Twenty-four Premier League players are among the top 100 richest sportsmen in Britain and Ireland.
Rooney's fortune has risen by six million pounds from 2012 and his combined wealth with wife Coleen is estimated at 64 million pounds.
United team mate Rio Ferdinand is ranked second on 42 million pounds while Stoke City striker Michael Owen is third on 38 million.
Values are based on identifiable wealth including land, property, assets including art and race horses, and shares in publicly quoted companies.
Former England captain David Beckham, now playing for Paris St Germain, is ranked 11th in the Sunday Times world sporting rich list with a worth of 165 million pounds.
World number one golfer Tiger Woods is top of that chart on 570 million pounds.
Premier League top 10:
1. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 51 million pounds
2. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) 42 million pounds
3. Michael Owen (Stoke City) 38 million pounds
4. Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) 34 million pounds
5. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 34 million pounds
6. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 33 million pounds
7. Fernando Torres (Chelsea) 26 million pounds
8. John Terry (Chelsea) 24 million pounds
9. Joe Cole (West Ham United) 21 million pounds
10. Petr Cech (Chelsea) 20 million pounds
($1 = 0.6455 British pounds)
