There is no typical YouTuber income. Earnings range from nothing, for channels outside the Partner Program, to large sums for channels with big audiences and several income sources. What a channel makes depends on its views, its RPM and everything it earns outside YouTube’s ads.
Why you will not find a reliable average
YouTube does not publish creator earnings, and creators rarely share complete figures. The numbers quoted online usually come from a few channels that chose to talk, or from estimates built on guessed rates. They tell you little about a given channel.
What you can know is how the money is made. Then you can estimate your own income from your own numbers.
Money paid by YouTube
These sources require the YouTube Partner Program and appear in YouTube Studio:
- Ads on long videos, shown before, during or after the video.
- Ads in the Shorts feed, pooled each month and shared by engaged views; creators keep 45% of their allocation, according to YouTube Help.
- YouTube Premium: a share of subscription revenue when Premium members watch your videos.
- Channel memberships: viewers pay a monthly fee for perks. This feature has a lower entry threshold: 500 subscribers and 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, plus 3,000 public watch hours in the last 365 days or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.
- Supers: Super Chat and Super Stickers during live streams and Premieres, and Super Thanks on videos.
All of these are summed up in your RPM, your earnings per 1,000 views. See how YouTube pays per view.
Money from outside YouTube
- Sponsorships: a brand pays you to present its product. Prices are negotiated, not set by YouTube.
- Affiliate links: you earn a commission when viewers buy through your link. Tell viewers when a link pays you.
- Your own products: courses, merchandise, services, digital downloads.
- Licensing: media outlets and brands sometimes pay to reuse a video.
For some channels, these sources bring in as much as ad revenue, or more. They also work before you reach the Partner Program thresholds.
What decides how much a channel makes
- Views: the base of every income source.
- RPM: the value of each view, driven by topic, audience countries and season.
- Format: long videos and Shorts are paid differently.
- Audience trust: memberships, sponsors and affiliate sales depend on viewers who come back.
- Consistency: YouTube Help warns that monetization may be turned off after six months without uploads or posts.
Estimate your own income
Take your views and the RPM from YouTube Studio and enter them in the money calculator. Then add what you earn outside YouTube. Not yet in the program? The monetization checker shows what is left to reach it.
Sources: YouTube Help on RPM, on Shorts revenue sharing and on Partner Program eligibility. Checked on October 11, 2026.
FAQ
Do YouTubers get paid by YouTube every month?
Partner Program earnings are paid through AdSense for YouTube, which you link when you apply.
Can a small channel make money?
Yes, through sponsors, affiliate links or its own products, even before joining the Partner Program. Channel memberships also have a lower entry threshold than ad revenue.