YouTube earnings calculator — by niche, with Shorts
Type your monthly views for long videos and for Shorts, pick a niche and where most of your viewers live, and get an honest range instead of a single magic number. If you already have an RPM in YouTube Studio, type it in: your real number beats any estimate.
Estimate your earnings
Estimated earnings per month
$510 – $1,250
≈ $6,120 – $15,000 per year
- Long-form videos
- $500 – $1,200
- RPM $5.00–$12.00
- Shorts
- $10.00 – $50.00
- RPM $0.02–$0.10
Formula: views ÷ 1,000 × RPM. RPM is what you keep per 1,000 views after YouTube's share (55% of watch-page ad revenue for long-form, 45% of the Shorts creator pool), counting views without ads too.
Facts from YouTube Help (checked Nov 6, 2026): RPM, revenue share, eligibility. Niche ranges are estimates from third-party blogs (YouTube doesn't publish RPM by niche): fluxnote.io, easyviral.ai. The region factor and the Shorts RPM are our own rough assumptions. Not financial advice.
You earn ad revenue only inside the YouTube Partner Program: 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 valid public watch hours in 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million valid Shorts views in 90 days.
Next step: start this channel without showing your face
How YouTube earnings are calculated
YouTube Help defines RPM (revenue per mille) as what you earn per 1,000 views after YouTube's share, counting all views — including the ones that showed no ad. That makes the math simple: monthly views ÷ 1,000 × RPM. The hard part is knowing your RPM before you have a channel, which is why this calculator shows a low and a high value for every niche.
Don't confuse RPM with CPM. CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube's share and only on views with ads, so it's always higher. Creators who quote a “$20 CPM” may be earning a third of that per view.
Why the niche changes everything
Advertisers pay more to reach people who are about to spend: investors, business owners, software buyers. That's why finance and tech explainers often earn several times more per view than gaming clips or meme compilations. YouTube doesn't publish RPM by niche, so the ranges here come from third-party reports and are rounded down on purpose — expect your first months to sit at the low end.
Audience location matters just as much. The same video earns far less per view when most viewers are in regions where advertising is cheaper, so the calculator applies a rough factor by region.
Shorts money vs long videos
Shorts are paid differently: ad revenue from the Shorts feed goes into a creator pool, and creators keep 45% of what's allocated to them based on their share of views (long-form keeps 55% of net ad revenue). In practice, Shorts earn cents per 1,000 views, so they work best as a way to grow the channel that feeds your long videos.
To earn from ads at all, you need to join the YouTube Partner Program: 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 public watch hours in 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million Shorts views in 90 days.
Faceless channels and repetitive content
Faceless channels can be monetized, but YouTube's monetization policies don't reward mass-produced or repetitive videos. Your own script, voice and editing matter more than the tools you use. A talking character can be your recurring host, as long as each video brings something new.
Questions
- How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?
- It depends on your RPM, which varies by niche and audience. Long-form RPMs often range from about $1 to $30; Shorts usually earn a few cents per 1,000 views. Your exact number is in YouTube Studio.
- How much do 1 million views make?
- With an RPM of $3, about $3,000; with $15, about $15,000. On Shorts, 1 million views typically make tens of dollars, not thousands.
- Are these numbers guaranteed?
- No. They're estimates to help you plan, based on YouTube's formula and third-party ranges. Not financial advice.
- Do I need a face on camera to earn?
- No. Faceless channels are eligible as long as the content is original and follows YouTube's policies.
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