YouTube RPM & CPM calculator
Convert advertiser CPM into your real RPM and estimated ad revenue.
RPM = CPM × 55% creator share × your monetized-view rate. Actual earnings vary with niche, season and advertiser demand.
CPM and RPM are the two numbers every YouTuber confuses. CPM (cost per mille) is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions. RPM (revenue per mille) is what actually lands in your pocket per 1,000 video views — after YouTube keeps its 45% cut and after unmonetized views are stripped out. Because not every view carries an ad and the platform takes a share, your RPM is always meaningfully lower than the headline CPM advertisers quote.
The formula this calculator uses is simple: RPM = CPM × 0.55 × (monetized views ÷ total views). The 0.55 is the standard 55% creator share on watch-page ads. Enter the advertiser CPM for your niche, the share of your views that carry ads, and your monthly views to see your effective RPM and the monthly and yearly revenue it implies.
What is a good CPM on YouTube?
CPM swings dramatically by niche and audience country. Gaming and entertainment typically sit around $2–$5, tech and education $6–$15, and finance, business and insurance can reach $15–$40 or higher because advertisers pay a premium to reach those viewers. Seasonality matters too — Q4 (October to December) CPMs spike as brands spend holiday budgets, then fall sharply in January. Audience geography is just as important: a channel with a mostly US, UK, Canadian or Australian audience will out-earn an identical channel with traffic from lower-CPM regions.
How to raise your RPM
Three levers move RPM. First, cover higher-CPM topics or fold them into your content mix. Second, keep videos advertiser-friendly so more of your views are actually monetized — demonetization and limited ads quietly drag RPM down. Third, publish videos longer than eight minutes so you can run mid-roll ads, which multiply the impressions per view.
To see the full earnings picture, pair this with our YouTube money calculator. If you post Shorts, the Shorts earning calculator models their much lower payout, and the watch-time calculator shows how close you are to the 4,000-hour monetization bar.
None of these levers matter without views. If you're still building momentum, real YouTube views and subscribers from active accounts help you clear monetization thresholds and give the algorithm the early engagement signals it uses to recommend your videos more widely.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between RPM and CPM?
CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions. RPM is what you actually earn per 1,000 video views after YouTube's 45% cut and after unmonetized views are removed — so RPM is always lower than the headline CPM.
How do I convert CPM to RPM?
Multiply the advertiser CPM by your 55% creator share, then by the share of your views that are monetized. Example: a $6 CPM at 50% monetized views ≈ $1.65 RPM.
What is a good YouTube CPM?
It varies by niche — roughly $2–$5 for gaming and entertainment, $6–$15 for tech and education, and $15–$40+ for finance and business. US, UK, Canada and Australia audiences push CPMs higher.
Why is my RPM lower than my CPM?
Two reasons: YouTube keeps 45% of watch-page ad revenue, and only a fraction of your views actually show ads (viewers with ad blockers, non-monetizable content, and skipped ads all reduce it). RPM reflects real earnings across every view, not just monetized impressions.