Kristin Cavallari is widely recognized for her roles in movies and today, she’s a prominent American television personality and businesswoman. In addition to a very successful career in the entertainment industry, she’s achieved success as a fashion designer and entrepreneur – and she’s also a New York Times bestselling author! As of 2023, Kristin Cavallari’s net worth is estimated at around $30 million.
When Cavallari was married to Jay Cutler, a successful NFL player, their combined net worth was hundreds of millions, but the actress is pretty rich on her own, too. To learn all about her reality TV stardom, as well as her successful business ventures, keep reading.
Kristin Cavallari’s Net Worth Breakdown:
Cavallari has significantly contributed to her net worth by appearing in various TV roles, through her book sales and sponsored content, business ventures, and public appearances. The specifics aren’t always publicly disclosed, but here is a general overview of her main income sources:
| Asset | Contribution to Net Worth |
| Laguna Beach fee | $2,500 |
| The Hills fee | $1.98 million over 22 episodes |
| Public appearances | $20-$25,000 each |
| Earnings from sponsored content | N/A |
| Other TV appearances | N/A |
| Emerald Duv earnings | N/A |
| Uncommon James revenue | $20 million in 2019 |
| Real estate | $5.5 million |
| Total Net Worth | $30 million |
Kristin Cavallari’s Early Life
Born Kristin Elizabeth Cavallari, the famous actress’s birthplace is Denver, Colorado. She was born on January 5, 1987, to mother Judith Efrig and father Denis Cavallari. Her parents divorced when Cavallari was a child, so she moved to Barrington, a Chicago suburb, with her mother.
As a young teenager, Kristin Cavallari faced some challenges and was a trouble-maker, which led her mother to send her to live with her father. She spent her adolescent years in Laguna Beach, California, where she graduated from Laguna Beach High School.
While she was a junior in high school, Kristin Cavallari was already an actress. She was acting on the MTV reality TV show “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange Country”.
Kristin Cavallari Net Worth: The Famed Career of the Millionaire Actress and Entrepreneur
Kristin Cavallari’s path to success is marked by her acting career along with her ventures in fashion design. Let’s see how her journey started and what contributed to Kristin Cavallari’s net worth.
Acting Career
Let’s dig into the very successful acting career of Kristin Cavallari.
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
It all began with her acting talents. While still at Laguna Beach High School, Kristin Cavallari was chosen to appear on “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County”. During this time, she was in a relationship with Stephen Colletti, and that particular relationship became one of the central plot lines of the season.
Despite a modest upbringing, Kristin Cavallari started building her wealth at a young age. She said to InStyle:
“I was a hostess at a restaurant in Dana Point, California, called the Salt Creek Grille and that was a really big deal for me. I got that job when I was 15. I want to say I made $8 an hour. The second season, I used my paycheck to get a BMW X5. That was a really big moment for me, especially because the car that I got when I was 16 was an 11-year-old Isuzu Trooper that broke down on me all the time. I hated it, especially being in Laguna Beach where all of my friends had brand-new Mercedes. And when I was 18, I bought my first pair of Christian Louboutin shoes.
Even though this was big money for a teenage girl, she didn’t get paid all that much for her role in Laguna Beach, at least not in the first season. At one point in a podcast episode, she shared that she earned $2,500 for filming the first season, but she would have done it for free.
Seeing how she bought a new car during the second season of Laguna Beach, we can assume that she earned more at that time, but this information isn’t public.
Get This Party Started
When Laguna Beach came to an end, Kristin Cavallari was invited to another reality TV show titled “Get This Party Started”, so she moved to Los Angeles to pursue the role. Unfortunately, the UPN reality series only aired two episodes in February 2006 and was canceled due to a lack of success.
The Hills
One of Cavallari’s more notable appearances was on “The Hills” in 2009. She joined this show when Lauren Conrad left it, appearing in season five. According to Daily Beast, she was earning $90,000 per episode on “The Hills”, and shot 22 episodes in total.
Very Cavallari on E!
Although Cavallari starred in many movies and TV shows over the years, one of her biggest accomplishments was “Very Cavallari” on E!. The show ended after three seasons but was a major success. We don’t know how much she made per episode, but she definitely added a few million to her net worth from her own show.
Reportedly, the main reason why the popular E! reality series “Very Cavallari” ended was a messy divorce between Jay Cutler and Cavallari. She posted that she was starting a new chapter in her life on her Instagram page:
Reality TV Series
Other Kristin Cavallari appearances in reality shows include:
- “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in season 3 (2010)
- “America’s Next Top Model” in season 13 (2011)
- “Dancing with the Stars” in season 13 (2011), dancing with Mark Ballas
- “Cupcake Wars” in season 6 (2012)
- “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry” in season 3 (2018)
- “Paradise Hotel” for seven episodes (2019)
Movies & Television Shows
Cavallari has also appeared in several movies and TV shows, including:
- “Veronica Mars”, a TV series (2004)
- “Cane”, a TV series (2007)
- “CSI:NY”, a TV series (2008)
- “Green Flash”, a movie (2008)
- “Spring Breakdown”, a movie (2009)
- “Wild Cherry”, a movie (2009)
- “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: Freshman Year”, a movie (2009)
- “The Middle”, a TV series (2011)
Kristin Cavallari as a Host
Kristin Cavallari chose to expand her television career beyond reality shows and movies by venturing into a different field – hosting. In 2017, she commented on the Academy Awards with other people from the E! team. Two years later, she was the host of “The Fabulist” on E!, which was a show for fashion trends with a 30-minute airtime.
Sponsored Content
Another profitable source for Cavallari is social media. She often makes public appearances and publishes sponsored content.
Judged by her popularity on social media, especially Instagram, she earns quite a lot from sponsored posts. Reportedly, she charges $20,000 to $25,000 per public appearance.
Published Books
Kristin Cavallari is a bestselling author who has written 4 books between 2016 and 2023. Interestingly enough, three of these books are cookbooks! Here is a full list of her authored books:
- “Balancing in Heels: My Journey to Health, Happiness, and Making it All Work” in 2016
- “True Roots: A Mindful Kitchen with More Than 100 Recipes Free of Gluten, Dairy, and Refined Sugar” in 2018
- “True Comfort: More Than 100 Cozy Recipes Free of Gluten and Refined Sugar: A Gluten Free Cookbook” in 2020
- “Truly Simple: 140 Healthy Recipes for Weekday Cooking: A Cookbook” in 2023
Awards and Philanthropy
Over the years, Cavallari has been nominated for the following awards:
- 2007 Nominee for Best Supporting Actress for “Fingerprints” at the Hoboken International Film Festival
- 2006 Nominee for TV Choice Reality Star (Female) for “Laguna Beach” at the Teen Choice Awards
- 2010 Nominee for Female Reality/Variety Star for “The Hills” at the Teen Choice Awards.
She’s also known as a philanthropist, being involved in several charitable causes over the years. For instance, she supported the “Until There’s a Cure” campaign that fights against AIDS and HIV and aims to raise funds for research for the disease.
She’s also a supporter of gay marriage and as such, has appeared in the NOH8 Campaign to support the cause.
Does Kristin Cavallari Invest in Anything Else?
Kristin Cavallari is much more than a TV star and famed actress. In fact, much of the actress’ estimated net worth comes from her business ventures and investments, and she has also invested a big chunk of her money into real estate. Let’s dig into the details.
Business Investments
When Kristin Cavallari stepped into the fashion scene, she did so by teaming up with “Shoe Dazzle” for a charitable spring shoe project. Following this success, she collaborated with Chinese Laundry to create multiple shoe collections, starting in 2012.
She later expanded her design career into jewelry and partnered with GLAM boutique in 2013. She also co-founded Emerald Duv with Chelsea Bulte a year later. Eventually, she decided to venture out on her own and left Emerald Duv to establish her own label in 2016.
In 2017, Cavallari founded her jewelry brand called “Uncommon James”. She opened this business in Nashville, Tennessee, and followed up by adding a home goods line to her product portfolio. In only two years, her company was reaping $20 million in revenue and employed around 90 people.
If you ever watched “Very Cavallari”, you probably know about her flagship store. It’s frequently featured in the series.
In 2019, Cavallari launched a popular clothing brand called Little James, known for its highly popular children’s clothing line.
The Uncommon James business faced a great deal of complications during the actress’s divorce. Her ex-husband argued that he deserved half of the business since she started it while they were married.
She shared during a 2018 episode on Very Cavallari:
He thinks he owns half of this company, and he does not. That is not on our nonexistent prenup.
The divorce was finalized, but the details of the settlement were not made public, so we aren’t sure whether or not Kristin Cavallari got full ownership of her business in the settlement.
Real Estate
Back when Cavallari was married to Jay Cutler, the couple bought an 11,000-square-foot mansion worth $4.25 million in Lake Forest, Illinois. They sold the home for $3.6 million later.
They also owned a 20,000 square-foot mansion in Nashville Tennessee, which they also sold in 2019.
After the divorce and after the couple sold all of their properties, Kristin Cavallari bought her own home for $5.5 million in Franklin. She currently resides in this home.
What Can We Learn From Kristin Cavallari’s Success?
Kristin Cavallari has had quite an impressive life. Her story hasn’t been plain sailing. She experienced many ups and downs. She’s faced challenges such as a difficult divorce and criticism regarding her parenting choices, including her decision not to vaccinate her two sons in 2014. Her brother died and her parents divorced, so her life hasn’t exactly been an easy one.
Even so, despite all of those trials and failures, she survived and more – she became a successful, well-rounded person and multimillionaire. This demonstrates resilience and perseverance, two highly important skills to have in life.
Another key takeaway from her story is her entrepreneurial spirit. Her company Uncommon James isn’t only a brand – it’s a snapshot of her style and demonstrates that she’s not only a good actress but also very business-savvy. It tells us that you can excel in many fields as long as you know what you love and aren’t afraid to work for it.