We all know and love the Jedi as the warriors in Star Wars are dedicated to keeping the peace and opening one’s mind to the light side of the force, but “Jedi” isn’t necessarily a job description. Newbies and hardcore fans alike have pondered the mysterious lives of the Jedi since their inception in 1977.
They’re not the police of the republic, nor do they claim to be an army of sorts (though they do work directly with the clone army). They serve the senate, high-power government officials, and even citizens of the planet they inhabit, so how do they fit into the economic structure of their world?
After all, they have an enormous Jedi temple, libraries, ships, lightsabers, and seemingly endless resources at their disposal. That can’t all just pop up out of thin air.
This begs the question, where does all that money come from? Do Jedi get paid?
To give a quick answer, No. Jedi do not get paid because they don’t accumulate personal wealth, the republic funds them, and their basic needs are provided at the Jedi temple on Coruscant.
Does this sound too good to be true? Read more below to see just how the Jedi live and thrive in a universe where money makes the world go round.
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How does a Jedi make money for a living?
This question has been plaguing me for years, and although I’ve had my theories, I decided to do some real digging. But before we answer whether a Jedi makes money or not, we need to establish a few facts.
The first fact is that Jedi cannot have much of a personal life. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important for answering questions about their personal finances.
Jedi are forbidden from having attachments in the world. We mainly see this in the form of romantic relationships, but it could also take the form of owning houses, ships, and personal wealth of any kind.
Remember, the Jedi are a religious sect with an almost Buddhistic dedication to live simply for the greater good. This would prevent, or at least discourage Jedi from creating personal gain with materialistic wealth. Jedi are supposed to be selfless, and to pursue personal wealth would be inherently selfish.
The second fact we need to establish is that most Jedi live in the Jedi temple on Coruscant. Each level of the Jedi has their own quarters in the temple.
Most, if not all Jedi begin training from a very young age and join the Jedi as “younglings.” When Jedi are selected, they move from their homeland and live with all the others in the Jedi temple.
The Jedi temple contains youngling nurseries, the Padawan dormitories, the Knight’s Billet, and the Master’s chambers. All Jedi live in the temple, and there are very few exceptions to this.
In The Revenge of the Sith, we see that Annakin doesn’t necessarily “live” in the Jedi temple. Rather, he spends a lot of time with Padme in an apartment in Coruscant, despite their scandalous relationship.
However, this apartment is an extremely glamorous penthouse residence and is most likely Padme’s. Her high rank in the senate implies that she makes a decent living and can afford a place like that.
Besides Master Yoda and Obi Wan living off the grid in the original trilogy, we never really got a glimpse of where Jedi knights live in the films. These are also different scenarios because they take place after the rise of the empire when the Jedi are in hiding.
Regarding the living situation when the Republic is in power, we can assume that the whole Jedi order lives inside the Jedi temple in their corresponding quarters.
The third fact is that Jedi are most likely funded by republic taxes. Jedi, despite being their own religious organization, practically exist to defend the republic and uphold the principles of the light side of the force. After all, Obi Wan famously said, “my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!”
The republic also funds the senate, so we see much interaction between the two. The Jedi are notoriously wary of politics, but they are a sort of branch of the government. They act more noble and isolated, but their funding and assignments come directly from the republic.
With all that being said, it’s safe to say that how Jedi makes money for a living is complicated, because they don’t make their own money. They have plenty of money coming in from republic taxes; enough to cover the cost of missions, ships, lightsabers, the Jedi temple, and basic amenities like food and water.
However, they keep none of this for themselves. All of it goes to sustaining them and their mission.
Do Jedi Get Paid?
While it’s tough to come up with any official sources that can offer a clear answer on this, there are plenty of online threads where these types of questions are examined by Star Wars nerds around the world.
We’ve already established that Jedi don’t necessarily make any money to accumulate worldly wealth, but are they ever paid in credits? Do they ever have spending money or pocket change?
In The Phantom Menace we see Qui Gon Jin tell Waddo that he has republic credits to pay for Queen Amidala’s ship repairs. We also see Obi Wan pay for a drink at a nightclub in Attack of the Clones.
This implies some existence of spending money, although it is mission-related. Since the Jedi are republic-funded, they probably supply them with a few credits to use if they get caught in a pinch while on mission.
It’s fair to assume this was not for personal safekeeping. For a Jedi to buy their own possessions with credits, regardless of whether it’s a kind of allowance or per diem, would fly in the face of the Jedi code.
Since we can’t just call up George Lucas and ask him to clarify, I think we have enough to answer this with confidence, and the answer is:
Jedi do not get paid in credits, at least not in a traditional sense. The Republic provides for them, sometimes including credits to spend while on a mission. This is, however, not their own money and we can assume that they don’t keep any for themselves.
Conclusion
Jedi do not make money, nor are they paid for their deeds in republic credits. Instead, all their basic needs are met by the republic and they are free to exist without the tethers of bills and material goods.
Rather than monetary payment, their payment is in the form of gratitude from their citizens and colleagues. Any credits they receive are to be used on missions.
It may sound awful not to have any money to spend on yourself, but the Jedi operate from a different mentality. They’re not in it for money or fame. They exist as peacekeepers, separate from the ways of the world.
Since they don’t have to worry about money issues, they’re much freer from any attachments in society. This allows them to focus more on their study of the force, and it’s part of what makes them such a noble order.