The formula is simple; the input is everything
Earnings = views ÷ 1,000 × RPM
RPM, revenue per mille, is what you receive per 1,000 views, after YouTube's 45% cut on long-form ads and after non-monetised views are averaged in. The formula is trivial; the entire difficulty is that RPM varies by a factor of 15–20 between channels. This calculator asks for an RPM range instead of pretending one number fits everyone, because one number does not.
RPM vs CPM, the distinction that trips everyone up
CPM is the advertiser-side price per 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube's share. RPM is the creator-side receipt per 1,000 video views, after everything. A channel can have a $20 CPM and a $6 RPM once the 45% cut and unmonetised views are counted. When you see income claims quoted in CPM, mentally halve them and then some, RPM is the honest metric, and it is the one YouTube Studio reports for your own channel.
What 100,000 views actually pays
| Channel profile | Typical RPM | 100k views pays |
|---|---|---|
| Shorts, any niche | under $1 | under $100 |
| Entertainment / vlogs, mostly non-US audience | $1–3 | $100–300 |
| Tech / education, mixed geography | $4–8 | $400–800 |
| Finance / business, US audience | $10–15+ | $1,000–1,500+ |
Same views, roughly a 15× spread in pay. The drivers are who advertisers want to reach and how much they bid to reach them: a viewer researching mortgages is worth many multiples of a viewer watching gaming clips, and a US impression is worth several times most other geographies.
Your real RPM lives in YouTube Studio
If your channel is monetised, stop estimating: YouTube Studio's Revenue tab shows your actual RPM, per video and over time. Feed that number into this calculator to project what a target view count would pay, that projection is solid, because the RPM is yours. Pre-monetisation, use the range for your niche above and treat the output as a bracket. Either way, resist the temptation to run the numbers on a best-case RPM you have never actually earned.
Why small channels should look past AdSense
Run the arithmetic in reverse and AdSense's limits show quickly: at a $4 RPM, earning $1,000 takes 250,000 views, every month. Meanwhile a single sponsored integration on a 20,000-subscriber channel in a decent niche can pay several hundred dollars, and affiliate links convert on trust rather than volume. For most channels under a few hundred thousand subscribers, sponsors and affiliates out-earn ads, often by multiples. Brands screen candidates on engagement, not just subscriber count; the engagement rate calculator computes the number they actually check.
Treating your channel like a business
Once money arrives, the useful questions become business questions. What does a video cost you to make in hours, and what does it return across ads, sponsors and affiliates? If creating is edging toward full-time, the freelance rate calculator frames what your production time needs to earn for the switch to make sense. And for quick what-ifs, what happens to income if views grow 30%, or RPM drops a dollar, the percentage calculator covers the arithmetic.
The honest summary: view counts are vanity, RPM is context, and diversified revenue is sanity. Use the calculator to bracket the ad income, then build the parts of the business YouTube doesn't take 45% of.