How to find your YouTube RPM and use it to predict earnings
Your RPM is the single most useful number for predicting your YouTube income. It tells you how much you actually earned for every 1,000 views. Here is where to find it, how to read it, and how to turn it into a forecast.
Monthly earnings ≈ monthly views ÷ 1,000 × your RPM. Find your RPM in YouTube Studio → Analytics → Revenue.
RPM vs CPM: which one matters?
CPM (cost per mille) is what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions, before YouTube takes its share. It only counts views where an ad was shown.
RPM (revenue per mille) is what you earned for every 1,000 views, after YouTube’s share, counting every view whether or not it showed an ad, and including all revenue sources such as memberships, Super Chat, and YouTube Premium. RPM is always lower than CPM, and it is the right number for estimating income because it is based on views, the number you can actually predict.
Step 1: open the Revenue tab
- Go to studio.youtube.com and sign in.
- Click Analytics in the left menu.
- Open the Revenue tab at the top. It appears only for channels in the YouTube Partner Program.
- Find the RPM card next to your estimated revenue.
- Use the date selector in the top right to pick a period. Last 28 days works well for monthly forecasts; Last 365 days smooths out seasonal swings.
Step 2: check RPM by format
Long-form videos and Shorts have very different RPMs, so a single channel average can mislead you if your mix changes. In the Revenue tab, use the content-type filter (Videos, Shorts, Live) or click Advanced mode and break the report down by Content type. If you are planning to post more Shorts, forecast those views with your Shorts RPM, not your overall average.
Step 3: check RPM by video and by country
In Advanced mode, add the RPM metric and compare it across Content to see which videos earn the most per view. You will usually find that some topics consistently earn two or three times more than others. Switching the breakdown to Geography shows how much more viewers in some countries are worth. These two views tell you what to make more of.
Step 4: turn RPM into a forecast
Multiply the views you expect by your RPM. Use the calculator below with your own numbers.
Keep in mind that RPM moves during the year. Advertisers spend most from October to December, so RPM often rises then and drops in January. A yearly RPM gives a steadier long-term forecast; a recent 28-day RPM is better for next month.
Why your RPM might be low
- Lots of Shorts views. Shorts RPM is a small fraction of long-form RPM.
- Audience outside high-paying countries. Check Analytics → Audience → Top geographies.
- Low-paying topic. Kids’ content, music, gaming, and comedy usually earn less per view than finance, tech, or business.
- Short videos. Videos of 8 minutes or longer can show mid-roll ads, which raises revenue per view.
- Limited ads. Videos with a yellow monetization icon earn little or nothing. Check the Content page in Studio.
No RPM yet?
If your channel is not in the YouTube Partner Program, you will not see a Revenue tab. See what you need to join in our monetization requirements guide, and use the YouTube earnings calculator to estimate a range in the meantime. To see what different RPMs mean at scale, read how much YouTube pays for 1 million views.