Calculate your actual YouTube earnings per 1000 views. RPM shows what you really earn after YouTube's cut, including all revenue sources.
RPM is what really matters to creators - your actual take-home earnings.
Formula: RPM = (Total Revenue / Total Views) × 1000
Your content category determines how much you earn per 1000 views.
Your viewers' location significantly impacts your take-home earnings.
Longer videos can significantly boost your earnings per view.
Pro Tip: Videos over 8 minutes with mid-roll ads earn $15-25 RPM vs $8-12 for shorter content in the same niche.
Choose your content category - this is the biggest factor in your RPM.
Select your primary audience location for accurate country multipliers.
Longer videos with mid-roll ads significantly increase RPM.
See your estimated RPM and monthly earnings breakdown.
RPM combines all your YouTube revenue streams.
Timing your uploads can increase earnings by 50-100%.
Understanding where your money comes from and how RPM is calculated
This diagram shows a simplified view. Actual RPM includes all revenue sources (ads, memberships, Super Chat) divided by total views.
Everything you need to know about Revenue Per Mille
A "good" RPM depends entirely on your niche. For US audiences: $2-4 is average for entertainment/gaming, $5-8 is good for lifestyle/education, $10-15 is excellent for tech/business, and $15-30+ is premium for finance/investing. Always compare your RPM to others in your specific niche, not the platform average.
RPM is always lower than CPM for three reasons: 1) YouTube takes 45% of all ad revenue before you see a cent, 2) RPM counts ALL video views while CPM only counts views where an ad actually played (monetized playbacks), 3) Many views don't show ads due to ad blockers, viewer location, or content restrictions. Typically your RPM will be 40-55% of your CPM.
Navigate to YouTube Studio → Analytics → Revenue tab. Your RPM is displayed prominently alongside your estimated revenue. You can filter by specific videos, date ranges, geography, and traffic sources to see which content and audiences generate the highest RPM. The data typically has a 2-day delay.
Video length has a massive impact on RPM. Videos under 8 minutes can only show one pre-roll ad. Videos over 8 minutes unlock mid-roll ads, potentially doubling or tripling your RPM. A 15-minute video might show 3-4 ads, while a 25-minute video could show 5-6. Finance creators report $8-12 RPM on short videos vs $20-30 RPM on 20+ minute videos in the same niche.
Common causes for sudden RPM drops: 1) Seasonal drop (January sees 40-60% lower rates than December), 2) A viral video attracted viewers from low-CPM countries like India or Southeast Asia, 3) Content was flagged as "limited ads" (yellow $), 4) Your viewer demographics shifted to younger/different audiences, 5) Advertisers reduced spending (economic factors), 6) Algorithm changes sent your content to different audiences.
Absolutely! It's common to see 10x variation between videos. Factors include: 1) Video topic (a credit card review vs a vlog), 2) Which countries the viewers came from, 3) Video length and number of ad placements, 4) When the views happened (Q4 vs Q1), 5) Whether the video has full or limited monetization. Check per-video RPM in Analytics to identify your highest performers.
Ten strategies that work: 1) Make videos 8+ minutes with mid-roll ads, 2) Target English-speaking audiences (use cultural references), 3) Enable channel memberships, 4) Turn on Super Thanks for tips, 5) Upload your best content in Q4, 6) Improve watch time so viewers see more ads, 7) Keep content 100% advertiser-friendly, 8) Optimize ad placements at natural breaks, 9) Create content on higher-CPM topics within your niche, 10) Enable all ad formats.
RPM (Revenue Per Mille) is YouTube-specific and shows your earnings per 1,000 total video views. eCPM (effective Cost Per Mille) is used by ad networks and shows earnings per 1,000 ad impressions. eCPM is typically higher because it only counts when ads actually display, while RPM includes all views including those where no ad played.
Yes! YouTube Premium revenue is included in your total RPM calculation. Premium members don't see ads, but YouTube pays creators from subscription fees based on watch time. Premium revenue often has a higher effective RPM than ad revenue - sometimes 2-3x more. Check your Revenue Sources breakdown in YouTube Studio to see the split.
Shorts monetization works completely differently. Instead of per-video ads, Shorts revenue comes from a shared Creator Pool based on your proportion of total Shorts views. This results in RPM of $0.03-0.08 (yes, pennies) compared to $3-15 for regular videos. You need literally millions of Shorts views to earn what hundreds of thousands of long-form views would generate.
New channels typically see RPM stabilize after 3-6 months of consistent uploading. Initially, your RPM may fluctuate wildly as YouTube learns your audience demographics. Expect lower RPM early on because: you likely have mixed global audience, shorter videos, and YouTube is still testing which ads work best. Channels with under 10,000 monthly views often see more variation.
Yes, many creators consistently earn $20-45 RPM. Requirements: 1) High-value niche (finance, business, legal, insurance, B2B software), 2) Primarily USA/UK/Australia audience, 3) Long-form content (15-30+ minutes), 4) Highly engaged audience with strong watch time, 5) 100% advertiser-friendly content, 6) Multiple revenue streams enabled. Credit card review channels routinely see $30-45 RPM in Q4.
Our calculator uses 2024-2025 industry data from creator surveys and reported figures. Estimates are typically within ±25-30% of actual rates. Variables like exact audience demographics, ad blocker usage, watch time patterns, and real-time advertiser demand can't be perfectly predicted. Use this calculator for planning and comparison, but rely on YouTube Studio for actual earnings data.
Not directly, but there are indirect effects. Consistent uploading builds loyal viewers who watch more of each video (higher watch time = more ads shown per viewer). However, if you sacrifice quality for quantity, engagement drops and RPM may suffer because viewers leave before seeing mid-roll ads. Quality almost always beats quantity for RPM optimization.
Monthly RPM variation is normal and expected. Causes include: Seasonality (Q4 is 50-100% higher than Q1), content mix (different videos getting views), audience shifts (where viewers came from that month), advertiser spending cycles (holiday campaigns, fiscal year ends), and YouTube algorithm changes affecting who sees your content. Track trends over 3-6 months rather than obsessing over week-to-week changes.
Absolutely - this happens all the time. A video with 1 million views at $0.50 RPM earns $500, while a video with 100,000 views at $15 RPM earns $1,500. Low RPM despite high views typically happens when: audience is mostly from low-CPM countries (India, SE Asia), content is Shorts, videos are marked as limited ads, or the topic doesn't attract valuable advertisers. RPM matters far more than raw view counts for income.
YouTube's 45% covers: platform infrastructure (servers, bandwidth, encoding), ad sales team and operations, content moderation, creator support, product development, legal and compliance, and profit margin. This split has remained constant since the YouTube Partner Program began. Note: For memberships and Super Chat, YouTube takes only 30%, meaning creators keep 70%.
Both matter, but differently. RPM tells you efficiency - how well you're monetizing each viewer. Total revenue is the actual money. A channel with $20 RPM but 10K views ($200) earns less than one with $3 RPM and 1M views ($3,000). Optimize RPM through niche, audience, and video length, then grow views through content quality and SEO. The sweet spot is maximizing both.
Ad blockers directly reduce your RPM by preventing ads from showing (thus preventing revenue). Estimates suggest 15-30% of desktop viewers use ad blockers, though mobile (where most YouTube viewing happens) has lower ad blocker rates. YouTube has been increasingly aggressive at detecting and blocking ad blockers. Desktop-heavy audiences (tech channels) may see more impact than mobile-heavy audiences (vlogs).
Extremes exist: Lowest reported RPMs are around $0.01-0.05 for Shorts-only channels or content in very low-CPM countries. Highest documented RPMs reach $50-75+ for premium finance content (credit cards, insurance) targeting USA audiences in Q4 (November-December). A credit card comparison video went viral in November 2024 and reportedly earned $68 RPM. These are outliers - most creators fall between $1-15 RPM.
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