when he’s in Los Angeles. The only house he owns was part of the Dominion Creek deal he made in the show’s 14th season, and is nothing but functional, having only a couple of rooms and basic spaces.
Parker admittedly doesn’t spend money on physical possessions and is instead more interested in life experiences, such as the trips he makes or bringing his parents to events. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t indulge in some money-bought pleasures from time to time, though. As if to prove that, an Instagram post from late 2024 had Parker hinting that he crashed a friend’s Ferrari, and was fined thousands for hosting a party.
Gold Journey
It’s been a long journey for Parker Schnabel. He debuted in the first season of “Gold Rush”, but we didn’t start seeing him in action until the second season, at Big Nugget Mine. Back then he made $55,000 in gold, placing second in the overall season behind the Hurt crew.
Thank GOLD it’s Friday let’s get that 💰💪🏼 tonight at 9p on @Discovery #GoldRush
— Parker Schnabel (@goldrush_parker) October 11, 2019
In the third “Gold Rush” season we started appreciating Parker’s natural talent for mining,by seeing him dig out 192 ounces of gold. That was quite massive when compared to the 34 ounces he mined in the second season, but not as good as the 1029 ounces during the fourth season, making his earnings $1.4 million, and breaking any existent records in the show.
The following seasons saw Parker not only sharpening his mining skills, but also making good business out of it, making $3 million and $3.5 million in the fifth and sixth seasons, respectively. By the time Parker made $5 million of gold in the seventh season, he was mining thrice as much gold as his fellow miners Tony Beets, Todd Hoffman, Dave Turin and others. Despite the parting of Rick Ness from the Schnabel crew in the ninth season, Parker continued thriving by mining over 7000 ounces of gold that year.
Recent Earnings & Investments
Parker Schnabel has maintained a stable earning streak in his mining operations throughout the most recent seasons. “Gold Rush” Though the tenth season saw his mine findings drop for the first time compared to the previous seasons, Parker has never mined less than 7000 ounces of gold since the ninth season, reaching his highest point during the 12th season by mining 8309,75 ounces.
These numbers have translated very well into the financial success of Parker’s operations. As if to prove how good his business sense is, Parker purchased Dominion Creek for $15 million during season 14th. At the time, he admitted that he could barely afford to buy the land, but the promise of bigger gold findings had him assuming the risks. It paid off in the end, since Parker’s final season earnings were $15 million.
Though it’s unclear how long it will take Parker to recover the money he invested in Dominion Creek, the deal he signed reportedly obligates him to mine at least $1 million annually. So far he’s complied with his part of the deal, but his company Little Flake Mining also has other less-profitable, although enjoyable partnerships, such as creating jewelry with a company named Chasing Mammoths and letting the brand Alaska Creations add gold to their products.
When Is Parker Retiring?
No good fan of “Gold Rush” wants to see the show end any time soon, but it’s been airing for over a decade, and in 2024, Parker told People that he plans on having a family of his own once the TV show runs out of episodes to produce.
That said, Parker also admitted that his dating life is ‘difficult’ because of the intricacies of his job, including relative isolation, as he doesn’t know how to describe what his career is about to most people. Nonetheless, Parker also admits that once he has kids, he isn’t planning on pressuring them to follow in his footsteps, and wants to let them choose whatever path they want in life, as his family did with him.
Though no one can say for sure when exactly Parker will accomplish these personal dreams, there’s no doubt that he’s already achieved quite a lot in many other ways., and given average success, is well set for the next stage in his life, whenever , wherever and whatever it turns out to be.
