Yellowstone By the Numbers: Ratings, Spin-Offs, Cast Salaries, Horses, and More

It's been 10 months since Yellowstone last aired an original episode — and the prolonged break is understandably frustrating. Fortunately, you can relive the early days of the series on CBS or binge-watch it on Peacock. 

Created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, Yellowstone premiered June 20, 2018 on Paramount Network as its first original scripted show, and subsequently grew into a ratings juggernaut. By the 2021-2022 season, it earned the coveted title of the most-watched show across television besides football. Its success spawned a series of spin-offs and prequels, including 1883, which starred Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill, and 1923, starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford.

The popular Western stars Kevin Costner as patriarch John Dutton III, who along with his grown children — daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly), and sons Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) — run the largest ranch in Montana. Much of the drama, betrayal, and bloodshed stems from generations worth of family turmoil, land disputes, and big egos. The clock is ticking on Costner and Yellowstone, with the remaining six episodes of Season 5 set to be the series' last. 

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Until Yellowstone eventually returns for its last hurrah, here are some useful facts to know about the series, told solely through numbers. 

1: Yellowstone is the No. 1 most-watched show across television, minus football. 

284 (and counting): The number of days since Jan. 1, 2023, the airdate of the last original Yellowstone episode.

2013: The year Taylor Sheridan first began developing Yellowstone, which was initially pitched to HBO. It passed.

9.4 million: The number of viewerswho tuned in to the Season 5 premiere — the franchise's most-watched episode — on Paramount Network on Nov. 13, 2022.

12.1 million: The number of cumulative viewers who watched the Season 5 premiere on Nov. 13, 2022, accounting for additional simulcasts on CMT, Pop, TV Land, and encore airings.

6.6 million: The number of viewers who watched CBS' rebroadcast of the series premiere on Sept. 17, 2023.

47: The number of Yellowstone episodes that have aired to date.

6: The number of episodes still left to film (and air) in the second half of Yellowstone's final season.

26: The percentage increase in Yellowstone streams on Peacock between Sept. 17, 2023 and Sept. 27, 2023, compared to the previous 10-day period after the show began airing on CBS.

$500,000: Kevin Costner's reported initial salary per episode for Season 1.

$1.3 million: Kevin Costner's reported salary per episode in Season 5. Other cast members allegedly made $200,000 or less per episode.

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23: The number of significant characters who have died since the series began, including Lee Dutton, Emmett Walsh, and John Dutton IV, Kayce and Monica's unborn son.

22: The number of Dutton family members seen or mentioned at least once during the course of the series. 

8: At least eight of the horses featured on the show are reigning rodeo champions, including Metallic Cat, Lil Joe Cash, Smartly Starstruck, and Nineteen Ten. Taylor Sheridan also loaned several of his own horses to the production of Yellowstone. 

74: According to a report, 74 in 1 million babies in 2022 were named Rip, the name of Cole Hauser's character. That's an increase of 2,000% compared to 2018. The most popular Yellowstone-inspiredbaby name is, of course, Dutton.

$1,400: The minimum cost to stay at one of two cabins featured on Yellowstone. If you want to stay at the same place Lee Dutton called home, which then became John's cabin in Season 2, it'll cost at least $1,400 per night. If you want to stay at Rip's cabin, it'll cost even more: $1,700 per night.

5: The number of songs Kevin Costner wrote with his band, Kevin Costner and the Modern West, that are featured in Yellowstone. In 2020, they released an album, Tales From Yellowstone; the songs are told from John Dutton's perspective. His daughter, actress Lily Costner, is credited on one of the songs, "Heaven's Gate."

2: The number of characters Taylor Sheridan has played on-screen in the franchise.

6: The number of spinoffs, prequels, and projects in development spawned by the popularity of Yellowstone, including 1883, 1923, Lawman: Bass Reeves, 6666, 1944 and a possible Matthew McConaughey-led sequel series.

Too many $#*!s to count: The number of curse words Beth Dutton has said over the course of the series.