YouTube money calculator
Creators who publish their earnings report median RPMs of about $4 to $11 per 1,000 long-form views, depending on the niche, and a few cents per 1,000 Shorts views. Enter your monthly views to estimate what your channel earns, using the RPMs creators in your niche published themselves.
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- RPMs from creators’ own disclosures
- Sources checked October 22, 2026
What YouTube pays by niche
Each niche's median is our calculation from the RPMs creators published about their own channels, with the creator and the year, on our YouTube CPM and RPM by niche research page. Treat them as a starting point: small samples, different years, and a single channel's RPM moves month to month with the season and the audience's country.
| Niche | Median RPM | 10,000 views | 100,000 views | 1 million views | Creators, years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal finance & investing | $10.96 | $110 | $1,096 | $10,960 | 6, 2021–2022 |
| Business, entrepreneurship & creator education | $8.44 | $84 | $844 | $8,440 | 3, 2015–2021 |
| Tech | $5.50 | $55 | $550 | $5,500 | 3, 2020–2023 |
| Travel | $5.11 | $51 | $511 | $5,110 | 4, 2023–2025 |
| Lifestyle & vlogs | $4.45 | $44 | $445 | $4,450 | 4, 2021–2023 |
How the calculator works
Earnings = views ÷ 1,000 × RPM. RPM is revenue per 1,000 views after YouTube's share, so 100,000 long-form views at a $5.50 RPM is 100 × $5.50 = $550. YouTube defines CPM as what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions and RPM as what the creator earns per 1,000 views, counting views with no ad as well (YouTube Help). Shorts use their own range, $0.04 to $0.30 per 1,000 views, from creators quoted by Business Insider in February 2023 and by Digiday in 2025.
How YouTube splits the money
On long-form videos YouTube pays partners 55% of net ad revenue from their public videos. Shorts ad revenue goes into a monthly pool, and creators get 45% of the revenue allocated to them by their share of Shorts views. Channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks pay creators 70% (YouTube Help, partner earnings overview, read October 22, 2026).
Before any of it pays
Ads only pay channels in the YouTube Partner Program: today 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months, or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. From February 1, 2027, new channels need 8,000 hours or 20 million Shorts views (YouTube Help). Our YouTube watch hours calculator shows how long your channel needs. Views come from packaging and pacing; see our free YouTube channel audit and guide to the YouTube KPIs that matter.
Sources: Mark Studios research: YouTube CPM and RPM by niche (each creator's disclosure linked) · YouTube Help: YouTube partner earnings overview · YouTube Help: revenue metrics (RPM and CPM) · YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility · YouTube Help: changes to the YouTube Partner Program (February 1, 2027) · Digiday: how YouTube Shorts revenue compares to long-form · Business Insider: what creators made in the first month of Shorts monetization.
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How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?
It depends on the niche. Creators who published their own numbers report median RPMs (revenue per 1,000 views, after YouTube’s share) of $10.96 in personal finance, $8.44 in business and creator education, $5.50 in tech, $5.11 in travel and $4.45 in lifestyle and vlogs. Individual months swing well above and below those medians, and Shorts pay a few cents to about 30 cents per 1,000 views.
How much does YouTube pay for 1 million views?
About $4,450 to $10,960 for long-form videos at the niche medians above, from lifestyle to personal finance, and roughly $40 to $300 for 1 million Shorts views at the RPMs creators have reported. Your own RPM in YouTube Analytics is the number to use once you have one.
What is the difference between RPM and CPM?
YouTube defines CPM as what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube’s share. RPM is what you earn per 1,000 video views, after the revenue share, and it counts every view, including those with no ad, plus memberships, Premium and Super Chat revenue. RPM is the number to plan with.
How much of the ad money does YouTube keep?
On long-form videos YouTube pays partners 55% of net ad revenue from their public videos on the watch page and in embedded players, so it keeps 45%. On Shorts, ad revenue is pooled and creators get 45% of the revenue allocated to them by their share of views. Channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks pay creators 70%.
How much do YouTube Shorts pay?
Much less per view than long-form. Creators told Business Insider they earned about $0.04 to $0.05 per 1,000 Shorts views in February 2023, the first month of Shorts revenue sharing, and creators quoted by Digiday in 2025 reported $0.15 to $0.30. The calculator uses that $0.04–$0.30 range.
When can a channel start earning from ads?
Once it joins the YouTube Partner Program: 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. From February 1, 2027, new channels need 8,000 hours or 20 million Shorts views. The watch hours calculator works out how long that takes.
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