# How Much Do YouTubers Make? How to Estimate Earnings

By Shanu Chand, founder of TubeGrade (https://www.tubegrade.com) and Vidgrade (https://vidgrade.com).
Published 2026-11-13. Channel views from TubeGrade’s channel pages on 13 November 2026; RPM by niche from industry estimates published in 2026; revenue shares from YouTube Help and YouTube’s 10 August 2026 announcement. Source: TubeGrade's database of public YouTube data.
Web version: https://www.tubegrade.com/blog/how-much-do-youtubers-make/
Data (CSV): https://www.tubegrade.com/blog/how-much-do-youtubers-make/how-much-do-youtubers-make.csv

Caylus and HTX Studio got the same 47.7M views last month. Caylus makes gaming videos and HTX Studio makes tech ones, so HTX Studio likely earned about three times as much from ads. Here’s how to estimate any channel, niche by niche.

## Key numbers

- **$10–$28** per 1,000 views: what a finance channel typically earns
- **$2–$4.50** per 1,000 views: what a gaming channel typically earns
- **55% / 45%** YouTube’s ad revenue share for long videos / Shorts

**The takeaway:** Two numbers decide a channel’s ad income: its views last month and what its niche pays per 1,000 views. Multiply them and you have a fair estimate. Sponsorships come on top.

## The short version

- YouTube ad income = monthly views ÷ 1,000 × RPM. RPM is what the creator keeps per 1,000 views after YouTube’s share, and it depends mostly on the niche.

- Typical RPM for mostly-US audiences: finance **$10–$28**, business and making money **$7–$17**, tech **$5–$14**, AI **$4–$11**, health **$4–$12**, gaming **$2–$4.50**, kids **$2–$4**.

- HTX Studio (tech) and Caylus (gaming) both got about 47.7M views last month. That’s about **$238,000–$667,000** for HTX Studio and **$95,000–$214,000** for Caylus.

- Doctor Mike (health) got about 88.7M views: roughly **$355,000–$1.06M** a month from ads.

- YouTube pays creators **55%** of the ad revenue on long videos and **45%** of their share of the Shorts pool. Sponsorships, memberships and merch come on top.

“How much does SML make per video?” “How does HTX Studio make money?” People ask Google this about their favourite channels every day, and most answers online are a single number with no working shown.

Here’s the working. It takes one formula and one table, and once you have them you can estimate any channel in a minute.

Start with this: [Caylus](https://www.tubegrade.com/@Caylus) and [HTX Studio](https://www.tubegrade.com/@HTXStudio) both got about 47.7M views last month. Caylus makes gaming videos. HTX Studio makes tech videos. So HTX Studio likely earned about three times as much from ads, from the same number of views.

## The formula: views × RPM

*Step 1*

**monthly views ÷ 1,000 × RPM = monthly ad income**

**RPM** means revenue per mille: what the creator keeps for every 1,000 views, after YouTube takes its share. It’s different from CPM, which is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad views before that split.

YouTube’s share is public. On long videos, YouTube pays creators [55% of the net ad revenue](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72902). On Shorts, ads run between videos, so YouTube puts the money in a pool and pays creators 45% of their share, based on their share of Shorts views.

Views are the easy part: every TubeGrade channel page shows how many views a channel gained over about the last month. The RPM is the part that changes from channel to channel, and the biggest thing it depends on is the niche.

## RPM by niche: finance, business, tech, AI, health and more

*Step 2*

Advertisers pay to reach people who are about to spend money. A viewer watching a video about investing or business software is worth far more to an advertiser than a viewer watching a game or a cartoon, and the creator’s RPM follows that. This is what each niche typically earns:

| Niche | Typical RPM per 1,000 views |
|---|---|
| Finance and investing | $10–$28 |
| Business and making money online | $7–$17 |
| Tech and software | $5–$14 |
| AI tools | $4–$11 |
| Health and fitness | $4–$12 |
| Gaming | $2–$4.50 |
| Kids and family | $2–$4 |

Our summary of industry estimates published in 2026, mostly for US and other English-speaking audiences: the middle of the ranges given for each niche. YouTube doesn’t publish RPM by niche.

**Finance and making-money** channels earn the most per view, because banks, brokers and business software pay the most to reach their viewers. **Tech and software** come next. **AI tools** sit just below the rest of tech. **Health** is close behind, and **gaming and kids** earn the least.

These are typical ranges, not exact rates. Two channels in the same niche can still be far apart, for the reasons in Step 4.

> **TubeGrade Free Channel Stats checker:** Get any channel’s views for the formula. TubeGrade’s free Channel Stats checker shows any YouTube channel’s subscribers, views and growth. No sign-up needed. [Check a channel](https://www.tubegrade.com/free-youtube-tools/youtube-channel-stats/)

## Seven channels, one from each niche, worked through

*Step 3*

We took each channel’s views over the last month from its TubeGrade page and multiplied them by its niche’s RPM.

| Channel | Niche | Views last month | RPM | Est. ad income per month | Per typical video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Stephan | Finance and investing | 5.7M | $10–$28 | $57,000–$161,000 | $9,000–$25,000 |
| Ali Abdaal | Business and making money online | 5.7M | $7–$17 | $40,000–$97,000 | $1,800–$4,400 |
| HTX Studio | Tech and software | 47.7M | $5–$14 | $238,000–$667,000 | $12,000–$34,000 |
| TheAIGRID | AI tools | 1.8M | $4–$11 | $7,200–$20,000 | $350–$980 |
| Doctor Mike | Health and fitness | 88.7M | $4–$12 | $355,000–$1.06M | $9,100–$27,000 |
| Caylus | Gaming | 47.7M | $2–$4.50 | $95,000–$214,000 | $1,100–$2,400 |
| SML | Kids and family | 148M | $2–$4 | $296,000–$592,000 | $6,900–$14,000 |

**The same views, different pay.** [HTX Studio](https://www.tubegrade.com/@HTXStudio) and [Caylus](https://www.tubegrade.com/@Caylus) got the same 47.7M views. At the tech RPM, HTX Studio’s month comes to about $238,000–$667,000. At the gaming RPM, Caylus’s comes to about $95,000–$214,000. That’s about three times apart, before either channel sells a single sponsorship.

**Fewer views, still a lot of money.** [Graham Stephan](https://www.tubegrade.com/@GrahamStephan) got about 5.7M views last month, around one fifteenth of [Doctor Mike](https://www.tubegrade.com/@DoctorMike)’s 88.7M. But finance pays more than twice what health does per view, so Graham Stephan’s ads still come to about $57,000–$161,000 a month, against about $355,000–$1.06M for Doctor Mike. [Ali Abdaal](https://www.tubegrade.com/@aliabdaal) got almost exactly the same views as Graham Stephan, and at the business RPM earns about $40,000–$97,000.

**Huge views, a low rate.** [SML](https://www.tubegrade.com/@SMLMovies) got about 148M views, more than any other channel here. We put it in kids and family, the closest niche for animated and puppet comedy, so it earns at that rate: about $296,000–$592,000 a month. A typical SML video, at about 3.5M views, comes to roughly $6,900–$14,000.

And [TheAIGRID](https://www.tubegrade.com/@TheAiGrid), an AI channel, got about 1.8M views: roughly $7,200–$20,000 a month. A smaller channel in a well-paid niche can earn a real living from ads.

**Try this:** To estimate any channel, look up its views for the last month, find its niche in the table, and multiply. Use the low end for a channel with many viewers outside the US or lots of Shorts, the high end for a long-video channel with a mostly US audience.

## What moves a channel up or down its niche’s range

*Step 4*

**Where viewers live.** The niche ranges are for mostly US and other English-speaking audiences. The same video earns less from a view in a country where advertisers pay less, so a channel with most of its viewers in India or Indonesia will usually sit below its niche’s range.

**Long videos or Shorts.** Shorts share a pool and pay 45%. A Shorts-heavy channel can show huge view counts while earning far less per view than a long-video channel in the same niche. From February 2027, YouTube also says only channels with [10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days](https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/new-opportunities-to-earn-and-changes-to-the-youtube-partner-program/) will share in Shorts revenue.

**Time of year.** Advertisers spend most before the holidays, so October to December usually pays more than January.

> **TubeGrade Browser extension:** See if a small channel in your niche makes money. On YouTube channel and video pages, the free TubeGrade extension shows whether the channel or the video is monetized, next to its subscribers, country and outlier score. Works on Chrome, Edge, Brave and Arc. [Get the free extension](https://www.tubegrade.com/browser-extension/)

## What the ad estimate leaves out

*Step 5*

Ads are only the part you can estimate. Big channels usually earn from several other places:

- **Sponsorships** — the brand segment inside a video. Prices aren’t public, and for many creators this is the biggest line.

- **YouTube Premium** — Premium members don’t see ads, so YouTube shares their subscription money instead, again 55% for long videos and 45% for Shorts.

- **Channel memberships, Super Chats and Super Thanks** — money fans pay directly on YouTube.

- **Merch, products and businesses** — often sold outside YouTube altogether.

So when someone asks “how much does SML make?”, the honest answer is: about $296,000–$592,000 a month from YouTube ads, plus whatever the rest brings in, which only the channel knows.

**Try this:** For your own channel, YouTube Studio shows your real RPM. Compare it with your niche’s range in Step 2: if you’re below it, the reasons in Step 4 usually explain why.

## The seven estimates in one table

*Data*

Views read on 13 November 2026 from each channel’s TubeGrade page, where they update as we take new readings. The download adds subscribers, average views per video and the exact figures behind each range.

| Channel | Niche | Views last month | RPM | Est. ad income per month | Per typical video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Stephan | Finance and investing | 5.7M | $10–$28 | $57,000–$161,000 | $9,000–$25,000 |
| Ali Abdaal | Business and making money online | 5.7M | $7–$17 | $40,000–$97,000 | $1,800–$4,400 |
| HTX Studio | Tech and software | 47.7M | $5–$14 | $238,000–$667,000 | $12,000–$34,000 |
| TheAIGRID | AI tools | 1.8M | $4–$11 | $7,200–$20,000 | $350–$980 |
| Doctor Mike | Health and fitness | 88.7M | $4–$12 | $355,000–$1.06M | $9,100–$27,000 |
| Caylus | Gaming | 47.7M | $2–$4.50 | $95,000–$214,000 | $1,100–$2,400 |
| SML | Kids and family | 148M | $2–$4 | $296,000–$592,000 | $6,900–$14,000 |

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About the author: Shanu Chand is the founder of TubeGrade and Vidgrade, a YouTube creator and growth strategist.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanuchand/

Cite as: Chand, S. (2026, November). How Much Do YouTubers Make? How to Estimate Earnings. TubeGrade. https://www.tubegrade.com/blog/how-much-do-youtubers-make/