YouTube RPM 2026: Benchmarks by Niche, Country & Format

What is a good YouTube RPM in 2026?

There is no universal “good” YouTube RPM. In AIR Media-Tech's 2026 analysis of 300 monetized channels, the all-niche median was about $2.30 per 1,000 views. But the spread inside individual niches was huge: Education & Science had a median RPM of $10.22 with a middle-50% range of $2.31–$19.50, while Gaming had a $2.05 median with a $0.70–$3.62 middle-50% range. The useful benchmark is therefore not one internet average—it is your own recent YouTube Studio RPM compared with channels, formats and audience markets that resemble yours. These 300-channel figures belong to AIR Media-Tech's published dataset; Unisonica uses them here as third-party benchmark context, not as proprietary data.

2026 benchmark snapshot

All-niche median RPM ≈ $2.30 AIR Media-Tech: 300 channels, 3,595 monetized channel-months, May 2025 through May 2026.

$10.22 Education & Science median RPM

$2.05 Gaming median RPM

$0.33 Kids & Teens median RPM

53% Median monetized-playback rate in AIR's sample

Quick earnings model

YouTube RPM earnings quick calculator

Turn the published 2026 niche medians into a simple earnings scenario. Choose a benchmark or enter your own Studio RPM. This is arithmetic for planning—not a prediction of what YouTube will pay.

Views

2026 benchmark

RPM used (USD)

Estimated revenue $230.00

100,000 views ÷ 1,000 × $2.30 RPM

Benchmark RPM values above come from AIR Media-Tech's published 2026 300-channel dataset. Niches marked directional had fewer than ten channels. If you have recent YouTube Studio RPM, type it into the RPM field and use that instead of a public median.

Open the full YouTube Money Calculator →

RPM definition

What YouTube RPM actually measures

RPM is a creator-side revenue metric. It answers a different question from CPM and is the better starting point for estimating channel income.

RPM = revenue per 1,000 views

YouTube defines RPM as the amount a creator earns per 1,000 views after YouTube's revenue share. For standard videos, RPM includes all video views—including views that did not monetize. It can include revenue from ads, YouTube Premium, channel memberships, Super Chat and Super Stickers. For Shorts, YouTube calculates RPM per 1,000 engaged views used for Shorts ad-revenue sharing.

Simple planning formula

Estimated revenue ≈ Views ÷ 1,000 × RPM.
At a $2.30 RPM, 100,000 views would model to about $230 and 1 million views to about $2,300. This is arithmetic, not a payout promise—your actual RPM can move materially by month, format and audience.

RPM by niche

YouTube RPM benchmarks by niche in 2026

AIR Media-Tech analyzed real YouTube Analytics from 300 monetized channels across 13 niches, covering 3,595 monetized channel-months. The figures below are medians, not averages. Transport, News & Politics, Food & Cooking, and Business & Finance had fewer than ten channels and should be treated as directional.

AIR niche study ↗

Median YouTube RPM and middle-50% range by niche — AIR Media-Tech 2026 dataset
Niche	Median RPM	P25–P75 range	Median Studio CPM	Approx. views for $1,000
Education & Science	$10.22	$2.31–$19.50	$5.91	~98K
Transport directional	$5.69	$3.17–$9.81	$5.88	~176K
Lifestyle	$2.98	$1.77–$5.24	$5.32	~336K
News & Politics directional	$2.60	$1.79–$3.62	$4.51	~385K
Entertainment	$2.43	$0.88–$5.02	$3.98	~412K
Crafting & Handmade	$2.39	$1.00–$3.90	$3.42	~418K
Gadgets & Tech	$2.33	$0.70–$3.71	$5.73	~430K
Music	$2.28	$1.35–$4.16	$4.05	~439K
Food & Cooking directional	$2.25	$1.50–$3.11	$4.04	~445K
Gaming	$2.05	$0.70–$3.62	$4.05	~487K
Business & Finance directional	$2.01	$0.73–$5.17	$4.84	~498K
Health & Sport	$1.23	$0.72–$1.53	$3.54	~810K
Kids & Teens	$0.33	$0.16–$0.88	$1.59	~3.01M

Do not read this table as a fixed YouTube rate card.

These are third-party medians from one large creator network, not official YouTube payout schedules. Your own Studio RPM is the stronger benchmark once you have enough recent data.

The spread inside a niche can matter more than the niche ranking.

AIR's 2026 dataset found major channel-to-channel variation inside the same category. Education & Science ranged from $2.31 at the 25th percentile to $19.50 at the 75th percentile—an 8.4× spread. Gaming ranged from $0.70 to $3.62, and Entertainment from $0.88 to $5.02. That is why switching niches based on a single RPM chart is usually a weaker decision than first understanding your audience geography, monetized-playback rate, ad load, video format and revenue mix.

RPM vs CPM

Why your YouTube RPM is usually lower than CPM

YouTube's own documentation separates these metrics clearly. RPM is creator revenue after the revenue share; CPM is advertiser spending before the creator revenue share.

RPM — creator-side revenue

RPM divides your reported channel revenue by total views. It includes views that did not show an ad and can include several revenue sources. That makes RPM the more useful metric for planning what your audience actually earns per 1,000 views.

CPM — advertiser-side cost

CPM measures what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions before YouTube's revenue share. Playback-based CPM is tied to monetized playbacks, not every video view. A high CPM therefore does not automatically translate into a high RPM.

Example: Gadgets & Tech

AIR's 2026 niche dataset shows a $5.73 median Studio CPM for Gadgets & Tech but a $2.33 median RPM. One reason is monetization coverage: AIR reported that only 34% of views in that niche's sample were monetized playbacks. A strong advertiser rate can still produce a modest RPM when many views never serve an ad.

Audience country

YouTube RPM by country: use geography carefully

Audience location matters because advertiser demand is not equal across markets. But a reliable long-form country table is often published as CPM, not creator RPM. The figures below are AIR's public 2025 CPM benchmarks and should be treated as advertising-demand context—not as 2026 RPM promises.

Audience-country CPM context — AIR Media-Tech public 2025 benchmark, not creator RPM
Audience country	Average CPM	Audience country	Average CPM
United States	$14.67	United Kingdom	$8.91
Australia	$13.30	Netherlands	$8.62
Switzerland	$12.98	France	$6.76
Norway	$11.21	India	$0.74
Canada	$9.93	Algeria	$0.58
Germany	$9.79	Pakistan	$0.53

Never convert a country CPM directly into a country RPM.

RPM also depends on how many views monetize, the number and type of ads served, YouTube's revenue share, Premium and fan-funding revenue, seasonality, format and your channel's own audience behavior. Use YouTube Studio's geography and revenue reports for your real answer.

Long-form vs Shorts

YouTube Shorts RPM and long-form RPM are different economies

Shorts Feed revenue is pooled and allocated differently from Watch Page revenue. Forecast the formats separately instead of applying one RPM across an entire mixed-format channel.

Long-form / Watch Page

Long-form videos can earn from Watch Page ads and YouTube Premium, and longer eligible videos may create additional mid-roll opportunities. YouTube says creators who accept the Watch Page Monetization Module receive 55% of net ad revenue from eligible public Watch Page content.

Shorts Feed

Shorts Feed ad revenue is pooled into a Creator Pool and allocated based on eligible engaged views. YouTube says monetizing creators keep 45% of the revenue allocated to them. AIR's 2026 study across 274 channels found Shorts RPM at roughly 3–14% of long-form RPM in most niches.

Verified Shorts RPM by audience geography — AIR Media-Tech 2026 partner data
Shorts audience country	Reported Shorts RPM	Approx. direct revenue per 1M engaged views
United States	$0.328	≈ $328
Australia	$0.193	≈ $193
United Kingdom	$0.166	≈ $166
Canada	$0.165	≈ $165
Germany	$0.163	≈ $163

Why Shorts can still be valuable even with low direct RPM

Direct Shorts revenue is only one part of the strategy. Shorts can introduce viewers to a channel and feed discovery, while long-form content may capture substantially more revenue per view. The right mix depends on your own audience behavior, production cost and conversion from Shorts viewers into long-form viewers.

Official revenue shares

Watch Page ads

YouTube says partners receive 55% of net revenues from ads displayed or streamed on eligible public Watch Page videos when the relevant monetization module is active.

Shorts allocation

Monetizing creators keep 45% of the revenue allocated to them from the Shorts Creator Pool under the Shorts Monetization Module.

Fan funding

YouTube says partners receive 70% of net revenues from channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks under the Commerce Product Module.

What moves RPM

Six factors that can change your YouTube RPM

Audience geography

Advertiser demand changes by viewer market. A US-heavy audience can monetize very differently from a globally mixed audience even when the content niche is identical.

Monetized-playback rate

Not every view shows an ad. AIR's 300-channel study reported a median monetized-playback rate of about 53%, with large differences between niches.

Video length and ad opportunities

Eligible longer videos can create natural mid-roll opportunities, but retention and viewer experience still matter. More ad slots are useful only when people keep watching.

Niche and viewer intent

Commercial intent can affect advertiser bids, but the variation inside a niche can be larger than the difference between two niches.

Seasonality

Ad budgets often strengthen in Q4 and reset after the holiday period. A changing RPM does not automatically mean your content quality changed.

Revenue mix and suitability

RPM can include ads, Premium and fan-funding revenue. Advertiser suitability can affect ad demand, while memberships and Supers can move total RPM independently of ad CPM.

Use the benchmark correctly

How to forecast your own YouTube earnings without false precision

Benchmarks are most useful when they become a temporary starting point—not a substitute for your own Studio analytics. Use the quick calculator above for a benchmark scenario, then replace its RPM with your own recent Studio RPM as soon as you have reliable channel data.

Separate formats

Forecast long-form and Shorts separately. Their revenue mechanics and RPM ranges are too different for one blended assumption to be useful.

Use a recent period

Start with the last 28–90 days, then compare with the same period last year if your channel has enough history to expose seasonality.

Use your real Studio RPM

Once you have enough revenue history, your own channel RPM should take priority over a generic niche median.

Check geography

Compare your top viewer countries with revenue by geography. A changing audience mix can move RPM even when views stay flat.

Build a range

Model lower, base and upper cases rather than treating one RPM number as a guaranteed result.

Recalibrate monthly

Replace assumptions with actual views and RPM as new Studio data arrives. The model should become more personal over time.

Turn this benchmark into your own scenario.

Use the Unisonica YouTube Money Calculator to enter monthly views and RPM, compare earnings scenarios, reverse-calculate the views needed for a revenue goal, and use supported public channel signals for planning context. Public channel data cannot reveal another creator's private RPM or revenue.

FAQ

YouTube RPM questions, answered

What is the average YouTube RPM in 2026?

YouTube does not publish one official platform-wide average. AIR Media-Tech's 2026 dataset of 300 monetized channels reported an all-niche median of about $2.30 per 1,000 views, with large variation by channel and niche.

What is a good YouTube RPM?

A good RPM is one that is healthy relative to your own recent history, format, audience geography and comparable content. Public niche medians are context, not a target YouTube guarantees.

Why is my YouTube RPM lower than my CPM?

RPM is calculated after YouTube's revenue share and includes all video views, including views that did not monetize. CPM measures advertiser cost per 1,000 ad impressions before the creator revenue share.

Does audience country affect YouTube RPM?

Yes. Advertiser demand varies by viewer market, which can change revenue materially. But a country CPM table is not automatically a country RPM table. Use your own YouTube Studio geography reports for the strongest channel-specific answer.

Do Shorts have a lower RPM than long-form videos?

In AIR's 2026 study of 274 channels, Shorts RPM was roughly 3–14% of long-form RPM in most niches. The formats use different monetization systems, so they should be modeled separately.

Does having more subscribers increase RPM?

Not automatically. RPM is a per-view metric. AIR's 2026 analysis found little consistent RPM advantage from channel size alone. More subscribers can increase total views and revenue without making each view more valuable.

Can I estimate another creator's RPM from public channel data?

No. Public views, subscribers and upload counts do not expose private YouTube Studio RPM, audience geography, monetized-playback rate, ad load or exact revenue mix. Public data can support context, not reliable private-income claims.

Sources & methodology

Where the definitions and benchmark data come from

Official YouTube sources are used for metric definitions and revenue-share rules. AIR Media-Tech's published studies supply the third-party benchmark datasets used in the tables and quick calculator. Those figures are contextual medians, not official YouTube rates and not data collected by Unisonica.

YouTube Help — Understand ad revenue analytics Official RPM, CPM and playback-based CPM definitions. YouTube Help — Partner earnings overview Official 55% Watch Page, 45% Shorts allocation and 70% fan-funding revenue-share rates. YouTube Help — Shorts monetization policies Official Shorts Creator Pool and 45% allocated-revenue share context. AIR Media-Tech — Real YouTube RPM data from 300 channels 3,595 monetized channel-months from May 2025 to May 2026; all-niche median and monetization mechanics. AIR Media-Tech — RPM and CPM across 13 YouTube niches Median RPM, P25–P75 ranges, Studio CPM and sample-size caveats used in the niche table. AIR Media-Tech — Shorts RPM vs long-form, 274-channel study Verified YouTube Analytics API data and 2026 Shorts country RPM benchmarks. AIR Media-Tech — 2025 CPM benchmarks by audience country Public CPM geography context from 3,000+ channels; used here only as advertiser-demand context, not as RPM.