The internet is flooded with wild claims about YouTube riches—from 'anyone can become a millionaire' to 'it's impossible to earn a living.' If you're considering starting a YouTube channel or growing your existing one, you deserve some actual numbers, not more hype.

The short answer is: Most YouTubers earn between $5 and $15 per thousand views—though some make less while others rake in significantly more. Yes, that's a wide range, and for good reason.

Let's translate that: Your 100,000-view video might generate $500-$2,000. Then YouTube swoops in for its cut, leaving you with about $250-$1,000. Not exactly quit-your-job money for most creators, despite what the success stories suggest.

So how do savvy creators minimize YouTube's hefty commission? What can you realistically earn as a smaller channel without those aspirational six-figure view counts? And what about the YouTubers making millions—what's their actual secret? We're about to break down the numbers without the usual sugar-coating.

How YouTubers make money

One of the primary ways to monetize content is through advertising. YouTube creators can generally make money from two kinds of ad services.

YouTube AdSense: How creators get paid

First, there's AdSense, which is what allows advertisers to play video ads before and during your video. It also plays ads between Shorts, which can also provide creators with revenue.

One of the easiest ways to talk about this revenue is by talking about CPM, or Cost Per Mille. That refers to what an advertiser is paying for every 1,000 views their ad gets. You may also see terms like RPM, or Revenue Per Mille. This is what a YouTuber makes after YouTube takes their 45% for long-form content, or 55% for short-form content. Understanding these metrics is crucial when calculating how much YouTubers make from their videos.

Lots of factors affect your AdSense revenue and how much YouTubers earn. Advertisers can choose specific niches to advertise their content—think cars, beauty, wellness, or gaming. Some of those niches might be more expensive for advertisers due to high competition, which means higher rates for the creators in that niche.

For instance, a channel that reviews luxury cars might get higher CPMs from car manufacturers willing to target auto enthusiasts than a channel that reviews the latest news in literary theory.

VidIQ, a YouTube analytics company, identifies cooking, reaction, fitness and music channels as niches with generally low CPMs.

Another factor that affects how much ad revenue you can make is your video length. While videos under 8 minutes might feature ads up front (pre-roll ads), videos longer than 8 minutes can feature additional mid-roll ads. Longer videos can ultimately support more ads, and create more revenue, if your viewers stick around to watch them.

The location of your audience can also significantly affect how much money you can make as a YouTuber. Countries with higher average incomes tend to be more expensive to advertise in, meaning viewers from those countries will net you more ad dollars. The U.S., for instance, tends to be one of the most expensive markets to target, with CPM rates often 2-3 times higher than in many developing countries.

Seasonality can also affect your ad revenue. Consumer product advertising tends to ramp up in holiday months, leading to higher CPMs.

Sponsorships: How brands pay YouTubers

The other source of ad revenue on YouTube is through direct sponsorships. These are ads that usually involve a video host speaking about a product or service directly, and rates are negotiated between the creator and the sponsor. YouTube doesn't take a share of these deals. For many successful YouTubers, sponsorships can represent 50-70% of their total income.

Like AdSense ads, CPMs are dictated by the niche. And having a specific niche will help command a higher CPM. If a company wants to target "people making podcasts," they'll have a better success rate advertising on the "how to make a podcast" channel than a general interest channel about news, sports, or games.

Updated YouTube earnings data for 2025

As of January 2025, top creators like MrBeast can approach an estimated $85 million in annual revenue, underscoring the platform’s potential for profitability according to one data source. Audience demographics and content niche remain dominant factors in determining a channel’s CPM range. In some high-income regions like the U.S. and parts of Europe, CPM rates can soar above $20 as reported by statisticians. That means even mid-level YouTubers can earn significant monthly income if they cultivate devoted international audiences. However, stiff competition among advertisers and shifting viewer interests make consistent engagement a more reliable indicator of future earnings than raw subscriber counts alone. Channel owners who adapt their strategies to suit evolving advertiser demands often see the largest year-over-year growth in monetization.

How many views do YouTubers need to earn money?

To make money from AdSense on YouTube, you need to get into the YouTube Partner Program. The criteria are as follows:

You need at least 1,000 subscribers, plus either:

• 4,000 hours of watch time on your content in the last year or
• 10 million views on your shorts in the last 90 days

Creators in the YouTube Partner Program also need to abide by all of YouTube's monetization policies.

How much do new YouTubers make when starting out?

If you've just cracked 1,000 subscribers, what can you expect to make? It depends entirely on your niche and video views—having a breakout video could increase revenue for weeks. Generally, YouTubers with 1,000 subscribers might earn between $20-$200 per month if they're consistently posting and getting decent viewership.

But it helps to hear from smaller creators to understand the range you might expect. In a Reddit thread, one creator in the travel niche with 1,370 subscribers commented they were making $100 a month off of 23,000 views. Another with 1,250 subscribers reported making $83 in their first week. Yet another creator with 6,000 subscribers only makes $60 per month. It's a wide range!

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Guidance on transitioning from part-time to full-time YouTube income

Many creators find that hitting around 10,000 daily views is a practical threshold for leaving their day job behind. Aiming for at least 50,000 subscribers can also help solidify recurring ad revenue and brand deals as shown in recent data. Multiple income streams, such as affiliate marketing or merchandise, can increase financial stability and mitigate seasonal ad fluctuations. Creators should also track key metrics like watch time and subscriber growth to evaluate when the leap to full-time is truly feasible. While consistent, high-quality uploads are critical, so is understanding audience feedback and pivoting content strategies. By focusing on engagement and careful business planning, many smaller channels can rapidly scale to support full-time work within a year.

YouTuber earnings from 1,000 to 1 million subs

As your channel grows, sponsorship opportunities can help supplement your AdSense revenue. Your audience size and dedication may even enable a sustainable amount of revenue from memberships or merchandise.

Like AdSense, sponsorship rates can vary widely by niche. They also are usually calculated using CPM. And broadly speaking, those tend to be between $30 and $70, though many creators have probably taken deals in the $10–$20 range. Some brands, especially e-commerce brands or mobile games, might prefer to pay out based on sign-ups or sales made. In my own experience, these are usually lower-quality deals reserved for creators without much bargaining power. YouTubers with dedicated audiences can often negotiate much better terms.

Though you can't exactly determine how well your sponsored video will do, advertisers often will set a fixed price based on estimated views or choose to pay for actual views (though they often set a cap, in case a video goes viral and beyond their budget).

The wide range of CPMs might seem confusing, but it speaks to the importance of having a strong business plan if you want to take your channel from a hobby to a career.

Many creators also supplement their income by launching brands or selling products. That might mean selling merch like T-shirts, but there are also more ambitious example like MrBeast's line of Feastable chocolates. Creators can use the YouTube's shopping features to promote their products.

Another strategy is membership programs, either through YouTube's own membership feature or something like Patreon. These memberships allow fans to pay monthly to earn access to additional content or perks from the creator.

YouTube's affiliate program provides yet another revenue stream. It allows creators to tag products in their videos and receive a commission if they're purchased. This feature is only available for creators with more than 15,000 subscribers.

How much mid-sized YouTubers actually make

For a look at what these mid-sized creators can actually make, let's look at two examples.

Celine, a creator with 31,000 subscribers, made $5,500 from a little under a million views.

Creator Katie Steckly, with 272,000 subscribers, reports making over $217,000 in brand deals in 2023, a sizeable portion of her $500,000 income that includes courses and digital products. Only $43,000 came from AdSense.

How much do YouTubers make with 1 million subscribers?

While new creators might think hitting 1 million subscribers is a pie-in-the-sky goal, the reality is that it's not that rare: there are 25,000–30,000 channels with 1 million subscribers.

If one of these channels published one video that got 1 million views, here's what they might make: between $2,000 and $10,000 from AdSense revenue alone, depending on their niche, audience location, and time of year. When you add sponsorships and other revenue streams, a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers could potentially earn $10,000-$30,000 per video.

• In AdSense revenue: Between $5,000 and $20,000, though YouTube will take 45% of that for its long-form revenue share.
• From brand deals: With a good brand deal, they could make between $30,0000 and $70,000.
• The brand deal might preclude you from pushing your own products or memberships, but in theory that could yield even more money.

It's entirely possible a channel with 1 million subscribers can make less money than a smaller channel with half those subscribers. Even if views are consistent, a channel reviewing music releases might not have the same opportunities as a channel that gives in-depth editing tutorials, and can sell both editing classes and sponsorships for editing software. This highlights why subscriber count alone doesn't determine how much YouTubers make.

Thomas Frank, a productivity YouTuber who started covering the note-taking app Notion, has the best of both worlds. He has nearly 3 million subscribers and makes over $100,000 many months selling his own ‎Notion templates.

How much do the highest-earning YouTubers make?

According to Forbes, in 2022 the highest-paid YouTubers were:

• MrBeast: $54 million
• Jake Paul: $45 million
• Markiplier: $38 million

FAQ

How much does a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers make?

While it can vary wildly based on views and ad rates, one YouTuber with roughly a million subscribers reported making between $14,600 and $54,600 a month. In general, a YouTuber this size might expect to make between $2.50 and $10 for every thousand views they get, after YouTube takes its revenue share. Larger channels can also make hundreds of thousands of dollars between direct sales, brand deals, and memberships.

How much does a YouTuber with 100k subscribers make?

If a 100,000-subscriber channel regularly gets 100,000 views on their videos, they could make between $500 and $1,500 per video from AdSense. Those videos might also receive between $3,000 and $7,000 for a brand deal (though it could be lower), or even more if the channel sells their own products directly. This means a mid-sized YouTuber could potentially earn $40,000-$100,000 annually with consistent posting.

How much money do YouTubers make per 1 million views?

YouTube pays between $5,000 and $7,000 for 1 million views, Hootsuite reports. But it can vary wildly based on what countries your viewers are in, your content niche, and the time of year. Finance, business, and technology channels typically earn on the higher end, while gaming and entertainment often earn less per view.

What is the average income of a YouTuber?

YouTubers in the YouTube Partner Program can make between $5 and $15 for every thousand views, but after YouTube takes its portion of the revenue, it might be closer to $2.50–$7.50. Many channels supplement this with brand deals and affiliate deals.

How might CPM rates change globally in 2025?

According to a recent study, some high-income countries could see CPM rates extend beyond $20, while emerging markets might remain under $5. Advertiser competition will likely tighten as more brands pivot to video marketing. This environment can lead to unpredictable but potentially lucrative earning spikes for well-positioned creators. Still, niche specificity and consistent engagement often matter more than location alone. Monitoring global ad trends can help smaller channels adapt their strategies accordingly.

Do sponsorships or ad revenue offer higher earning potential?

Sponsorships often provide larger upfront payouts, especially for creators with engaged audiences as indicated by recent creator studies. In fact, a single sponsorship deal can sometimes out-earn multiple videos’ worth of ad revenue. However, sponsorship income can fluctuate due to company budgets and seasonal campaigns. Meanwhile, ad revenue offers steadier, long-term income once you meet viewer and watch-hour thresholds. Balancing both streams typically yields the highest overall earnings.