How Much do YouTubers Make in 2021: 100+ Channel Study + Calculator

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“How much money can I actually make on YouTube???” 

Jump straight to the YouTube Income Calculator!

If you’re thinking about starting a channel, or if you are working hard to grow your channel, chances are you’ve asked this question at some point!

I watched over 110 YouTuber’s income reports, and compiled the data to give you real world answers. 

In my study based on 100 channels, the average revenue paid to YouTube creators was $6.40 per 1,000 views (RPM). The median RPM was $4.38. This means that these YouTubers earn between $4,380 and $6,400 on 1 million views. Amounts will vary by niche and other factors.

In this article we will look at numbers from this study, official numbers from YouTube, and several other third party resources to obtain accurate information about how much you can make on YouTube.

Let’s dig in and figure out exactly how much YOU can expect to make on YouTube!

How much can you make on Youtube?

The amount that you can make with YouTube is truly unlimited. However, there are MANY factors that go into determining your potential earnings. 

I’ll go over how YouTube monetization works later in this article, but for now let’s look at some real examples of how much people are earning on YouTube. 

Top earning channels

Do you ever stop and wonder how much the TOP YouTubers are making? It seems like I see a new clickbait headline every few weeks with some wildly random guess about how much famous YouTubers make. 

The truth is, unless a YouTuber discloses how much they earn, we can only estimate based on industry averages and public metrics. 

Even if we can guess how much top earners make through ad revenue, it would be almost impossible to guess how much YouTuber’s make through sponsorships, since every deal is unique, and most include a non-disclosure agreement. 

However, using tools like Social Blade or other online articles (like this one from Forbes), we can get a baseline estimate for how much top YouTubers could be earning.

Top YouTuber Earnings in 2021

Note that there are likely other YouTube channels making even more money, but here are 10 famous YouTubers and their estimated annual earnings.

ChannelSubscribersEst. Revenue
Pewdiepie (Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg)109 million15-60 million (estimates vary wildly)
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)52.7 million25-30 million
Ryan’s World (Ryan Kaji)28.3 million25-30 million
Dude Perfect55.1 million20-25 million
Like Nastya (Anastasia Radzinskaya)~202 million18-20 million
Preston Arsement~35 million15-20 million
Markiplier (Mark Edward Fischbach)28.3 million15-20 million
Jeffree Star16.7 million15-17 million
Logan Paul22.8 million10-15 million
David Dobrik18.7 million10-15 million

Highest CPM YouTube niches

The amount that YouTube pays creators (and the amount advertisers are willing to pay for placements) is different for every niche.

A few key things that increase the CPM of a niche on YouTube:

  • Advertisers have more money to spend (often because they offer a high ticket product)
  • There are a large number of advertisers willing to compete on placement
  • The top channels attract an affluent audience
  • The top channels attract an audience likely to spend money
  • The content is generally “advertiser friendly”

Highest paying categories on YouTube

The CPM or RPM for any given category will have a wide range, as there are also many channel specific factors that dictate how much a YouTuber earns. These numbers are averages from 100 channels that I studied, and should only be used as a comparative estimate. 

These are often great categories for small YouTubers to make a decent income without needing millions of views or subscribers.

NicheCPMRPM
Make Money Online35.7819.68
Real Estate23.2912.81
Personal Finance22.3512.29
Investing19.7910.88
YouTube / Content Creation16.859.27
Business12.476.86
Tech7.604.18

Categories with typically low CPMs

In these categories, the revenue per thousand views is often significantly lower. However, they sometimes have higher potential viewership and the top channels can still perform very well.

Small Youtubers in these categories often struggle to gain traction in the beginning.

NicheCPMRPM
Beauty5.422.98
Gaming5.282.90
Lifestyle / Vlogs4.732.60
Fitness3.051.68
Pranks / Humor1.180.65

YouTube Income Calculator

Do you want to find out how much your YouTube channel could earn, how much you would make with a viral video, or how much a certain number of subscribers could be worth? 

This calculator will let you enter a few simple metrics to estimate potential earnings from YouTube ads.  

Expected Channel Revenue

Revenue Per Video

Value of Subscribers (Per Video)

How much do you make on YouTube per month?

The amount you make each month on YouTube will mostly depend on total number of video views, and your CPM. A YouTuber who gets 1 million views per month and has an CPM of $4 would make around $2,200 per month.

Use the calculator on the “Channel” tab and the estimated CPM per niche chart above to estimate how much you could earn from Adsense. 

How much do you earn for 1 million views on Youtube?

If your video is monetized and advertiser friendly, you can expect to earn between $1,100 and $2,200 for 1 million views on YouTube. Many creators in my study reported making between $4,000 and $6,000 on 1 million views.

Use the calculator on the “Video” tab to see how much you would earn with various CPM rates.

How much do you earn with 1 million subscribers on YouTube?

When it comes to getting paid by YouTube, subscribers are not an important factor in how much you get paid. On average, a channel with 1 million subscribers might expect $300-600 from their subscribers for each new video.

This calculation assumes that 20% of your subscribers will watch each new video. Channels who drive more views from their subscribers may make much more than this. 

Some channels get 50-70% of their subscribers to watch every new video, while others are more like 8-10%. 

For example, many popular daily vloggers like Casey Neistat or The LaBrant Fam have over 12 million subscribers, and can regularly get 1-3 million views even on daily uploads. 

Subscribers can be important to sponsors, and may get their attention faster than metrics like views per video, so there are some situations where you may be able to make more money because of your subscribers.

Use the calculator on the “Subscriber” tab to figure out how much money your subscribers might earn you on a single video. 

How much does the average YouTuber make?

According to my survey, the average is $4-6 per 1,000 views. However, this is likely higher than the overall average, which is probably closer to $2 per 1,000 views based on estimates from large data aggregators like Social Blade. 

Since YouTube is SO large, it is hard to estimate what the “average” YouTuber makes. There are likely millions of monetized channels, and the majority of revenue likely flows to the top 20% of creators.

How much do small YouTubers make?

Small YouTubers who have made YouTube their full-time job usually make money with multiple streams of income. A YouTuber who gets 100,000 views per video can easily earn $100-200 per video from Adsense, and with a high RPM, some may earn $1,500 or more per video. 

Many small YouTubers make significantly more income through affiliate marketing, sponsored videos, and by selling their own products or services to their viewers. 

How does YouTube monetization work?

If you want to make money with your YouTube channel, there are quite a few methods that work very well. 

Most people who ask “how much does YouTube pay” want to know about Adsense revenue, but for many creators this is only a fraction of the income they generate because of their YouTube channel. 

Ads

YouTube generates revenue by selling ads and placing them on YouTube videos. There are several types of ads including bumper ads, skippable ads, and overlay ads. The advertisers are charged each time their ad plays. 

If a channel owner is part of the YouTube partner program, YouTube pays the creator a percentage (55%) of the ad revenue generated by their videos. 

Requirements

To join the YouTube partner program, your channel needs to be in good standing, have at least 1,000 subscribers, and at least 4,000 hours of watch time on your public videos. You must also be at least 18 years old, or have a legal guardian who can handle your payments. 

The YouTube Creator Academy has an entire course on meeting the requirements to monetize your channel

CPM

CPM stands for “Cost Per Mille” (pronounced like mill), which means cost per 1,000 views. 

Advertisers bid on placements on your videos, and the amount they pay for placements on 1000 monetized playbacks is the “CPM.” Often when talking about CPM, it is the average rate advertisers paid for ad placements on a particular video or the entire channel. 

When you multiply your channel’s views by the average CPM (and divide by 1,000), you will get the gross revenue generated by ads on your channel. YouTube still takes a percentage (generally 45%), and the remaining amount is what the creator gets paid by YouTube. 

RPM

RPM stands for “Revenue Per Mille” and represents the actual payout to the creator per 1,000 views. A rough estimate of RPM can be found by multiplying the CPM by .55 (55% of the CPM). 

Technically, RPM also includes other channel features and Premium revenue share, and is based on all video plays, even if they are not monetized. If you find that RPM is not ~55% of CPM, this may be why. 

Google has an official support document outlining the difference between CPM and RPM if you want to dig into the specifics. 

Do Youtubers get paid if you skip the ads?

Advertisers can choose to pay only when ads are clicked, or only when at least 30 seconds of an ad is viewed. If none of these conditions are met on a skippable ad, the creator will generally not get paid for the view if the ad is skipped. 

YouTubers can still earn revenue if you watch a different ad on their video (like a mid-roll ad), if you are a YouTube Premium subscriber, or if they monetize the video in other ways.

YouTube Premium (Previously YouTube Red)

YouTube Premium allows an ad-free YouTube experience. When a YouTube Premium subscriber views your videos, you will not be paid for ad plays. However, if you are part of the YouTube Partner Program, you will receive a share of the revenue generated by YouTube Premium. 

Channel Features

Youtube offers several other options to monetize your channel, outside of ads. Each feature has its own requirements and revenue share. 

Superchat & Stickers

Superchat or Superstickers give the ability for live viewers to “tip” a creator to pin their comment or sticker to the top of the chat. 

YouTube keeps approximately 30% of Superchats and the creator gets the other 70%. 

Channel Memberships

Enabling channel memberships allows people to join a channel for a monthly fee. You can offer benefits to channel members such as badges, emojis, and exclusive video content. 

Youtube keeps 30% of channel memberships as their fee.

Some sources say you need 30,000 subscribers to enable memberships, but in other places YouTube says the feature is being rolled out to channels with over 1,000 subscribers. 

Merch Shelf

Merch Shelf allows channels to showcase their official merch right on YouTube. 

To enable Merch Shelf, you’ll either need 10,000 subscribers, or an official music video channel. 

Sponsors / Paid promotions

Whenever you have an audience that wants to hear from you, advertisers will often be interested in getting you to make an official endorsement for their brand. 

YouTube allows creators to do custom endorsements on their videos, as long as a few guidelines are met. You are required to disclose paid promotions, and you are not allowed to insert “commercials” provided by companies into your videos (since that is the service YouTube sells with their ad platform). 

I’ve seen several “rules of thumb” for estimating how much you should charge for sponsored videos, including: 

  • $500 per 10,000 page views (average of your past 6 videos) for a 60-90 second spot.
  • With 1 million subscribers, most sponsors offer between $4,000-20,000 per video.
  • $20-$30 per 1,000 views based on your last 10 videos. 

Let’s just say that if you get around 10,000 views on each video, a good rule of thumb is to start negotiations between $300-500 per sponsored video. You can adjust based on demand.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is when you send your audience to someone else’s product in exchange for a commission. 

One of the most popular examples of this with YouTubers is Amazon Associates. Many creators will list the gear they use to create their videos or items they used in the video and link to Amazon where viewers can buy the product. Amazon generally pays 1-4% on any purchase that visitor makes within 24 hours. 

Many other companies (large and small) offer affiliate programs, and some pay 50% or more for referrals. For many YouTube channels, affiliate income is among the highest of revenue sources.

Merch / Product / Course / Consulting Sales

Perhaps the MOST valuable way to monetize your YouTube channel is by selling your own product. 

For some channels, this may be as simple as merch or branded products. For others, it may be a course or digital product. If you offer a local service or have a storefront your YouTube channel can drive customers who are eager to buy your product. 

The possibilities for selling your own products are endless, and YouTube can be a great way to increase your sales. One of my consulting clients makes about 50x their monthly adsense revenue by selling products in their online store. Even small channels can make a significant income if they have a product to sell.

How much YouTube paid me videos

There is a popular trend where YouTubers create a video showing how much YouTube paid them. The trend really started to spread when Shelby Church created an income report video that went mildly viral. 

I searched YouTube to find a list of these videos, added them to a spreadsheet, and watched every single one all the way through. 

While I watched, I not only made notes when the creators gave helpful tips, but also recorded the numbers they reported in their videos. 

I also looked at the creator’s channel to determine the number of subscribers (at the time of creating the spreadsheet), their niche, and their geographical region. 

Some videos reported how much they were paid on a single viral video, some reported the lifetime earnings of their channel, and some reported how much they made in a specific timeframe (usually a year or a month). 

I tried to standardize the reporting by breaking down revenue per month, revenue per view, and by giving an RPM instead of a CPM for each channel. 

Below is a table listing the videos included in the CPM calculations for this post. I watched at least 20 more videos, but threw out any that were not in English or where they did not give enough specific details to calculate RPM. 

If you’d like to see the entire spreadsheet with all numbers calculated from these videos, it is available as a free bonus for subscribing to my email list where I’ll send updates with future YouTube related content!

ChannelIncome report VideoSubscribersRPM
Marissa RomeroThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For My 500,000 Viewed Video (not clickbait)126,00031.56
TommyBrysonHow much did YouTube Pay me for 50k views247,00029.63
Start Starting UpHow Much YouTube Pays You For 1,000 Views In 202054,50022.51
Richard FainHow Much Money YouTube Paid Me for 1,000,000 Views In 30 Days172,00018.82
Ryan Pineda ShowI Can’t Believe How Much YouTube Paid Me (Monetization)29,20018.69
Not Taught At SchoolThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For 450,000 Views51,80018.13
Graham StephanHow Much I Make With 1 Million Subscribers2,380,00016.59
Hey JessicaHow Much YouTube Has Paid Me in the Last Year | How much do YouTubers make?93,10014.19
Aubrey JanikThis is How Much YouTube Paid Me For 1,000,000 Views29,60014.12
Clark KegleyThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For My 2,800,000 Viewed Video (not clickbait)375,00011.94
MamaFurFurThis is HOW MUCH Youtube PAID ME for 2 MILLION VIEWS – 43k Subscribers Income44,20011.73
ThisisJohnWilliamsHow Much Youtube Paid me | 25,000 Subscribers – Personal Finance & Real Estate Niche29,80011.29
Charlie ChangHOW MUCH MONEY YOUTUBE PAYS ME! [100,000 Subscribers]154,00011.28
Investing EngineeredHow Much YouTube PAID ME in my First 3 Months Monetized!16,60010.42
Kat TheoHow Much YouTube Paid Me | 1 million Views 2020220,00010.25
Spencer CorneliaHow Much YouTube Paid Me for 40k Subscribers | July 202071,9009.90
Learn to Make Honest Money OnlineThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For 1,000,000 Views (not clickbait)32,0009.44
Kevin DavidHow Much YouTube Paid Me in 20191,160,0009.40
Nikki MarieHow Much Youtube Paid Me For 700,000 Views? + Small Youtuber Monthly Pay13,1009.38
Leon AngusHow Much YouTube Paid me for 95,000 Views! [Income Report]3,9108.96
themissalliecakesHOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAID ME FOR MY VIRAL VIDEOS. *it’s shocking*420,0008.63
Meet KevinHow Much Youtube Paid me for 31 Days (30 million views)834,0008.46
LavishRubyMONEY MONDAYS | HOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAID ME FOR 5 MILLION VIEWS + HOW MUCH I CHARGE FOR SPONSORSHIPS191,0008.19
Tanner PlanesEXACTLY how much YouTube paid Me for a VIRAL Video94,5008.12
Dan LokHow Much YouTube Paid Me For My 1M+ Viewed Video (3 Little Known Factors)3,100,0007.91
H-EDUCATEHow much Money YouTube Paid Me for 1 Million Views! [ You Can Do It ]58,2007.69
Roberto BlakeMy YouTube Paycheck with 400K Subs // EXACTLY How Much Money YouTube Pays Me476,0007.43
Financial WolfHow Much Money YouTube Pays Me Per Month!54,6007.22
Budget GirlHow Much YouTube Paid Me for 5 Million Views – An Average Channel Income!64,3007.04
Cathrin ManningHow Much YouTube Paid Me My FIRST YEAR Being Monetized! // What you need to know about monetization245,0006.91
Natalie BarbuHow Much Money YouTube Has Paid Me (total) *NOT CLICKBAIT*2840006.84
Marissa LydaHOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAID ME FOR 700,000 VIEWS46,6006.27
S2Whow much youtube pays me1,750,0006.12
Gillian PerkinsHere’s how much YouTube paid me for TEN MILLION video views447,0006.04
JSL ReviewHow Much YouTube Paid me for 1 Million Views on my iPhone 11 Video105,0005.88
meghan pruitthow much money i make as a SMALL youtuber // first youtube paycheck?!?5,5905.79
Silicon Valley GirlHow much YouTube pays me every month380,0005.38
MaryjaneHow Much YouTube Paid Me for a 2 Million Viewed Video265,0005.34
Amanda MonroeHOW MUCH MONEY I MAKE ON YOUTUBE!! // SMALL YOUTUBER!! (not clickbait)39,9005.19
– SweetScale TV –How Much YouTube Paid Me!! FIRST YOUTUBE PAYCHECK – How much YouTube Pays A Small YouTuber17,0005.10
Cristi KerekesHow Much YouTube Paid Me For 5 Million Views – A YouTuber’s Life EP.57,6004.97
Emma RomanoHow Much YouTube Paid Me For My Video With 1.5 Million+ Views21,4004.92
ZacCoxTVHow Much Money Do YouTubers Get Paid? How Much I made for 20,000,000 views in ONE MONTH.663,0004.92
Hannah AshtonHow Much YouTube Paid Me | yearly, 100k views, 1M views (NOT CLICKBAIT)179,0004.91
Natural KaosHow Much Youtube Paid Me In 2019, ONLY 57K SUBS How much do SMALL YouTubers Make? 4K117,0004.67
Josh RyanHow Much I Make From Youtube With 11,000 Subscribers14,8004.50
AFC vendinghow much Youtube paid me for a 2 million viewed video54,1004.42
kelechi mgbemenaThis is How Much YouTube PAID Me For a Video With Over 500,000 Views! | Not Clickbait!94,4004.42
Shelby ChurchHow Much YouTube Paid Me in 2019 (with a million subscribers)1,580,0004.38
Rohini ElyseHOW MUCH MONEY I ACTUALLY MAKE ON YOUTUBE ????☕spilling the tea as a small youtuber!!106,0004.37
Annie LongHow Much YouTube Paid Me for my 2,000,000 viewed video270,0004.31
Sunny LenarduzziHOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAYS ME EVERY MONTH485,0004.24
The Jessica & Reece ShowHow Much Youtube Paid Me For 1 Million Views | My Advice For Starting Youtube44,9003.95
Reyes The Entrepreneurhow much youtube paid me for a 1 million viewed video373,0003.76
KJ HardrictThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me Last Year With 75,000 Subscribers!92,0003.70
Annie DubéThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For 100,000 VIEWS! (not clickbait)63,3003.46
Bailey ChiuHow Much YouTube Paid Me for 10k Views in 20202,1403.40
THAT ICELANDIC GUY.How I Make $4000/month on YouTube With Only 20K Subscribers32,3003.24
DavidVlasBusinessHow Much YOUTUBE PAID ME For 10 MILLION VIEWS…147,0003.23
AutoVlogHere’s How Much Youtube Paid Me For 134 MILLION Views! (Lifetime Youtube Earnings)568,0003.19
DNVlogsLife TVHow Much Youtube Paid Me For 3 MILLION VIEWS Videos AND I SHOW YOU HOW TO DO IT | DNVlogsLife180,0003.14
SyreeHOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAID ME FOR 300K VIEWS | How Much Small Youtubers Make 20204,8903.12
Swell Entertainmentwhat youtube paid me for 1 million views156,0002.99
Nate O’BrienHow Much YouTube Pays Me For 1 Million Views752,0002.98
I AM RIO P.How Much YouTube Paid Me for a 3 MILLION Viewed Video | I AM RIO P.130,0002.97
Jimmy Tries WorldHow Much Money Does My SMALL 20,000 Subscriber YouTube Channel Make?109,0002.96
Lauryn DoanTHIS IS HOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAYS ME FOR MY 10,000 SUBSCRIBER CHANNEL | 2019 Small YouTuber Statements92,1002.77
linguamarinaHow much YouTube pays me every month2,740,0002.61
Jodie DewberryEXACTLY How Much YouTube Pays Me Every Month! (As A Small YouTuber)26,0002.50
Hes KicksThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For My 100 MILLION VIEWS ((Lifetime Youtube Earnings)540,0002.48
IndiaBatsonThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For My 1,000,000 Viewed Video (not clickbait)366,0002.28
MattDoesFitnessHow much YouTube paid me for my 15,000,000 viewed video1,910,0002.13
Jazmine GarciaHow Much YouTube Paid Me for my 1,000,000 Viewed Video456,0002.06
More Plates More DatesHow Much YouTube Paid Me For A Video With 1 Million Views In Canada177,0002.04
Alex JayneHow Much YouTube Paid Me For 1,000,000 Views! (not clickbait) + Donating To My Adoption Agency36,9002.04
Ali AbdaalThis is How Much YouTube Pays Me1,070,0001.91
by Brianna NicholeHow Much YouTube Paid Me For A Video With 250,000 Views ????6,4901.83
Kate Lihow much youtube paid me for my 1,000,000 viewed video *SPILLING EVERYTHING*104,0001.59
Doctor Mike DiamondsHow much YouTube paid me for my 24,000,000 viewed video507,0001.58
Marina MogilkoHow much YouTube pays me every month1,220,0001.43
Payton FrantzHow Much Youtube Paid Me As A Small Youtuber13,4001.40
Pennies Not PerfectionHow Much YouTube Paid Me For 2 Million Views | YouTube Ad Revenue Real Numbers14,9001.21
King JoshHow Much Youtube Paid Me For My Viral Video With 3,000,000 Views?? $1,000 in 30min.58,6001.14
artofkickzHow Much YouTube Paid Me For 3,000,000 Monthly Views646,0001.08
SWOOPHow Much YouTube Paid Me for 1 MILLION VIEWS *shocking*215,0001.04
BrowneyHow Much Money YouTube Paid Me For My 10,000,000 Viewed Video781,0000.95
SunnyThis Is How Much YouTube Paid Me For 1,000,000 Views487,0000.62
SpathHow Much YouTube Paid Me For 1 Million Views (Gaming)16,7000.56
Swati DhunnaThis is How much Youtube Paid Me For My 1 MILLION VIEWED Video (NOT CLICKBAIT)123,0000.50
Brandon HardingHow Much YouTube Paid Me for a 12,000,000 View Video…569,0000.46
Living in ChinaHow Much YouTube Paid Me for my 5,400,000 Viewed Video (not clickbait) YouTube Money ????19,2000.44
Michelle AnyangoHOW MUCH YouTube paid me for a video 300,000 views|Michelle Anyango3,0000.41
Joe FazerHow Much Money YouTube Paid Me for a 26 Million View Video206,0000.31
Austin CampbellHow much YouTube paid me for 13 million views82,3000.29
Zaib SheikhHOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAID ME FOR 1 MILLION VIEWS (with proof)48,0000.29
AllyLawsLifeHOW MUCH YOUTUBE PAID ME FOR A 20 MILLION VIEWS VIDEO!279,0000.24
Garima’s Good LifeIndian Youtuber’s Income Revealed | 1 Million Subs = How Much Money? | Garima’s Good Life1,150,0000.17
Rachel PedersenHow Much Money YouTube Paid Me For 2.9 Million Video Views49,3000.16
Isaac & AndreaHow Much YouTube Paid Me For 100k Viewed Video!89,4000.16

Additional Notes: 

  • The overall trend for doing these videos skews toward the “make money online” niche, which generally has a high CPM. Therefore, the averages from this study are likely high if compared to overall YouTube averages.
  • Some creators gave numbers for their entire channel, and some gave only for monetized playbacks. This will have some impact on the accuracy of RPM. 
  • Some creators reported long timeframes, even though the majority of their revenue was from a short period. This impacts average revenue per month. 
  • 100-120 videos is still a small sample size, but this data gives real-world insight into how much YouTube pays in different scenarios. 
  • The study was done at the end of 2020, and most videos were created in 2019 or 2020. I have watched several follow up videos since, and the numbers seem to still be good estimates for 2021, even with changes in how YouTube places ads on non-monetized channels.
  • I did my best to make accurate calculations, but mistakes are possible. These numbers are presented as estimations only. Your results may vary significantly.

Tips to make more money on YouTube

In the 100+ videos where successful YouTubers revealed their income, they also gave plenty of tips about making money on YouTube. 

This isn’t advice from marketers or “industry experts,” but from real YouTubers who have learned with real-world experience. 

The snippets below aren’t DIRECT quotes from the YouTubers, but my notes after watching their videos (the video is linked below each snippet). 

Mid roll ads increase revenue significantly – Make videos over 10 minutes long.
An experiment by S2W showed that a single video can significantly outperform channel averages if YouTube thinks it is about a high value topic.
YouTube now allows videos over EIGHT minutes long to place mid-roll ads
Even with 50,000 subscribers, I was making less than $2,000 per year
Subscribers don’t matter, other than to give you a base of people who are likely to watch your videos.
RPM fluctuates drastically daily. This is based on what advertisers are currently paying, but also your channel’s demographics.
Put an ad right before the “reveal” in the video. People will watch through an ad to find out the thing they clicked the video to find.
To get a video to go viral, you need to upload great content consistently – one will eventually take off
In the reactions niche, you need half a million subscribers to really keep revenue consistently around 4-5k/mo
Videos that rank well and get views from search often have a higher CPM than videos that go viral
Make sure your videos are advertiser friendly – language and content that is not family friendly can cause your CPM to go down
Don’t use copyrighted music, YouTube can demonitize them even months later
There is so much money you can be making because of your YouTube channel, even before you are “monetized”
Seasonal videos can pick up steam again each year as new people discover them, or subscribers rediscover them (like prom vids in April)
The amount of money that any YouTuber makes is going do depend on how seriously they take their channel as a business.
To increase your CPM, search for keywords with high CPC on Google
Videos with a strong call to action for the audience are more valuable for advertisers (Invest, lose weight) – Audience wants to change their lives
Starting YouTube to make money is the worst mistake. I put in 4 months of full time work for no pay.
The days that I made the most were the days I uploaded a new video
Make sure your settings allow YouTube to place ads on your previous videos when you are monetized

4 responses to “How Much do YouTubers Make in 2021: 100+ Channel Study + Calculator”

  1. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Wow, talked about a ton of detailed info! Just goes to show that YouTuber’s really don’t make most of their money from AdSense. Affiliate links, sponsored videos, and merch sales go a long way, even for small YouTubers.

  2. Bill Geoghegan Avatar
    Bill Geoghegan

    Great content. This would have gotten a million views if it were a Youtube video!

  3. Leigh Ann Avatar
    Leigh Ann

    I’m trying to leave a comment asking about your opening, but it will not let me copy & paste.

    I was interested, but in the beginning, you started using “RPM”

    I looked hard for this acronym, couldn’t figure it out, so I gave up ????????????

    I was interested, but,….

    So glad the “average” person understands it, but I don’t ~ I so needed help because I’m in between a rock & a hard place (AKA: Divorce)

    Thanks and Good Luck!!

    Love ❤️ You

    ????

    1. Corey Potter Avatar

      Click this and it should take you to the part of the post that explains RPM: https://coreypotter.com/how-much-youtubers-make/#rpm

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