YouTube Revenue Calculator

YouTube pays creators through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) based primarily on ad revenue, which is calculated using RPM (Revenue Per Mille) — your earnings per 1,000 video views after YouTube takes its 45% cut.

Key formulas:

CPM (Cost Per Mille) = Advertiser spend per 1,000 ad impressions RPM = (Total Estimated Revenue ÷ Total Views) × 1,000 Monthly Revenue = (Monthly Views ÷ 1,000) × RPM Annual Revenue = Monthly Revenue × 12

YouTube’s split: Advertisers pay CPM → YouTube keeps 45% → Creator receives 55% (this creator share is your RPM basis).

What each variable means:

• CPM — what advertisers pay; varies by niche, season, and audience geography.
• RPM — what you actually earn per 1,000 views (after YouTube’s cut and non-monetized views).
• Views — total video views in the period (not unique viewers).
• Monetized Playbacks — a subset of views where ads actually showed (typically 40–60% of total views).

RPM benchmarks by niche:

• Finance / investing: $12–$30 RPM
• Technology: $5–$15 RPM
• Education: $4–$12 RPM
• Gaming: $2–$7 RPM
• Entertainment / vlog: $1–$5 RPM
• Kids content: $1–$4 RPM

Worked example: A personal finance channel gets 500,000 views/month with an RPM of $18.

Monthly Revenue = (500,000 ÷ 1,000) × $18 = 500 × $18 = $9,000/month Annual = $9,000 × 12 = $108,000/year

Additional revenue streams: Channel memberships ($3–$25/member/month), Super Chat, merchandise, brand sponsorships (typically $20–$50 CPM negotiated directly), and affiliate links can each match or exceed AdSense revenue for established channels.