How Much Does YouTube Pay You for 1 Million Views?

You must have watched a thousand or more YouTube videos, but have you ever thought about what these content creators get out of them?

  • YouTube’s ad spending is expected to increase by 20.1% by the end of 2022.
  • YouTube has over 2 billion monthly users.
  • People watch over a billion hours of content daily on YouTube.
  • YouTube ad revenue increased to $7.34 Billion in the second quarter of 2022.

So how much do these YouTubers make? How much does YouTube pay for a thousand views? How much for a million views? 

Let’s find out!

How Much Does YouTube Pay for a Single View?

Many factors affect the pay rate or amount of money a YouTuber makes per view. These include:

  • Length of video
  • Number of views
  • Geographics
  • Advertisement quality
  • Ad blockers
  • Number of ad clicks

However, according to analytics, the YouTubers get paid between $0.01 and $0.03 (averaging $0.018) for every view via AdSense. But again, that’s not the amount they pocket; part of it goes to the platform itself. 

So the exact amount can only be determined by YouTube, which varies for YouTubers depending on the above factors. 

However, note that Google pays you 68% of the revenue generated when you display an ad via AdSense. That means it keeps 32% of the total earnings.

How Much Do YouTubers Get Paid For Thousand Views?

Keeping the above calculation in view, we can estimate that a YouTube channel will make somewhere between $10 and $30 or $18 on average for every 1000th view. The actual earnings, however, will be around $3 to $5 for the videos. 

Although it doesn’t seem much, especially when you are just starting and building your base, imagine how much this rolls out with the increased number of views later.

How Much Does YouTube Pay You for 1 Million Views?

On an average scale, a YouTuber can earn between $300 and $2000 via ads on YouTube. This calculation is based on having over a million views. However, the amount depends on how you use the platform and other considerations.

A million views will not give you a lot of money; it’s just a  benchmark statistic showing that your channel is now sustainable and that you can start making money out of it. 

However, that, combined with other ways to generate money from YouTube, can give you a solid amount. Like merchandising, becoming ambassadors for a brand, via affiliate links, etc.

Source: Printful

What Happens at 10 Million Views and Above?

Now that you know an average amount of earning at a million views, it only gets interesting when you reach out to more and more people. So, what happens when you reach 10 million? That’s ten times the benefits!

Your earnings increase via other side streams like influencer marketing, sponsorships, and branding deals. For example, since you are now officially more like a celebrity, more brands would like to partner with you, increasing your earnings. So, while your earnings may be around $75,000 from running the ad, it can multiply with the other secondary revenue earnings.

Moreover, you can consider licensing your content and making additional bucks if the number goes even higher. In fact, with over a hundred million views, you can consider YouTube as your full-time career!

Your earnings flow in via ads, promotional content, and branding. If you add in merchandise and other means of making money, this could make you one of the top paid YouTubers.

YouTube Partnership Program

One prerequisite before you can start earning on YouTube is to join the partnership program. Without it, you won’t make anything even if you hit millions and millions of likes or views.

There are specific eligibility criteria; you also need to understand and follow the community guidelines and monetization policies

Moreover, you need to have an AdSense account that will be linked to it. Plus, you need to be a resident of the geographical zone where the program is available. Click here for the countries the partnership program supports.

Criteria to Get Paid Via the YouTube Partner Program

The criteria broadly require the YouTubers to have:

  • Agree with the terms and conditions of the program
  • An AdSense account
  • A minimum of 1000 subscribers
  • Reached 4,000 public watch hours (valid) in the previous year (12 months)
  • A reviewed and approved account.

This is the minimum criteria for getting started on the platform and earning money. However, for the first payment, you must have a balance of $100+ from the number of views. 

So, based on the previous calculation, if you get $5 for every 1000 views, you need at least 20,000 views to make $100. You can earn money in two ways after opting for the program:

CPM – Cost Per Mille or Thousand Views

With CPM, you earn money after every 1000 views you get. However, this is the amount YouTube is paid by the advertiser when the ad reaches a 1000 view count. So see, this amount goes to the platform and not the YouTuber directly. 

So part of it is deducted by AdSense, and part goes to the YouTuber.  

CPC – Cost Per Click

The Cost Per Click, in comparison, is determined by the number of people who click on the ad that shows up on your video or page. 

Factors Affecting YouTube Payout Per Million Views

In broad terms, four key factors affect your YouTube earning on a million views.

  • Target audience demographics
  • Location
  • Video length
  • Niche 

Role of Demographics

Another aspect apart from views that plays a key role in determining YouTube earnings is the demographics. This includes:

  • The age group of the viewers
  • The geographical location of viewers
  • Interests of the viewers

Your revenue depends on gender, watch history, age, lifestyle, and viewer’s location.

So those viewers with a higher spending pattern and those who show a keen interest in related categories will get you more revenue per mille.

These belong to high-income countries and offer high CPM potential. So when your content matches the interest, language, and content of the target audience of these high-income groups, you get a higher CPM.

Geographical Location

It’s not about how many views you hit; the location of the viewers is very important in determining your earnings per view. That is viewers from your targeted location versus the actual viewers and their location.

To reiterate, suppose you hit the one million targeted viewers from your targeted geographical zone, then you will be able to earn a gross amount of $3000 to $5000. 

This is a pretty good amount, even after YouTube’s deduction. However, the requirement is that you should be able to reach your targeted audience only.

Now, if you reach tier 2, the payout would, of course, be much less. The same goes for tiers 3 and 4.

So, it’s not just about reaching the viewer count here; your targeting needs to be accurate if you wish to make good money. Remember that the geographical location also determines the kind of ads that will be played with your video content. 

CPM Per Country

Another interesting aspect is that the CPM varies by country. So if a YouTuber targets UAE and manages to get the required viewers from that region, the payout is 8% higher there than in the US alone.

The same is the case with many other countries worldwide, like Canada, Switzerland, the UK, Germany, New Zealand, etc., all of which have high CPM rates.

Whereas countries like Ukraine, Serbia, and Liberia have low CPM.

Length of Video

The length of your video is important to determine where and how the ad will be inserted into your video. So, say if your video is 10 minutes long, you can place ads amid your video or wherever you like. 

So you get the option of placing the ad at the climax points and increasing your earnings.

Video Content or Niche

There are different categories of content on YouTube. For example, you can upload content on IT, comedy, news, business, viral content, music, etc. There’s a different payout rate for each category.

Source: Statista

As for news and business-related content, the payout is high, whereas, for cooking, fashion, and viral content, the payout revenue is usually less.

The reason is that finance-related content has a higher potential for advertisers. So they are willing to pay more for that content than for jokes or songs.

Seasonal Ads

One thing about the ads is that the frequency may vary per month, season or occasion. So there’s volatility here. But on the other hand, there may be an upward trend in advertisements in some periods, and YouTubers may be making significant revenues in those months. Like Christmas, black Friday, etc. 

However, activity may be low sometimes around the year. So there isn’t a consistent revenue stream here. 

Final Word

So saying that YouTube pays a certain amount for a million views is tricky. The total amount is determined by several factors, apart from views. The demographics, earning power of the audience, video length, and content category all liaise to determine the amount a YouTuber can make on a video.

With this information, you can work on structuring your target audience, niche, video length, and all factors in your control to maximize your earnings.