As of March 2001, the monthly salary figures for sekitori (in Japanese Yen) were:

• Yokozuna: 2,820,000
• Ozeki: 2,350,000
• Sanyaku: 1,700,000
• Maegashira: 1,300,000
• Juryo: 1,030,000

Wrestlers in the lower divisions, who are considered to be trainees, do not receive a salary, but only a fairly small allowance.

In addition to the basic salary, sekitori wrestlers also receive additional bonus income, called mochikyukin, six times a year (once every tournament, or basho) based on the cumulative performance in their career to date. This bonus increases every time that the rikishi scores a kachikoshi (with larger kachikoshi giving larger rises.) Special increases in this bonus are also awarded for winning the Makuuchi championship (with an extra large increase for a "perfect" championship victory with no losses), and also for scoring a kinboshi (an upset of a Yokozuna by a Maegashira).

Sanyaku wrestlers also receive a relatively small additional tournament allowance, depending on their rank, and Yokozuna receive an additional allowance every second tournament, associated with the making of a new yokozuna hawswer.

There is also prize money for the winner of each divisional championship, which rises from 100,000 yen for a Jonokuchi victory up to 10,000,000 yen for winning the Makuuchi division. For wrestlers in the top division giving an exceptional performance in the eyes of a judging panel there are also three special prizes (the sansho) which are worth 2,000,000 yen each.

Individual top division matches can also be sponsored by companies. In such cases the winner of the bout typically receives around 30,000 yen net per sponsor (out of the sponsors contribution of 60,000 yen -- much of the remainder goes in paying the wrestler's tax on the prize). These bout prizes are called kenshokin. For bouts involving Yokozuna and Ozeki the number of sponsors of the matchup can be quite large, whereas for lower ranked matchups there may be no bout sponsors at all unless one of the wrestlers is particularly popular, or unless a company has a policy of sponsoring all his matchups. No bout prize money is awarded for a bout decided by a fusensho (forfeit victory).

Due to the amount of money changing hands depending on rank, and prize money, there have been many accusations of yaocho (corruption, bout-fixing) in sumo. A 2000 economic study on corruption focused on sumo as a closed system in which to study corruption. The authors of the study found that 70% of wrestlers with 7-7 records on the final day of the tournament won. The percentage was found to rise the more times the two wrestlers had met, and decrease when the wrestler was due to retire, or during times when bout-fixing had a large media focus.