YouTube Money Calculator
This YouTube money calculator estimates how much a channel earns from advertising, using just two numbers: average daily views and RPM, the revenue a creator receives per 1,000 views. Enter the views a channel gets in a typical day and the RPM you think applies, and the calculator returns estimated ad revenue per day, per month and per year in New Zealand dollars, along with the monthly view count behind those figures. RPM is the honest number to work from because it is measured after YouTube takes its share of ad revenue and it averages across every view, including the ones that never showed an ad. You can read your own RPM straight out of YouTube Studio, or test a range: finance, business and technology channels tend to sit at the high end because advertisers pay more to reach those audiences, while gaming, music and general entertainment usually sit lower. Remember that ads are only one income stream, so sponsorships, channel memberships, Super Thanks and merchandise all come on top, and that a channel must first join the YouTube Partner Programme before any ad money is paid out. Treat the result as a ballpark for planning, not a promise, and remember YouTube income is taxable in New Zealand.
Find your real RPM in YouTube Studio under Analytics, then Revenue. Many channels sit between $2 and $8 per 1,000 views.
At 10,000 views a day and a $4.00 RPM, this channel earns about $40.00 a day in ad revenue, which is roughly $1,216.67 a month or $14,600.00 a year before tax.
Ad revenue only: sponsorships, memberships, Super Thanks and merchandise are extra. Payouts require YouTube Partner Programme membership, and RPM already reflects YouTube's share. Estimate only.
How it works
The calculation is straightforward: daily earnings are daily views divided by 1,000 and multiplied by RPM. Yearly earnings multiply that by 365, and monthly earnings divide the yearly figure by 12, which avoids the distortion of months having different lengths. RPM, revenue per mille, is the amount a creator actually receives per 1,000 total views. It already accounts for YouTube's share of ad revenue, typically 45% on long-form videos, and for the fact that not every view shows an ad, which is why RPM is always lower than the CPM figures advertisers talk about. The single biggest driver of RPM is who watches: advertisers pay far more to reach viewers researching finance, business software or insurance than viewers watching gameplay clips, and views from countries like New Zealand, Australia and the United States earn more than views from lower-income advertising markets. Seasonality matters too, with RPMs usually strongest in the lead-up to Christmas and weakest in January.
Worked example
A channel averages 10,000 views a day with an RPM of $4.00. Daily revenue is 10,000 divided by 1,000, which is 10, multiplied by $4.00, giving $40.00 a day. Over a year that is $40.00 times 365, which is $14,600.00, and dividing by 12 gives $1,216.67 a month from about 304,167 monthly views. If the same channel doubled its RPM to $8.00 by shifting toward higher-value content, the same views would produce $29,200.00 a year, which shows why niche matters as much as view count.
Related calculators
- Ad ROAS, CPM and CPC Calculator: the advertiser's side of the equation.
- Side Hustle Tax Calculator: tax on your creator income.
- Income Tax Calculator: NZ tax on total income.
- GST Calculator: GST if you pass the registration threshold.
- Hourly Rate Calculator: what your creation time is worth.