How Real Landman Salaries Match Up To What You See In Taylor Sheridan's TV Series

In most TV shows of the extremely prolific creator, producer, and writer Taylor Sheridan, money (and the power it grants) plays a significant role. Whether we're talking his most popular macho Dutton Family melodrama "Yellowstone," the gritty and corruption-laden "Mayor of Kingstown," or the amusing Sylvester Stallone vehicle "Tulsa King," the dough made in legal or illegal ways is almost always a driving force of the plot and the characters. His latest hit on Paramount+, "Landman" — based on the podcast "Boomtown" hosted by Christian Wallace, who's also a co-creator of the series — is no exception. In fact, it might be one of those where salaries matter the most.

Given that being a "landman" is a very real job — even if it's not necessarily as dangerous and badass as our protagonist Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) makes it seem — we actually have the resources to find out how much this line of work pays compared to what we see in the series.

Based on the data from Talent.com, landman salaries fluctuate between $90,000 and $156,000, depending on location, experience, and the company one is employed by. The average pay of a landman is $130,000 per year ($62.50 per hour), which is much less than what Tommy implies he's getting from his savvy employer, Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), in the show. Though we can't be sure about the exact amount, as the 10-episode first season never specifies the number that Thornton's character is paid. However, the wage of the roughneck oil rig workers Tommy's in charge of is directly addressed in Episode 2, putting it at an annual $180,000. That's certainly a bit of an exaggeration since, according to Glassdoor, roughneck salaries tend to land between $60-$112k per year.

Based on that amount and Tommy's high-level managerial position as a "crisis executive," we can confidently speculate that he's making a lot more than that.

Regardless of how much Tommy earns as a landman, it surely won't make up for the damaging, treacherous, and stress-filled life he leads because of his occupation. First of all, he's in half a million dollars' debt that he knows he'll probably never be able to get out of while he's alive. Admittedly, he's also a functioning alcoholic who drinks beers like it's tap water, and a chain-smoker who prefers nicotine instead of fresh air. Not to mention his terrible diet and the numerous other toxic health choices he makes regularly. Yet all of this is practically nothing compared to what he has to face day after day as a "crisis executive." He's forced to deal with a ruthless Mexican drug cartel that distributes drugs on his fields, making death threats on a weekly basis, work with the police and bribe them if necessary, and sometimes tell the wives and girlfriends of his employees that they're no longer have a husband or a boyfriend due to a lethal accident that happened on site.

If this wasn't enough, he's also in a will-they-won't-they relationship with his ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter), an absolute force of nature — unpredictable, crazy, and as hot-blooded as they come — usually making Tommy's life harder than it already is. And then there are his two kids, Cooper (Jacob Lofland) and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), whom he loves to death and would do anything for, needing guidance and protection from a father who's already preoccupied with keeping himself alive from the threats that constantly come his way.

So whatever the actual amount is that Tommy makes as a landman — and whether it's realistic or not — can hardly be a legit consolation or a worthy incentive for the relentless troubles and the physically and mentally exhausting situations that he has to solve daily. But this is what makes "Landman" a thrilling and highly entertaining spectacle.