Rocky Carroll Net Worth: What 300 Episodes of NCIS Actually Pays
Rocky Carroll — born Roscoe Carroll, July 8, 1963, Cincinnati — has played NCIS Director Leon Vance across 300+ episodes since 2008, long enough to earn the crew nickname “Director Director” once he started directing episodes too. His money profile is the cleanest illustration on this site of what a long-running procedural actually pays — and search engines keep serving his castmates’ pages instead, so let’s fix that.
The number, honestly
Trackers cluster between $4 million and $8 million Estimated — $4M (older profiles), $5M, $5–8M, $8M (recent). The one genuinely documented anchor underneath them all: his NCIS pay was publicly reported at $100,000 per episode back in 2010 Reported, and fifteen further seasons of tenure, plus directing fees, sit on top of that. No audited figure exists; the range is honest, and the machine below is the real story.
The career-money timeline
| Phase | What happened to the money |
|---|---|
| Cincinnati → Broadway → Chicago Hope | The classical route: theater training, ensemble television — wages, not wealth Reported |
| NCIS Season 5 (2008) | Joins as Vance; per-episode pay reported at $100K by 2010 Reported |
| “Director Director” (Season 12–) | Directing episodes adds a second fee stream on the same production Reported |
| The 500th-episode era | Reports in 2026 describe his run as Vance concluding with the milestone episode — after 18 seasons in the role Reported |
How the money actually works
The procedural-actor model is tenure economics: modest fame, extraordinary consistency. A 20-season CBS franchise means 20 years of per-episode fees with renegotiation leverage at every renewal, followed by the part most viewers never think about — residuals on one of the most syndicated shows on Earth, paying every time NCIS airs anywhere, which is roughly always (the residuals machine, explained). That’s the exact income stream Barry Williams’s generation never got — the two profiles side by side are fifty years of TV labor history. Directing adds the quiet multiplier: same set, same weeks, second fee.
Where these numbers come from
- Tracker range: $4M / $5M / $5–8M / $8M across 2021–26 profiles — no audited figure
- Documented anchor: $100,000-per-episode NCIS pay publicly reported in 2010 (via Looper/Showbiz Cheat Sheet)
- Career record: NCIS Season 5 (2008) onward, 300+ episodes; directing since Season 12; Chicago Hope; Broadway
- 2026 reports describing his Vance run concluding around the series’ 500th episode
FAQ
What is Rocky Carroll’s net worth? Trackers estimate $4–8 million. The documented anchor: his NCIS pay was publicly reported at $100K per episode in 2010, with fifteen more seasons of tenure and directing fees since.
How much did Rocky Carroll make per NCIS episode? $100,000 per episode as publicly reported in 2010 — his longest-tenured-director-character status and directing work will have pushed it higher, though CBS doesn’t publish figures.
Why is Rocky Carroll called Director Director? He plays the NCIS Director on camera and has directed episodes of the show since Season 12 — both jobs at once.
Does Rocky Carroll earn NCIS residuals? Yes — as a series regular across 300+ episodes of one of TV’s most syndicated franchises, rerun and streaming residuals form a meaningful long-term income stream.
