How Much Money Do YouTubers Make? (2024 Data)

Have you ever wondered how much YouTubers make on YouTube?

Many articles are published about the earnings of YouTube’s top creators, including YouTube stars like MrBeast and Pewdiepie.

But how much do smaller creators make?

In this post, we take a look at multiple sources of data to determine this amount.

Let’s get into it.

How much money do YouTubers make? An overview

How do YouTubers make money?

YouTubers are social media influencers who generate revenue from a few different sources. They generate revenue from YouTube itself as well as a few off-platform sources.

From YouTube, which is owned by Google, creators earn money through ad revenue, channel memberships and super chats, YouTube’s live donation system.

Off platform, YouTubers earn revenue through sponsorship deals, affiliate marketing, their own products and third-party membership sites like Patreon, all of which they’re able to promote through the videos they upload to their channels.

You can learn more about making money on YouTube from our post on the best proven tactics to use to make money on YouTube. We’ll summarize the YouTube-centric tactics here:

• Ad Revenue – Ads play before, after and during YouTube videos. Typically, creators can choose how often ad rolls play, though different versions of the YouTube app (Android, Roku, PS5, etc.) may have more or less ad rolls.
• Channel Memberships – YouTube’s built-in membership programs. They’re available in multiple tiers, which YouTubers can charge $1-$99 for.
• Super Chats – YouTube’s built-in live donation system.

We’ll call YouTube Premium a bonus revenue stream.

YouTube Premium is YouTube’s own membership program. Along with exclusive content, YouTube Premium users get access to ad-free videos.

When a YouTube Premium user watches a YouTuber’s video, that creator gets a small cut of their membership fee.

How much do YouTubers make from YouTube itself?

Let’s talk about the ad revenue YouTubers receive from YouTube.

We’ll get to real numbers in a bit. For now, let’s talk about the revenue split YouTubers and Google receive from a YouTuber’s earnings.

In order to start making money from YouTube, a YouTuber needs to be part of the YouTube Partner Program.

Before applying, a creator needs to adhere to YouTube’s community guidelines, have two-step verification enabled and have an active Google AdSense account.

In order to be eligible for the partner program, the creator must have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time.

Creators may also be eligible for the partner program if they have 1,000 subscribers and have received over 10 million views from YouTube Shorts over the last 90 days.

YouTube’s revenue split for ads

How much does YouTube pay creators for ads?

YouTubers keep 55% of the revenue they generate from ads while Google keeps the remaining 45%.

For ad revenue generated from Shorts, YouTubers keep 70% while Google keeps the remaining 30%.

For the most part, YouTubers are able to choose when ads appear in their videos, which allows them to control how often their videos get interrupted by ad breaks.

However, certain versions of the YouTube app are designed to play more ads than usual. If you watch a video through your browser or the mobile YouTube app, you may notice an ad at the start of the video and maybe one during.

However, if you watch that same video on a smart TV or console app, you may experience ad breaks every few minutes.

For the most part, the ads that play during a YouTuber’s video should align with their niche.

However, because Google also owns the mostly used search engine and browser on the web, they’re able to use cookies to align a viewer’s browsing history with the ads they see on YouTube.

YouTube’s revenue split for community-supported monetization

YouTubers keep 70% of the revenue they generate from channel memberships and super chats.

While Patreon and other membership sites for creators exist, YouTube has its own membership functionality built right into the YouTube platform.

Any YouTube Partner can enable channel memberships and begin earning revenue from it. They can even charge between $1 to $99 for each tier.

Along with the ability to support your channel, subscribers receive benefits like special badges being applied to their usernames in chat during livestreams, the ability to use special emojis you create, exclusive videos only subscribers can view and more.

Let’s talk about super chats.

Super chats are YouTube’s built-in live donation system. When a YouTuber is livestreaming, their viewers can donate to them in the form of super chats.

When they do, their donation amount and the message they apply to their donation will appear as a sticky message at the top of the stream’s live chat section.

It’s a highly interactive way to watch a creator’s livestream as creators will often take a moment away from the content they’re creating live to read super chats out loud.

These additional revenue channels are a fantastic option for YouTubers and are meant to keep the platform competitive with third-party platforms like Twitch and Patreon, but many YouTubers still only make money from advertising or brand deals.

Let’s talk about that.

How much do YouTubes make? (real data)

Multiple sources claim that data platforms like SocialBlade are highly inaccurate when it comes to a YouTube channel’s earnings.

Some say their revenue is less than what SocialBlade claims it is. Others say it’s more.

The problem comes from SocialBlade’s use of a global CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions), which they use to calculate every channel’s earnings. Because a channel’s CPM, which is sometimes referred to as RPM or revenue per mile, is determined by things like where their audience is located and what their niche is, every channel’s CPM is different.

Therefore, SocialBlade’s calculations will always be inaccurate.

So, how much do YouTubers make? Let’s go over data from a few other sources.

How much YouTubers make, according to YouTubers

According to Nicole, a YouTuber with 34,000 subscribers who makes personal finance videos, documented her earnings from her first six months of monetization on the platform.

Here’s a breakdown of how much she made from her first month of monetization to her six month of monetization:

• December 2022
  • Total Revenue: $880.06
  • Total Views: 278,100
  • Total Watch Time: 22,300 hours (this is why video length is important on YouTube)
  • Subscribers Gained: 7,000
• January 2023
  • Total Revenue: $1,580.61
  • Total Views: 271,100
  • Total Watch Time: 29,400 hours
  • Subscribers Gained: 4,100
• February 2023
  • Total Revenue: $4,006.96
  • Total Views: 428,200
  • Total Watch Time: 43,200 hours
  • Subscribers Gained: 6,800
• March 2023
  • Total Revenue: $1,489.72
  • Total Views: 116,000
  • Total Watch Time: 12,300 hours
  • Subscribers Gained: 1,100
• April 2023
  • Total Revenue: $1,095.50
  • Total Views: 79,200
  • Total Watch Time: 9,200 hours
  • Subscribers Gained: 232
• May 2023
  • Total Revenue: $892.86
  • Total Views: 63,700
  • Total Watch Time: 7,500 hours
  • Subscribers Gained: 166

In total, Nicole made $9,945.71 during her first six months of monetization on YouTube from 1,131,900. This means her CPM was roughly $8.79 per 1,000 views.

You should note that Nicole did not receive a full month of monetization in December.

You can also see how Nicole had two videos go semi-viral in February, which explains why that month saw higher numbers. Her views went back to normal the following month.

YouTubers make most of their money from ad revenue, which is determined by factors like the CPM a channel earns and how many views they receive.

Consistency is key, both in how often you upload and the level of quality your videos have.

Let’s hear from a slightly larger YouTuber.

How much does a YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers make?

Rockstar Eater is a travel food vlogger with 132,000 subscribers.

He uploaded a video in mid-2023 in which he stated he earned $5,600.60 over a 28-day period from 714,800 YouTube video views and 57,700 watch time hours.

This means his CPM is roughly $7.84. While this is only one month’s worth of data, this is less than Nicole’s average CPM. But because he gets more views, he also earns more revenue.

He also stated he uploads three videos per month and that 80% of his audience lives in the United States.

According to his video, his revenue for previous months was as follows:

• March – $5,952.91
• February – $5,688.49
• January – $7,930.19
• December – $9,066.74*
• November – $9,513.96*

*It’s widely known that Quarter 4 is the busiest time of the year for advertising due to the back-to-back holidays that occur during this time. Because advertisers spend more, YouTubers make more from ad revenue.

How much does a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers make?

YouTube creator Shelby Church, who makes tech and lifestyle videos on the platform, makes an income report for her channel every year.

In the report she uploaded to her YouTube channel at the start of 2023, she stated she made $145,631 in 2022.

She says this was from 15.1 million views, putting her CPM at around $9.64.

She also has a second channel for vlogging, which made $47,766.61 from 4.2 million views and 664,300 watch time hours.

This works out to a CPM of $11.37.

This channel has over 178,000 subscribers.

This puts her total YouTube earnings at $193,397.61.

How much do large YouTubers make, according to interviews?

Finance YouTuber Jordan Welch, who has 1.2 million subscribers, interviewed several YouTubers about how long it took them to make their first dollars and how much they currently make.

Here are the results, arranged by subscriber count based on the number of subscribers each channel had at the time the video was filmed:

• KwebbelKop
  • Subscribers: 15 million
  • How long it took to make $1.00: A few months
  • Best Month On YouTube: $1 million
• Airrack
  • Subscribers: 10 million
  • How long it took to make $1.00: After 200-300 videos
  • Best Month On YouTube: $480,000
• Jordan Welch
  • Subscribers: Just shy of 1 million
  • Best Month On YouTube: $61,000
• Fidias
  • Subscribers: 840,000
  • How long it took to make $1.00: 2 years
  • AdSense Earnings: $15,000/month
• Charlie Chang
  • Subscribers: 800,000
  • How long it took to make $1.00: 2 years
  • Best Month On YouTube: $245,000
• Tyler Blanchard
  • Subscribers: 560,000
  • How long it took to make $1.00: 1 year
  • Best Month with AdSense: $40,000

How much do YouTubers make from brand deals?

A brand deal, or sponsorships, is a special form of advertising used by many YouTubers as a secondary source of revenue and a deterrent for demonetization.

Demonetization is a pretty big issue threatening the livelihoods of small and large creators alike.

Basically, if YouTube’s automated algorithm feels as though your video violates its guidelines in any way, it’ll remove ads from that video entirely, essentially “demonetizing” it.

You have the right to appeal a video’s demonetization, but many YouTubers complain about the platform’s unfair, relentless and unpredictable responses to appeals.

However, if a YouTuber has a brand deal for each video they release, they don’t need to worry about monetization as much. We say “as much” because the previous section reveals just how useful YouTube’s built-in monetization channels are.

But how much do brand deals add to a YouTuber’s earnings?

According to Statista, the average maximum sponsored post rate was $16,234 in 2022.

This means that, on average, YouTubers receive $16,234 at most for sponsorship deals for a single video.

The average minimum rate for videos with over 1 million views was $2,500, or $0.0025 per view. The average minimum rate for videos with 500,000 to 1 million views was $1,105, or $0.00221 to $0.001105 per view.

For Shelby Church, who received 15.1 million views in 2022, this means an additional $16,685.50 to $37,750 in revenue, at minimum, for 2022.

Check out our post on YouTube statistics for more stats on this platform.

Who are YouTube’s top earners?

While SocialBlade’s data may be inaccurate, it still can be used as a way to determine who makes the most on the platform.

According to their data, T-Series has the highest number of video views and subscribers at 235 billion views and 251 million subscribers respectively.

SocialBlade estimates their monthly earnings to be between $613,600 and $9.8 million.

However, because they’re based in India, which has a lower CPM than the United States, let’s compare their stats with YouTube’s second most popular channel, MrBeast.

MrBeast has 202 million subscribers and 35 billion video views, which is much less than T-Series’.

However, because his channel is based in the United States, his monthly earnings are similar to T-Series’ at an estimated range of $659,300 to $10.5 million.

If we remove faceless brands from SocialBlade’s list, the next most-subscribed YouTuber is Pewdiepie, who has 111 million subs and 29 billion video views.

However, because he uploads much less frequently these days, compared to the many years he spent uploading videos on a daily basis, and is no longer making mainstream content, he has only generated 24.52 million video views over the last 30 days, which is far fewer than MrBeast’s 2.64 billion views over the last 30 days.

This puts Pewdiepie’s estimated earnings between $6,100 and $98,100 per month.

It’s important to note that MrBeast’s data is only taken from his main channel. He has several secondary channels and several copycat channels in different languages, so his earnings are much higher than that.

For example, his Spanish channel has 24.5 million subs and receives 28.65 million views per month. This puts this secondary channel’s estimated earnings between $7,200 and $114,600 per month.

Final thoughts

In spite of the rise of TikTok, YouTube is still a major platform used by thousands of creators today, and many YouTube creators still receive millions of views on a daily basis.

This is why so many YouTubers are able to launch their very own media empires from a YouTube channel alone.

Since its launch in 2005, YouTube has competed against, and in many ways succeeded, traditional forms of media, including network television and televised news.

Because it’s a major source for video content on the web, it’s also a major source for advertising, which has skyrocketed its influence in the media industry.

This article proves just how much YouTubers are able to make simply by uploading videos to YouTube alone.

While they can make even more money by accepting brand deals and utilizing affiliate marketing, YouTube itself is still a major source of revenue for YouTubers.