Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
I started making YouTube videos over 4 years ago. But there's a question I always had. How much does a YouTuber that hits that milestone that most creators strive for: 100k subscribers. How much do they make? And how much do they end up spending on their YouTube channel? Well. I can't answer that question for other people. Because, well, I'm not them. But I can tell you mine. Let's get started.
Amazon Affiliate Links to Gear I use:
Sony A7S III: amzn.to/3jD0fxC
Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB Tripod: amzn.to/2O7V8Yn
M1 Macbook Air: amzn.to/3rV5Zru
Philips Hue Light Strip: amzn.to/2VZq2EV
Godox SL-60W: amzn.to/37LsdT0
Rode VideoMic NTG: amzn.to/2RKHVrL
Shure SM7B: amzn.to/30Dxji7
Logitech MX Master 3: amzn.to/30G1GV2
Logitech MX keys: amzn.to/3bHytQ8yo
0:00 Introduction
0:39 Table of Contents
1:19 Ad Rates, CPM vs RPM
4:37 How much money I made from 0-1000 Subscribers
5:55 How much money I made in 2017
7:13 How much money I made in 2018
7:29 How much money I made in 2019
8:16 Why 2020 was a little different
9:24 How much money I made in 2020
9:40 Other Sources of Revenue
11:46 YouTube Expenses: The Cost of Running a Channel Part 1
12:18 YouTube Expenses: Taxes?!
13:34 YouTube Expenses: The Cost of Running a Channel Part 2
15:30 Final Total Income After Expenses before Tax
15:53 Why it's Hard to Figure Out A Different Creator's Income
16:39 Conclusions: Should You Do YouTube for the Money?
As a YouTube content creator, you can earn money through ads that play in the beginning, middle and end of your video. These ads vary depending on who is watching your video, and how much these ads pay depend on a bunch of different things. Like, gender, age, country, internet browsing history, and basically any data that would hint an advertiser of who you are. Youtubers with different audiences will make different amounts of money even if they get the same amount of views or have the same amount of subscribers. The value that a specific advertisement has is called CPM or Cost Per Mile. Each YouTube video has its own CPM. The number of ads that play on a video have an effect on revenue too. Videos over 8 minutes can have mid-roll ads that play in the middle of the videos. The more ads you have on the video, the bigger potential for income you have. There's other ways to make money on Youtube. They have presence on other platforms like Twitch, Patreon, or have amazon affiliate links, or sponsorships.
There are costs associated with running a YouTube video. As a solo YouTuber, with no one helping me with the process, I consider 2 different expenses to think about. 1. Business expenses. Which is the cost of equipment, software, and products that are needed for the channel to continue. This could be anything from cameras, lights, microphones, editing software, music licensing, employees if you're a larger creator, rent for the studio and basically anything else you need to consistently create the content you need. The second item is taxes you have to pay that you didn't have to pay before. I am not your accountant. So don't take anything I say here as financial advice. What you're hearing on this is my own opinions and thoughts on publicly available information on the IRS website. In the US there is a 15.3% self-employment tax due that you normally don't pay if you're employed, because that's normally taken out of your paycheck already if you're an employee who gets a W-2 at the end of the year. For W-2 employees this is 7.65% because your employer pays half and you pay the other half. These are FICA taxes that the vast majority of Americans pay that contribute to Social Security and Medicare. That 15.3% is NOT income tax, which you pay based on how much you made that year. And if you have YouTube income, you'd pay that as well. I viewed 2020 as a growth year. So, I wanted to try to invest in equipment and resources that could help improve the quality of the videos and help with efficiency in creating videos. I have a full-time job outside of YouTube, so YouTube income is supplemental to me. I'm fortunate enough to be able to use a larger chunk of my YouTube income than creators that do this full-time because they have to pay bills with their Youtube income. I'm going to be honest with you. I don't think I would have put so much money towards equipment if YouTube was my sole source of income.
It's going to be completely different if you look at a different channel since their CPM, RPM and expenses will be completely different from my own. I'm going to echo what I said last year and the year beforehand. If you're thinking about doing YouTube, do it because you enjoy it. And maybe something will come of it. It's a long grueling process, that requires a bit of creativity, knowing how to work a camera and edit, and also luck. Enjoy every step of the way because, honestly it's fun to do.
I started making YouTube videos over 4 years ago. But there's a question I always had. How much does a YouTuber that hits that milestone that most creators strive for: 100k subscribers. How much do they make? And how much do they end up spending on their YouTube channel? Well. I can't answer that question for other people. Because, well, I'm not them. But I can tell you mine. Let's get started.
Amazon Affiliate Links to Gear I use:
Sony A7S III: amzn.to/3jD0fxC
Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB Tripod: amzn.to/2O7V8Yn
M1 Macbook Air: amzn.to/3rV5Zru
Philips Hue Light Strip: amzn.to/2VZq2EV
Godox SL-60W: amzn.to/37LsdT0
Rode VideoMic NTG: amzn.to/2RKHVrL
Shure SM7B: amzn.to/30Dxji7
Logitech MX Master 3: amzn.to/30G1GV2
Logitech MX keys: amzn.to/3bHytQ8yo
0:00 Introduction
0:39 Table of Contents
1:19 Ad Rates, CPM vs RPM
4:37 How much money I made from 0-1000 Subscribers
5:55 How much money I made in 2017
7:13 How much money I made in 2018
7:29 How much money I made in 2019
8:16 Why 2020 was a little different
9:24 How much money I made in 2020
9:40 Other Sources of Revenue
11:46 YouTube Expenses: The Cost of Running a Channel Part 1
12:18 YouTube Expenses: Taxes?!
13:34 YouTube Expenses: The Cost of Running a Channel Part 2
15:30 Final Total Income After Expenses before Tax
15:53 Why it's Hard to Figure Out A Different Creator's Income
16:39 Conclusions: Should You Do YouTube for the Money?
As a YouTube content creator, you can earn money through ads that play in the beginning, middle and end of your video. These ads vary depending on who is watching your video, and how much these ads pay depend on a bunch of different things. Like, gender, age, country, internet browsing history, and basically any data that would hint an advertiser of who you are. Youtubers with different audiences will make different amounts of money even if they get the same amount of views or have the same amount of subscribers. The value that a specific advertisement has is called CPM or Cost Per Mile. Each YouTube video has its own CPM. The number of ads that play on a video have an effect on revenue too. Videos over 8 minutes can have mid-roll ads that play in the middle of the videos. The more ads you have on the video, the bigger potential for income you have. There's other ways to make money on Youtube. They have presence on other platforms like Twitch, Patreon, or have amazon affiliate links, or sponsorships.
There are costs associated with running a YouTube video. As a solo YouTuber, with no one helping me with the process, I consider 2 different expenses to think about. 1. Business expenses. Which is the cost of equipment, software, and products that are needed for the channel to continue. This could be anything from cameras, lights, microphones, editing software, music licensing, employees if you're a larger creator, rent for the studio and basically anything else you need to consistently create the content you need. The second item is taxes you have to pay that you didn't have to pay before. I am not your accountant. So don't take anything I say here as financial advice. What you're hearing on this is my own opinions and thoughts on publicly available information on the IRS website. In the US there is a 15.3% self-employment tax due that you normally don't pay if you're employed, because that's normally taken out of your paycheck already if you're an employee who gets a W-2 at the end of the year. For W-2 employees this is 7.65% because your employer pays half and you pay the other half. These are FICA taxes that the vast majority of Americans pay that contribute to Social Security and Medicare. That 15.3% is NOT income tax, which you pay based on how much you made that year. And if you have YouTube income, you'd pay that as well. I viewed 2020 as a growth year. So, I wanted to try to invest in equipment and resources that could help improve the quality of the videos and help with efficiency in creating videos. I have a full-time job outside of YouTube, so YouTube income is supplemental to me. I'm fortunate enough to be able to use a larger chunk of my YouTube income than creators that do this full-time because they have to pay bills with their Youtube income. I'm going to be honest with you. I don't think I would have put so much money towards equipment if YouTube was my sole source of income.
It's going to be completely different if you look at a different channel since their CPM, RPM and expenses will be completely different from my own. I'm going to echo what I said last year and the year beforehand. If you're thinking about doing YouTube, do it because you enjoy it. And maybe something will come of it. It's a long grueling process, that requires a bit of creativity, knowing how to work a camera and edit, and also luck. Enjoy every step of the way because, honestly it's fun to do.
