Shelby Church.
Shelby Church
YouTube creators earn money from Google-placed ads on their videos.
A number of factors determine how much money they make, including video views.
Insider spoke with YouTubers about how much they earned from videos with 1 million views.
While many factors — content niche and country, among them — determine how much money a YouTuber earns on any particular video, the number of views it gets is perhaps the most significant.
When a YouTube video hits 1 million views, there’s almost a guaranteed big payday for its creator. In some cases, creators can make five-figures from a single video if it accrues that many views.
When Shelby Church, a tech creator, spoke with Insider, she had earned $30,000 from a video about Amazon FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon). At the time, the video had accrued 1.8 million views.
Her RPM rate — or earnings per 1,000 views — are relatively high, she said, because of her content niche. Business, personal finance, and technology channels tend to earn more per view. (Read more about how much 8 YouTubers earn per 1,000 views.)
“YouTubers don’t always make a ton of money, and it really depends on what kind of videos you’re making,” she said.
Read a detailed breakdown of how much 3 YouTubers earn for 1 million views
Influencers can earn 55% of a video’s ad revenue if they are part of YouTube’s Partner Program, or YPP.
To qualify for the program, they must have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time on their long-form videos.
Starting next year, creators will also be able to earn a share of ad revenue from Shorts, YouTube’s short-form video offering. In order to qualify, creators will need to reach 10 million views in 90 days and have 1,000 subscribers.
YouTube will pool revenue from ads on Shorts. YouTube will pay an undisclosed amount to record labels for music licensing, and creators will receive 45% of the remaining money based on their percentage of the total Shorts views on the platform.
Insider has put together various compilations of how much YouTubers earn from the platform:
How much 8 YouTube creators earn per 1,000 views19 YouTube creators share how much they get paid in a month for their videosHow much YouTubers with over 1 million subscribers make17 YouTubers reveal the most money they have made from a single video
Creators on YouTube don’t rely just on ad revenue earnings. Here’s more about how they make money, and how much they earn from their various income streams:
7 income streams: Jack Neal, who has over 2 million YouTube subscribers, shares what he earns4 income streams: Manny Ortiz, who has 660,000 YouTube subscribers, explains what he earns in a month4 income streams: James Tilk, who has 18,000 YouTube subscribers, shares how much money he makes
Early next year, creators will be able to earn ad revenue from Shorts. Here’s a breakdown of the upcoming changes:
3 key takeaways from YouTube’s biggest revamp to its creator pay program in 15 yearsMany YouTubers are excited about getting Shorts revenue, but industry insiders say not to expect big payouts