How Much Does YouTube Pay per 1,000 Views? CPM, RPM and Real Estimates

Search for how much YouTube pays and you will find answers from a few cents to many dollars per thousand views. They are all technically right, because they are measuring different things. The honest answer is that it depends on your audience, your niche and your video, and you can estimate it with four inputs.

CPM and RPM are not the same

CPM (cost per mille) is what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions. RPM (revenue per mille) is what you, the creator, actually earn per 1,000 video views after YouTube takes its share. RPM is always lower than CPM because:

• Not every view shows an ad. Some viewers use ad blockers, some videos or viewers are not eligible for ads, and some views are skipped before an ad plays.
• YouTube keeps a share. For standard long-form videos in the YouTube Partner Program, creators receive 55 percent of the net ad revenue.

If you have a channel, YouTube Studio shows both numbers for your own videos. The generic figures you see online are averages across very different channels.

The calculation

The YouTube Earnings Calculator multiplies four things:

1. Daily views.
2. The share of views that show an ad (40 to 70 percent is common; the tool starts at 60).
3. The CPM in dollars, divided by 1,000 per impression.
4. The 55 percent creator share.

Worked example: 10,000 daily views

Take 10,000 views a day, a $5 CPM and 60 percent of views showing an ad.

• Ad impressions: 10,000 × 0.60 = 6,000 a day.
• Gross ad revenue: 6,000 ÷ 1,000 × $5 = $30 a day.
• Creator share: $30 × 0.55 = $16.50 a day.
• Per month (365 ÷ 12 days): about $502. Per year: about $6,023.
• RPM: $16.50 ÷ 10,000 × 1,000 = $1.65 per 1,000 views.

So at a $5 CPM, a channel earns about $1.65 per thousand views, not $5.

How much the CPM matters

The same views at different CPMs, from the calculator's table:

CPM depends on who watches and what the video is about. Finance and software topics tend to attract higher bids from advertisers, and general entertainment tends to attract lower ones. Audience country also matters, because advertisers pay more to reach some markets. There is no single "YouTube rate".

Scaling by views

Earnings scale in a straight line with views if the other inputs stay constant. At a $4 CPM and 60 percent of views showing ads, 1,000 daily views earn about $1.32 a day (about $482 a year), and 100,000 daily views earn about $132 a day (about $48,180 a year). The ratio stays at an RPM of $1.32.

What this estimate leaves out

• Shorts are paid from a separate pool at a different share, so this covers long-form ads only.
• Memberships, Super Chat, merchandise, sponsorships and YouTube Premium revenue are not included, and for many creators they are a large part of income.
• Seasonality. Advertisers spend more in the last months of the year, so CPM rises and falls through the year.
• Eligibility. You need to be in the YouTube Partner Program, which has audience requirements that change. Check YouTube's current terms.

Using the estimate wisely

1. Start with your own RPM from YouTube Studio if you have one, and work backwards to a CPM.
2. Test a low, a middle and a high CPM to see the range.
3. Compare channel income with your costs and the hours you spend. A million views at $1 RPM is $1,000.
4. If you also run a website, the AdSense Revenue Calculator estimates ad income from page views, and how much a website can earn from AdSense explains the numbers.
5. To turn an income target into a monthly plan, the Savings Goal Calculator shows how long it takes to save for equipment, and the Percentage Calculator shows how much a rise in views or CPM changes the estimate.