- Creators who are part of YouTube's Partner Program can earn money from ads on their videos.
- This is a reliable source of income to influencers of many sizes, who earn 55% of a video's ad revenue.
One of the primary ways that YouTubers get paid is through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which pays creators a share of the ad revenue earned from their videos.
Influencers can earn 55% of a video's ad revenue if they are part of YPP. To qualify for the program, they must have amassed 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time on their long-form videos. As part of YPP, creators can also earn money through subscriptions and channel memberships.
Starting next year, short-form creators who have 1,000 subscribers and 10 million views in 90 days will also be able to earn a share of ad revenue from Shorts.
YouTubers are paid monthly by the platform. They are given estimated earnings over the course of a month and then, at the start of the following month, their pay is finalized and posted to their balance.
A number of factors determine how much a creator makes from ad revenue, including how many views their videos get and the topics of their content. Certain content niches, like personal finance, are valuable to advertisers, who see those audiences as attractive customers.
"It definitely had a lot more potential than I expected, because I didn't imagine finance YouTube or finance influencers would explode to this level," said Nate O'Brien, who makes videos about personal finance, investing, and entrepreneurship. "I thought maybe the cap would be 100,000 subscribers for finance YouTubers."
O'Brien got paid as much as $54,600 per month last year.
ASMR creators, meanwhile, tend to make less money, as they often do not not want to disrupt their videos with midroll ads.
"One of the downsides of being an ASMR artist is that you can only put ads at the beginning, if you don't want to wake up your audience," ASMR creator Sarah Lavender, who got paid as much as $6,113 in one month last year, told Insider. "That significantly reduces ad revenue."
Read more about how Lavender earns money as an ASMR YouTuber with over 100,000 subscribers.
YouTubers often supplement their earnings from advertisements with a number of other income streams, like merchandise and sponsored content. Many of them often post on other social-media platforms.
Kelly Anne Smith, a personal-finance creator, has eight income streams, including selling online courses and finance coaching. She also has a Patreon account and makes money from Instagram's bonus programs. Still, YouTube is her biggest cash cow.
"I knew from the beginning that you could make money from YouTube," she said. "But no way did I ever think that it would turn into what it is today, and what I can make now."
Read more about how much Smith makes per month from her eight income streams.
Insider regularly interviews YouTubers on topics like how much they earn per 1,000 views, in a month, and their top-earning videos of all time. Here's how much 16 different YouTubers make from their videos each month. They are listed in order of follower count.
How much nano influencers, who have less than 10,000 YouTube subscribers, get paid in a month:
- Jen Lauren, who had 5,200 subscribers when she spoke to Insider, makes videos about fitness and wellness
- Meghan Pruitt, a college YouTuber who had 6,800 subscribers when she spoke to Insider
How much micro influencers, who have between 10,000 and 100,000 YouTube subscribers, get paid in a month:
- Jake Tilk, who had 18,000 subscribers when he spoke to Insider, makes videos about entrepreneurship
- Kelly Anne Smith, who had nearly 50,000 subscribers when she spoke to Insider, makes personal finance videos
- Macy Schmidt, who had 50,000 subscribers when she spoke to Insider, films videos about her life in Las Vegas
- Marissa Lyda, who had 52,000 subscribers when she spoke to Insider, makes personal finance videos
- Matt Upham, who had 56,000 subscribers when he spoke to Insider, makes technology videos
How much mega influencers, who have more than 100,000 YouTube subscribers, get paid in a month:
- Levi Hildebrand, who had 125,000 subscribers when he spoke to Insider, is a zero-waste YouTuber
- Sarah Lavender, who had 138,000 subscribers when she spoke to Insider, makes ASMR content
- Charli Prangley, who had 198,000 subscribers when she spoke to Insider, makes videos about design and her daily life
- Charlie Chang, who had 350,000 subscribers when he spoke to Insider, makes videos about personal finance and real estate
- Kwebbelkop, who had 504,000 subscribers when he spoke to Insider, runs a "VTube" channel
- Kelly Stamps, who had about 600,000 subscribers when she spoke to Insider, makes content about her minimalist lifestyle
- Jerry Eze, who had 775,000 subscribers when Insider wrote about his earnings, is pastor who streams prayers and sermons
- Nate O'Brien, who had 1 million subscribers when he spoke to Insider, makes personal finance videos
- Tiffany Ma, who had 1.8 million subscribers when she spoke to Insider, makes lifestyle videos
- Jack Neel, who had 2.1 million subscribers when he spoke to Insider, is a true-crime creator