Frank Fritz Net Worth: How the American Pickers Star Makes His Money

Frank Fritz is an American antique collector, reality TV show host, businessman, and author who has a net worth of $6 million. Born on October 11, 1965, Frank Fritz grew up in a middle-class family in Davenport, Iowa.

His mother earned a living taking care of other people’s children as a nanny while his father had a job at a dispensary. He was brought up in the Christian faith with his sister who is a few years older than him.

Antique collection and restoration is a rare hobby that mainly rich people go into either for the fun of it or for the want of keeping the past alive for the pleasure of future generations.

Frank places antique collection close to his heart and sees it as a career. He took antique collecting seriously and it became lucrative enough for him to abandon his work as a fire inspector, a move that time has proven to be the best decision he ever made as he has achieved huge fame and fortune along the way. All these helped him to achieve a net worth of $6 million. Today, Fritz has become not only a wealthy man but also a TV star. His work earned him a role on the reality TV show about antique collecting called American Pickers where he has become a fan favorite.

Frank Fritz’s Net Worth Started Accumulating From His First Job as Fire Inspector

Fritz attended high school but did not go to any university. He went on to find work as a safety and fire inspector covering the areas of Des Moines and Cedar falls in Iowa. As a fire inspector, Fritz earned an average salary of $22.53 per hour or $46,870 per year.

It is reported that at a very young age, Frank Fritz fancied collecting rocks, he would later continue the hobby with his friend Mike Wolfe who he met when he was in high school. The duo had similar interests in antiques so they were able to graduate from picking up rocks and old beer cans to collecting vintage cars and toys.

While working his fire inspection job, Fritz did not let go of his childhood passion, he began picking up firefighter and firehouse-related trinkets. At one time, he sold for $475 an item he bought for $15. This was when he realized just how lucrative the antique business could be. After holding his fire inspection job for 25 years, Fritz quit to establish his Frank Fritz Find a business in 2002, the shop which is based in Savanna, Illinois sells antique and vintage items that Frank is able to collect.

What is Frank Fritz’s Salary per Episode of American Pickers?

By 2010, the History Channel had taken notice of Frank and his best friend Mike’s work and offered them a chance to serve as the host of the show American Pickers. Their decision to take the role proved to be a fortune-changing one as it brought their work to the limelight and gained them much-needed popularity. The show, which had over 3.7 million viewers on its debut, has further grown to become one of the highly-rated shows on the History Channel.

Frank Fritz has been able to attain millionaire status thanks to his role on the American Pickers show. Per episode of the American Pickers show, Fritz earns an estimated $10,000. Per Hollywood Mask, Frank earns $125,000 for the first two episodes of a season and $20,000 per episode for the remainder of the season. For each year, he earns about $500,000. So far, the show has aired for at least 22 seasons and is still going strong, this would mean that he has so far earned nothing less than $10 million over the space of a decade from appearing on the show alone.

Frank’s popularity thanks to the successful show have made him a worthy guest on other popular TV shows and chances are that he does not make those appearances for free.

Other shows he has appeared;

• Rachael Ray
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
• American Restoration
• Pawn Stars
• Late Show with David Letterman

Other Sources of Frank Fritz’s Net Worth

With the success of American Pickers, Frank Fritz has been able to expand his antique shop which of course is still running. He has a restaurant attached to the shop which brings in money as well. He also sells merchandise and is said to have his own clothing line which is being sold online. Alongside his partner Mike, he founded the Kid Pickers website which is meant for kids to discuss the items they find. He has also written a book titled How To Pick Vintage Motorcycles whose proceeds have no doubt bolstered his wealth.

A highlight of Frank Fritz’s Net Worth Sources

• Frank Fritz Find Shop
• Restaurant by Frank Fritz Find Shop
• TV income from American Pickers
• Sales of Merchandise (Clothing)
• Book (How To Pick Vintage Motorcycles) sales

What is Frank Fritz’s net worth compared to other American Pickers cast?

Mike Wolfe – $7 million

American Pickers has so far had three major cast members including Frank’s pal, Mike Wolfe, and Danielle Colby. Mike Wolfe is equally as successful as Frank, however, his net worth is slightly higher at $7 million. On the show, it appears as though Frank and Mike own the same business but this is not so, while Frank has his Frank Fritz Find shop in Chicago, Illinois, Mike runs his Antique Archeology in two locations, one in LeClaire, Iowa, and the other in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mike has an endorsement deal with Indian Motorcycles. In addition to featuring on American Pickers, he also serves as the Mike Wolfe and the show creator which means he earns more from the show than Frank Fritz.

Danielle Colby – $1.5 million

The other member of the show is Danielle Colby. Colby works at Mike’s Antique Archeology in Iowa. When she’s done from the shop, she works again at night as a burlesque dancer and owns her own burlesque troupe, called, Burlesque Le’Moustache. She also owns a couple of clothing lines. She is the least featured on the show and is said to earn $15,000 per episode that she appears. Her net worth is estimated at $1.5 million.

Is Frank Fritz still on American Pickers?

Frank Fritz suffered an embarrassing incident in July 2017 when he got involved in an accident. According to sources, the reality TV star, who was under the influence of alcohol and Xanax pills, caused a minor accident after he drove against traffic on Interstate 80. He was promptly arrested and arraigned in court where he pleaded guilty to the charge of driving under the influence.

Fritz was thereafter remanded for a while in jail. He was also fined and put under probation for a year. The sad incident made him take a break from the American Pickers TV series and fans became curious about what may have happened to their favorite character on the show. It did not take long after this for rumors of Fritz’s death to begin to spread among viewers of the show.

The death reports have, however, been proven to be false as Frank Fritz is still very much alive and made a return to the show. However, in recent seasons, he has been absent. Fans of the popular TV show know that their favorite TV guy suffers from an ailment called Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease. He has been living with this for a long time, thus when he became absent in the 2019 season, fans began to wonder if his health had waned due to the disease. His friend Mike Wolfe would later reveal that Frank was absent because he was undergoing back surgery, however, he did not give more details about what led to the surgery. Chances are that when Frank has made a full recovery, he would be back on American Pickers whose 22nd season premiered on January 25, 2021.