YTMoneyCalcHow much does YouTube actually pay?
Pick a niche, enter your views, and get an honest earnings range built from widely reported RPM bands — what creators keep per 1,000 views after YouTube's 45% cut. No single fake-precise number, because no honest one exists.
RPM = creator take-home per 1,000 views. Audience multipliers are rough adjustments, clearly labelled as approximate: mixed global ×0.6, mostly South Asia ×0.25, Tier-1 ×1.0. Try it: 100,000 monthly views, gaming, Tier-1 audience gives $100–$300/mo.
Try the reverse: views needed for a target income
Set a monthly goal and see roughly how many views it takes at the middle of your niche's band.
Reported RPM by niche (creator take-home)
These are widely reported 2026 ranges, not official YouTube figures — YouTube does not publish RPM by niche. They already reflect the creator's 55% share.
| Niche | RPM per 1,000 views | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & business | $8 – $20 | Banking, investing, SaaS and B2B audiences advertisers compete hard for. |
| Tech & software | $4 – $8 | Reviews, coding and software tutorials with strong purchase intent. |
| Education | $3 – $5.5 | Tutorials, language and study channels; steady but mid-value ads. |
| Lifestyle & beauty | $2 – $5 | Fashion, beauty, travel and daily life; wide advertiser mix. |
| Gaming | $1 – $3 | Huge view counts, younger audience, lower advertiser rates per view. |
| Entertainment & comedy | $1 – $3 | Viral potential, but general entertainment ads pay modestly. |
| Music | $0.5 – $2 | Short watch time and rights claims pull the effective rate down. |
| Kids & family | $1 – $3 | Made-for-kids content has restricted, personalised-ad limits. |
| Shorts (any niche) | $0.03 – $0.10 | Pooled Shorts ad revenue shared across creators; volume matters more than niche. |
Kids & family note: content set as made for kids runs limited or no personalised ads, which is why its effective band stays low despite large audiences.
Frequently asked questions
How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?
It depends on niche and audience. Reported creator RPM — what the creator keeps per 1,000 views after YouTube's cut — ranges from about $0.50–$2 for music to $8–$20 for finance with a Tier-1 audience. The table on this page shows the bands we use.
How much is 1 million views worth?
At those bands, 1 million long-form views is roughly $1,000–$3,000 for gaming, $4,000–$8,000 for tech, and $8,000–$20,000 for finance with a mostly US/UK/CA/AU audience. See the dedicated 1M views page for the full table.
What is RPM, and how is it different from CPM?
CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions before YouTube's cut. RPM is what lands with the creator per 1,000 views after the 55/45 revenue split. This calculator uses RPM, so the range shown is the creator take-home estimate.
How much do Shorts pay?
Shorts pay far less per view: reported RPM is about $0.03–$0.10 per 1,000 Shorts views, regardless of niche. One million Shorts views is therefore roughly $30–$100 from ads.
What do I need to join the YouTube Partner Program?
1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months, or 10 million valid Shorts views in the last 90 days, plus an AdSense account and policy compliance.
Does this include sponsorships or merchandise?
No. Every number here is ads only. Sponsorships, channel memberships, Super Thanks, merchandise and affiliate income can exceed ad revenue for many channels, and are excluded on purpose so the range stays honest.
YTMoneyCalc is an independent estimator and is not affiliated with YouTube or Google.