The honest answer to "how much do YouTubers make per 1,000 views?" is between $0.03 and $30. That range is useless, so this guide breaks it down by the three things that decide it: niche, audience language and format (long-form or Shorts).
All numbers below are the RPM benchmarks Returbe uses to estimate revenue for the 9,800+ channels it tracks (October 2026). RPM = what the creator actually receives per 1,000 views, after YouTube's share.
The quick answer
- Typical English long-form channel: about $4.50 per 1,000 views ($2.50 to $8.50 range).
- Best paying niche: finance and investing, about $14 (up to $30).
- Lowest paying niche: music, about $1.80.
- YouTube Shorts: $0.03 to $0.10 per 1,000 views, in every niche.
So 1 million long-form views ≈ $4,500 for a typical channel, and 1 million Shorts views ≈ $60.
RPM per 1,000 views, by niche (long-form, English audience)
| Niche | Low | Typical | High | 1M views ≈ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance & investing | $8 | $14 | $30 | $14,000 |
| Business & e-commerce | $6 | $11 | $22 | $11,000 |
| Tech & AI | $4 | $8 | $16 | $8,000 |
| YouTube growth & creator business | $4 | $8 | $15 | $8,000 |
| Cars & vehicles | $4 | $7 | $14 | $7,000 |
| Science & education | $3.50 | $6.50 | $12 | $6,500 |
| DIY & home | $3.50 | $6.50 | $12 | $6,500 |
| Self-improvement | $3 | $6 | $11 | $6,000 |
| History & documentary | $3 | $5.50 | $10 | $5,500 |
| Fitness & health | $3 | $5.50 | $10 | $5,500 |
| Travel & outdoors | $3 | $5.50 | $10 | $5,500 |
| True crime | $3 | $5 | $9 | $5,000 |
| Food & cooking | $2.50 | $5 | $9 | $5,000 |
| Beauty & fashion | $2.50 | $5 | $10 | $5,000 |
| Sports | $2.50 | $4.50 | $9 | $4,500 |
| News & politics | $2 | $4 | $8 | $4,000 |
| Challenges & entertainment | $2 | $4 | $8 | $4,000 |
| Animals & nature | $2 | $4 | $8 | $4,000 |
| Spirituality & religion | $2 | $4 | $8 | $4,000 |
| Film, TV & anime | $1.50 | $3.50 | $7 | $3,500 |
| Gaming | $1.50 | $3 | $6 | $3,000 |
| Stories & narration | $1.50 | $3 | $6 | $3,000 |
| Streamers & creators | $1.50 | $3 | $6 | $3,000 |
| ASMR & relaxation | $1.50 | $3 | $6 | $3,000 |
| Comedy | $1.20 | $2.60 | $5 | $2,600 |
| Music | $0.80 | $1.80 | $4 | $1,800 |
| Kids & family (made for kids) | $0.50 | $1.50 | $3 | $1,500 |
Why such a gap? Advertisers pay for buyers. A viewer watching an ETF comparison might open a brokerage account worth hundreds of dollars to the advertiser; a viewer watching a gaming highlight is worth a few cents. Kids content is lowest because made-for-kids videos can't show personalized ads.
Want to know which of these niches also gets views? See the highest paying YouTube niches, where we multiply RPM by the real median views of small channels.
How the audience's language changes the pay
The same video earns very differently depending on who watches it. Multiply the English RPM above by:
| Audience language | Factor | Typical channel (×$4.50) |
|---|---|---|
| English | 1.00 | $4.50 |
| German | 0.85 | $3.80 |
| Dutch | 0.75 | $3.40 |
| Japanese | 0.70 | $3.15 |
| French | 0.60 | $2.70 |
| Korean | 0.60 | $2.70 |
| Italian | 0.50 | $2.25 |
| Spanish | 0.35 | $1.60 |
| Polish | 0.35 | $1.60 |
A French finance channel, for example, earns around $14 × 0.6 ≈ $8.40 per 1,000 views. That's still more than an English gaming channel.
Check any channel's estimated earnings
Paste a channel or video link: Returbe estimates its RPM, monthly revenue and monetization status from its niche, language and recent views.
YouTube Shorts: how much per 1,000 views?
$0.03 to $0.10, about $0.06 on average, and the niche barely matters. Shorts ads play between videos in the feed, the money goes into a shared pool, and creators get 45% of their share. That's why a Short with 1 million views earns roughly what a long video with 13,000 views earns.
Shorts are excellent for getting discovered (they produce more 3× outliers than long videos in our data), but if you want income, the views need to land on your long-form videos.
The formula to estimate any YouTuber's income
Monthly revenue ≈ (long-form views per month ÷ 1,000 × niche RPM × language factor) + (Shorts views ÷ 1,000 × $0.06)
Example: an English history channel with 600,000 long-form views and 2 million Shorts views a month:
- Long-form: 600 × $5.50 = $3,300
- Shorts: 2,000 × $0.06 = $120
- Total ≈ $3,400 per month from ads, before sponsors.
Three things push a channel above its niche's typical RPM: longer videos (8+ minutes allows mid-roll ads), Q4 (October to December, when advertisers spend the most, often +30 to 50%), and a US-heavy audience.
What views don't pay at all
- Views before the channel joins the YouTube Partner Program (1,000 subscribers + 4,000 watch hours or 10M Shorts views; 8,000 hours or 20M Shorts views for new applicants from February 1, 2027, see the 2027 rules).
- From February 1, 2027, Shorts views on channels under 10M Shorts views in the last 90 days (no Shorts pool revenue below that bar).
- Views with an ad blocker or YouTube Premium (Premium pays a small share separately).
- Videos with limited or no ads (yellow icon), reused content, or Content ID claims from someone else.
Methodology
RPM ranges are Returbe's benchmarks by niche (low / typical / high), built from creator-reported revenue and ad-market data and used across the app to estimate revenue for tracked channels. Language factors are relative to an English, US-weighted audience. Shorts RPM is the same for every niche. Real RPM varies by channel: treat these as estimates, not guarantees.
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Start for freeFAQ
How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?
For long-form videos with an English-speaking audience, most creators earn between $2 and $14 per 1,000 views (RPM), with a typical channel around $4.50. Finance pays the most (about $14), music the least (about $1.80). Shorts pay $0.03 to $0.10 per 1,000 views.
How much does a YouTuber make with 1 million views?
Roughly $1,800 to $14,000 for long-form videos, depending on the niche, and about $4,500 for a typical English channel. One million Shorts views earn about $30 to $100.
What is the difference between CPM and RPM?
CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions. RPM is what the creator receives per 1,000 views after YouTube's 45% share and after counting views with no ad. RPM is always lower than CPM, and it's the number that matters for your income.
Why do YouTube Shorts pay so little?
Shorts ads run between videos in the feed, not inside your video. The revenue goes into a shared pool split by each creator's share of Shorts views, then YouTube keeps 55%. The result is about 50 to 100 times less per view than long-form.
Do views from every country pay the same?
No. US, UK, Canadian and Australian viewers pay the most. With the same niche, a German-speaking audience earns about 85% of the English RPM, French about 60%, Spanish or Portuguese about 30 to 35%, and Hindi-speaking audiences around 12%.