How much does YouTube pay per view in 2026?
YouTube doesn't pay a set amount per view. It pays creators in its Partner Program a share of the money advertisers spend on their videos, so what a view is worth depends on who watches, what the video is about and how many ads it shows. Here's how it works, what creators report earning per 1,000 views in 2026, the rules to qualify, and how Shorts fit in.
Updated 7 min read
In short
- YouTube pays creators in the Partner Program 55% of the net ad revenue on their long videos. There's no fixed rate per view.
- Creators and analytics companies report about $1.00 to $6.00 per 1,000 views, with a median near $2.30: roughly $1,000 to $6,000 for a million views.
- To earn, you need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in a year, or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. From February 1, 2027, new channels need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views.
- A view on a long video pays about 7 to 33 times as much as a Shorts view in most niches. Channels use Shorts made from their videos to bring in the viewers who watch the videos that pay.
On this page
How YouTube pays for views
Advertisers pay YouTube to show ads on videos. When you're in the YouTube Partner Program and have turned on ads, YouTube pays you 55% of the net revenue from ads shown on your public videos, whether they play on YouTube or in YouTube's player on other sites. Sales tax and VAT aren't counted as revenue, so they're not part of the split.
So there's no price per view. A view pays what the ads shown on it earned, and a view with no ad pays nothing from ads. YouTube says plainly that its partner agreement makes no guarantee about how much, or whether, you'll be paid.
Ads aren't the only money that counts: your share of YouTube Premium revenue, channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Stickers are added into your RPM too.
RPM and CPM: the two numbers in YouTube Studio
- CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube's share. It's the price of an ad, not what you earn.
- RPM is what you earn per 1,000 views, after YouTube's share, from ads, memberships, Premium, Super Chat and Super Stickers. For long videos it counts every view.
RPM is always lower than CPM, because it's after YouTube's share and it includes the views that didn't show an ad. YouTube doesn't show an ad on every view: not when a video isn't advertiser-friendly, when no ad matches, when the viewer has Premium or saw an ad recently, or because of where they are. AIR Media-Tech found the median channel it works with earned from ads on just 53% of its views.
What YouTube pays per 1,000 views
YouTube doesn't publish rates, so the numbers come from creators' and agencies' own channels:
| Source | Reported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AIR Media-Tech, July 2026 | About $2.30 (median) | 300 channels, 3,595 channel-months from May 2025 to May 2026; whole channels |
| vidIQ, April 2026 | $1 to $6 and up | A typical range for long videos; US viewers can be worth 5 to 10 times more |
At those rates, this is what a month of views pays. Try your own numbers in the YouTube money calculator.
| Views | At $1.00 | At $2.30 | At $6.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $10 | $23 | $60 |
| 100,000 | $100 | $230 | $600 |
| 1,000,000 | $1,000 | $2,300 | $6,000 |
| 10,000,000 | $10,000 | $23,000 | $60,000 |
What different channels earn
The topic matters as much as the views, because advertisers pay more to reach some audiences. AIR Media-Tech's medians by niche, from the same 300 channels:
| Niche | Median per 1,000 views | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Education and science | $10.22 | |
| Entertainment | $2.43 | 40 channels; from $0.88 to $5.02 |
| Gadgets and tech | $2.33 | |
| Gaming | $2.05 | From $0.70 to $3.62 |
Finance is usually named the best-paid niche. AIR's finance sample was only three channels, so it didn't rank it; vidIQ puts personal finance at about $5 to $17 per 1,000 views (April 2026), and OutlierKit's estimated ceilings for investing channels reach $22 (October 2026). Treat all of these as estimates: each comes from a different set of channels, and some may include Shorts.
What makes your rate higher or lower
- Where viewers are. CPMs vary by country, and US viewers are usually worth the most.
- What the channel is about. Topics advertisers pay more to reach, like finance, tech and education, earn more per view than general entertainment.
- The time of year. Many advertisers bid higher just before the holidays, so the end of the year usually pays best.
- Video length. Videos 8 minutes or longer can show ads in the middle (mid-rolls) as well as before and after, so each view can carry more ads. Only if people are still watching: a mid-roll nobody reaches pays nothing.
- Ad formats. YouTube notes that when more non-skippable ads are available, CPM can be higher.
- How many views show an ad. YouTube's own advice for a higher RPM: turn on ads for every video, turn on mid-rolls, and turn on its other ways to earn, like channel memberships.
Who can earn from YouTube
| Today | From February 1, 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Through long videos | 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months | New channels: 8,000 qualified watch hours in the last 365 days |
| Through Shorts | 1,000 subscribers and 10M Shorts views in the last 90 days | New channels: 20M Shorts views in the last 90 days |
The 2027 change only applies to channels applying from then; channels already in the program aren't affected, and YouTube's announcement doesn't mention a change to the 1,000 subscribers. A channel that doesn't upload for 6 months or more may have ads turned off. For the whole process, read how to get monetized on YouTube, and see how long your channel needs with the watch hours calculator.
The videos have to be your own. Re-uploads and clips of other people's videos with little added don't earn, even with permission, and YouTube judges the channel as a whole: see YouTube's reused content policy, for clippers.
Long videos vs Shorts
Shorts are paid differently. Instead of ads on each video, YouTube pools the money from ads between Shorts and shares it by engaged views, and creators keep 45% of their part. Per view, that pays far less: AIR Media-Tech, tracking 274 channels (September 2026), found the Shorts rate was 3 to 14% of the long-video rate in most niches, so a long-video view pays about 7 to 33 times as much. At the typical rates, it's about 33 times:
| Views | Long videos ($2.30 per 1,000) | Shorts ($0.07 per 1,000) |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000 | $230 | $7 |
| 1,000,000 | $2,300 | $70 |
| 10,000,000 | $23,000 | $700 |
But Shorts are where new viewers find a channel. That's why so many channels post Shorts made from their long videos: the best minute of an episode, a tutorial's key step, a stream's biggest moment. Each Short can link to the full video, with the related video link YouTube Studio lets you add under your channel name, so the people it reaches go on to watch where views pay about 7 to 33 times more.
For the full details on Shorts rates and the 2027 rules, read how much YouTube Shorts pay or try the YouTube Shorts money calculator. For how to cut them, see how to turn a YouTube video into Shorts.
How you get paid
- Through AdSense for YouTube. Each month's earnings are finalized early the next month and paid around the 21st to 26th.
- Once you reach $100. Below that, the balance carries over to the next month.
- After verification. AdSense checks your identity and confirms your address before it pays you.
Questions
How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views?
YouTube doesn't publish a rate. Creators and analytics companies report about $1.00 to $6.00 per 1,000 views on long videos after YouTube's share, with AIR Media-Tech's 300-channel median near $2.30. Education, finance and tech channels with US viewers earn more.
How much does YouTube pay for 1 million views?
At the reported $1.00 to $6.00 per 1,000 views, about $1,000 to $6,000, and around $2,300 at the median. The same views as Shorts pay roughly $30 to $200.
How much does a video with 100,000 views make?
Roughly $100 to $600 at the reported rates, if the channel is in the YouTube Partner Program and ads are on. The topic and where viewers are make the biggest difference.
How many subscribers do you need to get paid on YouTube?
1,000, with 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. From February 1, 2027, new channels need 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views; channels already in the program aren't affected.
Do longer videos make more money?
Often, per view. Videos 8 minutes or longer can show mid-roll ads, so a view can carry more than one ad. It only pays if people keep watching, so don't stretch a video to reach 8 minutes.
Do Shorts or long videos pay more?
Long videos, by far: about 7 to 33 times more per view in most niches, by AIR Media-Tech's count. Shorts are better at reaching new viewers, so many channels post Shorts made from their long videos and send viewers to the full ones.
Sources
The apps' rules are from their own pages, read on October 20, 2026. They change from time to time, so check them before you rely on one.
- YouTube Help: YouTube partner earnings overview
- YouTube Help: understand ad revenue analytics (RPM and CPM)
- YouTube Help: YouTube Partner Program overview and eligibility
- YouTube Blog: Partner Program updates for 2027
- YouTube Help: mid-roll ads
- YouTube Help: add a related video to your Shorts
- YouTube Help: getting paid by AdSense for YouTube
- AIR Media-Tech: how much YouTube pays, from 300 channels (July 2026)
- AIR Media-Tech: Shorts RPM vs long-form (September 2026)
- AIR Media-Tech: YouTube niches ranked by RPM (July 2026)
- vidIQ: how much YouTube pays per view (April 2026)
- vidIQ: the most profitable YouTube niches (April 2026)
- OutlierKit: most profitable YouTube niches (October 2026)
