Estimate your monthly YouTube AdSense earnings based on views, content niche, audience location, and video length.
*Based on US audience, average niches. High estimates for finance/tech with premium audience.
Understanding the journey from advertiser to your bank account.
YouTube pays creators $3-$5 per 1,000 views on average (RPM), but this ranges dramatically from $0.50 for music/gaming with Indian audience to $30+ for finance content with US viewers. Niche and audience location are the biggest factors.
YouTube pays around the 21st-26th of each month for the previous month's earnings. You need to reach the $100 minimum threshold to receive payment. Earnings are finalized around the 10th, then processed for payment. Bank transfers take 3-5 business days.
Common reasons: 1) Majority audience from low-CPM countries (India, Southeast Asia), 2) Low-paying niche (music, gaming), 3) Videos under 8 minutes (no mid-roll ads), 4) Q1 seasonal slump (Jan-Mar), 5) Limited ads (yellow $) on content, 6) Low viewer retention reducing ad impressions.
Proven strategies: Make videos 8+ minutes for mid-roll ads, create content targeting US/UK/Australia audiences, stay advertiser-friendly (avoid yellow $), upload best content in Q4 when CPMs peak, improve watch time and retention so viewers see more ads, and consider higher-CPM niches for new content.
CPM (Cost Per Mille) is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions. RPM (Revenue Per Mille) is what you earn per 1,000 total video views. RPM is always lower than CPM because: 1) YouTube takes 45%, 2) Not all views get ads, 3) Multiple metrics averaged together.
The 55/45 split covers YouTube's costs: hosting (storing petabytes of video), bandwidth (serving billions of views daily), ad sales (Google Ads infrastructure), content moderation, and platform development. This split has remained constant since 2007 and is industry-standard for creator platforms.
Depends on your RPM: $2 RPM (gaming/music) = 500,000 views, $5 RPM (average) = 200,000 views, $10 RPM (education/tech) = 100,000 views, $20 RPM (finance/business) = 50,000 views. Niche selection dramatically impacts how hard you must work.
Yes, since February 2023, Shorts earn from the Shorts revenue sharing program. However, Shorts RPM is much lower ($0.03-$0.08 per 1,000 views) compared to long-form ($2-$10). Shorts are better for growth than revenue. 1 million Shorts views might earn $30-$80.
Q4 (October-December) sees 50-100% higher CPMs because advertisers compete aggressively for holiday shoppers. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas drive massive ad spending. Brands exhaust annual budgets. Then Q1 crashes as budgets reset - the "January CPM crash" can cut earnings in half.
Yellow $ indicates limited or no ads because the video doesn't meet advertiser-friendly guidelines. Common triggers: profanity, controversial topics, violence, sensitive events. Limited ads reduces earnings by 50-90%. You can request human review if you believe the system made an error.
After monetization approval: Month 1 = earn revenue, Month 2 (around 10th) = earnings finalize, Month 2 (around 21st) = payment processed IF you hit $100 threshold. First payment typically 6-8 weeks after your first monetized video. Below $100 rolls over to next month.
Yes, in YouTube Studio: Analytics â Revenue â See More. Filter by video to see RPM, estimated revenue, and playback-based CPM for each video. This helps identify which content types and topics earn the most for your channel. Double down on high-RPM formats.
Yes, significantly. Higher retention = viewers watch longer = more ad opportunities = more revenue per view. A video with 70% retention earns more than one with 30% retention, even with the same view count. Mid-roll ads only trigger if viewers reach that point in the video.
Generally yes - more ad types = more revenue. However, non-skippable ads (highest CPM) can frustrate viewers and hurt retention on some channels. Test and monitor audience retention. Most creators leave all ad types enabled and let YouTube's algorithm optimize.
Our calculator uses 2026 industry RPM data by niche and country. Actual earnings vary based on: specific topics within your niche, exact audience demographics, seasonality, video length, ad types enabled, and content advertiser-friendliness. Use as an estimate - your YouTube Studio data is most accurate.
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