How Do the Derricos Afford 14 Kids? Their Money Story, Explained

Fourteen kids. Two parents. One Las Vegas house — and a grocery bill that could swallow a car payment. Ever since Doubling Down With the Derricos premiered in 2020, one question has followed the family everywhere: how do they actually afford this? The honest answer is part TV paycheck, part property hustle, part day jobs — and part math that never quite added up.

The TLC Paycheck: Big Number, 18 Mouths

The show ran five seasons, from 2020 to 2024, and Deon has since opened up about the money on the Sarah Fraser Show podcast. He said TLC paid well and honored their requests at negotiation time — and he laughed off a guess of $8,000 per episode as far too low. Reports recapping the interview put the family’s pay at roughly $25,000 per episode, though Deon stopped short of confirming an exact figure on the record.

Here is the catch he kept coming back to: that paycheck fed 18 people. His mother GG and nephew Eric were not covered by the network contract, at least in the beginning, so Deon and Karen paid them out of their own pockets. The contract also reportedly blocked the family from cashing in on brand deals and sponsorships without TLC’s approval — the fame could not be monetized on the side. One protection Deon did insist on: he has said each of the kids had their earnings placed into individual accounts in Nevada.

Before the Cameras: Deon’s Property Hustle

Long before TLC, Deon was a real estate investor with roots in Detroit and properties in Michigan and Nevada, alongside his company Deon Derrico Entertainment. His model, described in his own past interviews, involved taking over distressed, upside-down homes and working with banks toward an eventual purchase — a high-risk, high-reward grind that built the family’s pre-TV life in Las Vegas.

What 14 Kids Actually Cost

Now the spending side. Karen has shared in the past that groceries alone ran the family roughly $2,500 to $3,500 a month — and that was before teenage appetites fully kicked in. In the early years, by the family’s own count, they went through some 40 bottles of milk and 100 diapers a day. A typical week reportedly meant 20 rolls of toilet paper, 15 boxes of frozen waffles and 18 loads of laundry. Add a mortgage and clothes in 14 sizes, and even a five-figure TV paycheck starts to look very ordinary.

The Cracks: Bankruptcies, Foreclosure — and Buying Back In

The strain showed up in court records. According to The Sun’s reporting on court documents, Deon filed for bankruptcy five times over the years, and six of his Michigan homes went into foreclosure. The family’s Las Vegas home — purchased in 2015 — also landed in foreclosure proceedings, with The Sun reporting an auction opening bid of $430,254.

But the story did not end there. Reports later said Deon’s firm bought another Las Vegas house valued at around $419,000, with a second, larger home acquired after that — and the family stayed housed in Vegas. Since the show ended, the hustle has gone back to basics: according to reports, Deon took a job driving a school bus, while Karen works as a substitute teacher and runs before- and after-school programs.

The Bottom Line

So how do the Derricos afford 14 kids? The same way they always have: several income streams, a lot of bulk buying, and a patriarch who treats the family budget like a business — one that has survived fame, foreclosure headlines and five bankruptcy filings.

So, Derrico Nation, you tell us: was this family underpaid by TLC — or did the Derrico clan simply grow faster than the money ever could? Team “Pay Them More” or Team “Should’ve Saved More”? Drop your verdict in the comments!