A scientist who spends her working life reading the early universe is now trying to read a table full of strangers, with up to $250,000 riding on the answer. Abby Lee’s net worth isn’t documented anywhere we could verify, and she hasn’t shared her salary. What can be shown is an unusual résumé for a reality contestant: a PhD from the University of Chicago, a NASA Hubble Fellowship and a post at UC Berkeley, all before turning 30.
Abby Lee’s Net Worth: What Can and Can’t Be Verified
Start with what’s missing. No outlet we found reports a net worth for Lee, NBC hasn’t said what its contestants are paid, and neither she nor her fellowship has published her exact salary.
What can be verified is smaller but real: her degrees, her fellowships, a 2024 research prize, and the shape of the Traitors prize pot. Those facts frame her finances without turning into a number, and we’d rather show you the frame than invent the figure.
One quick clarification: this isn’t Abby Lee Miller of Dance Moms. This page covers the astrophysicist on The Traitors.
What Her Day Job Usually Pays
Lee’s fellowship is a postdoctoral appointment, which is a different animal from a permanent academic job. The tables below are context for her field, not a statement of her income.
| Measure | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage, astronomers, May 2024 | $132,170 | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Median annual wage, physicists, May 2024 | $166,290 | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Advertised starting stipend, NASA Postdoctoral Program | $70,000 per year | NASA Postdoctoral Program (via ORAU) |
Two warnings on these numbers. The BLS medians describe established scientists, not people in the first years after a PhD. And the NASA Postdoctoral Program is a separate scheme from the Hubble Fellowship she holds. The Hubble program’s own announcement says only that fellows are paid in line with other prize fellowships, with annual reviews, and it publishes no dollar amount.
Prize Math: What the Pot Could Mean per Person
The Traitors pot is not a fixed jackpot, so here is how it works:
- It began Episode 4 at $65,000.
- Each banished Traitor adds $15,000.
- The ceiling is $250,000.
- If every Traitor is banished, the surviving Faithful split it. If one Traitor lasts to the end, that Traitor takes the lot.
Lee is a Faithful, so only the first outcome pays her. Here is plain division, before taxes, to show how much the headcount at the end matters. It illustrates the mechanics and is not a forecast.
| Pot size | Split among 4 Faithful | Split among 6 Faithful |
|---|---|---|
| $65,000 | $16,250 each | about $10,800 each |
| $250,000 | $62,500 each | about $41,700 each |
Nothing has been awarded yet, and the real split depends on who survives and how much the missions add.
The Résumé Behind the Castle Game
Lee is 29 and from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 with a physics degree and minors in math and classical studies. While still in high school she took a college-level multivariable calculus course at Macalester College.
Her undergraduate years included research stints at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in 2017, followed by a summer at Stanford in 2018. She then earned a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago between 2019 and 2025, where she was part of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. In 2024, she and fellow student Hanjue Zhu won the Price Prize in Cosmology and Astrophysics.
Since August 2025, she has been in Berkeley as both a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow and a Miller Postdoctoral Research Fellow. The Hubble program describes its package as salary and benefits for up to three years, plus a separate allowance for travel and research.
A Scientist in a Game of Lies
The Traitors: New Blood is NBC’s version of the show built entirely from non-celebrities. Twenty-two players share a Scottish Highlands castle, Alan Cumming hosts, and episodes air on Thursdays with a next-day Peacock release.
Lee’s pre-season pitch was that she can argue hard without losing her cool, and she said she had a few strategies in reserve. She is playing as a Faithful. Her Instagram is @abbylee_.7.
For another contestant whose pay is also unconfirmed, see our Rylie Jeffries net worth profile on the Big Brother 27 bull rider.
A Friendship With a Traitor, and Two Costly Votes
According to The Cinemaholic, Lee grabbed a safety shield in the first challenge and quickly grew close to Katie Fites. It turned out Katie had been recruited as a Traitor, a fact Lee didn’t know when she told Katie she couldn’t picture her as anything else.
The same report says Lee led the push against Arisa Thomas after the Death Parade mission, saying she saw Arisa pocket the shield. Arisa was banished and revealed as a Faithful. At the next vote, Lee pointed to a comment from Sherry Kuehl, and Sherry went home too, also a Faithful.
By Episode 5, six players had left: Kim Daily, Xavier Scruggs and Logan Smith were murdered, while Madeline Kostopulos, Arisa and Sherry were banished. Lee was still standing on October 8. The Traitors are Joe Vanella, Tomica Adams and Katie.
For another contestant who faced public votes on a TV competition, see our Melanie Walters net worth page, which covers her Strictly Come Dancing run.
What’s Next for Abby Lee
Episode 6, “A Murder of Necessity,” airs tonight, Thursday, October 15, at 8 p.m. ET. Episode 7 is scheduled for October 22. We’ll update this page when her status changes.
Her fellowship continues in the background, and nobody has reported how the show fits around it. For another entertainer whose earnings aren’t confirmed, see our Connor Wood net worth page.
Abby Lee Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Abigail “Abby” Lee |
| Age | 29 |
| Hometown (as listed by NBC) | Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Occupation | Astrophysicist |
| Education | BA Physics (Penn, 2019); PhD Astronomy and Astrophysics (University of Chicago, 2025) |
| Current role | NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow and Miller Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UC Berkeley (since August 2025) |
| Award | 2024 Price Prize in Cosmology and Astrophysics (with Hanjue Zhu) |
| Show | The Traitors: New Blood (NBC, Peacock next day) |
| Role | Faithful |
| @abbylee_.7 |
Abby Lee Net Worth FAQs
What is Abby Lee’s net worth? There is no verified figure. Any exact number online lacks a named source.
How much does Abby Lee make? Her salary hasn’t been published. The wage table above describes her field in general.
How much can Abby Lee win on The Traitors? The pot can reach $250,000 and is shared only if every Traitor is banished. Nothing has been paid out yet.
Is Abby Lee a Traitor or a Faithful? A Faithful. The Traitors are Joe Vanella, Tomica Adams and Katie Fites.
Is Abby Lee still on The Traitors? She was still in the castle after Episode 5 on October 8. Episode 6 airs tonight.
How old is Abby Lee? She is 29.
What does Abby Lee do for a living? She is an astrophysicist and a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley.
Is this Abby Lee Miller from Dance Moms? No. That is a different person.
How We Put This Together
We built this article from the following sources:
- The Cinemaholic: Abby Lee profile (education timeline, current fellowships, first-challenge shield, friendship with Katie Fites, the Arisa and Sherry votes)
- University of Chicago, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics: graduate student profile and 2024 Price Prize news
- The Tab: cast ages and pre-season comments
- TV Insider: cast gallery, recaps and bonus rules
- Marie Claire / Yahoo Entertainment: cast guide and Instagram handle
- MEAWW: Episode 4 prize pot ($65,000)
- DirecTV Insider: episode schedule and competitor tracker
- NBC, as reported by Show Biz Junkies: prize fund and format
- Space Telescope Science Institute: NASA Hubble Fellowship Program announcement (salary and benefits)
- NASA Postdoctoral Program / ORAU, via Business Wire: advertised starting stipend
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: median pay for astronomers and physicists (May 2024)
Nothing we found puts a dollar value on her net worth or her show pay, so we haven’t included one. The prize-split table is our own arithmetic, not a reported number.