What Is YouTube RPM: Full Breakdown

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RPM is the number that answers the question: “How much money am I getting paid on this channel?” as opposed to CPM, which answers: “How much are advertisers paying YouTube for placing ads on my videos?”

RPM Definition

RPM stands for Revenue Per Mille, which is the amount a YouTube channel earns per 1,000 views after YouTube’s revenue share. 

Per YouTube’s definition, every payout source on the channel (which includes ads, memberships, Super Chat, Premium watch time) rolls up into this one figure. 

RPM Formula

So, the formula to calculate your RPM is this:

Example: A channel earning $2,050 from 1,000,000 views has an RPM of $2.05 (2,050 ÷ 1,000,000 × 1,000), which is the 2026 median RPM for the Gaming niche.

Where to Find Your RPM

RPM is reported directly in YouTube Studio: open Analytics → Revenue, and the RPM card sits next to the CPM card. Both figures are estimates that update in real time and can shift slightly before revenue finalizes in AdSense.

For Shorts, YouTube calculates RPM per 1,000 engaged views rather than total views, which is one reason Shorts RPM looks so different from long-form RPM on the same channel. 

RPM vs. CPM

CPM and RPM measure two different sides of the same ad sale: one from the advertiser's side, one from the creator's.

Why RPM is always lower than CPM: YouTube keeps 45% of ad revenue and pays the remaining 55% to creators. Not every view earns anything, either: across a 2026 sample of 300 monetized YouTube channels, AIR Media-Tech found that a median channel monetizes only 53% of its views; the rest generate zero RPM, no matter how high the channel's CPM runs.

Average YouTube RPM by Niche (2026)

Education & Science channels post the highest RPM in 2026, at a $10.22 median, which is over 30 times what Kids & Teens content earns. Below the top two niches, the gap tightens fast, and the spread inside a single niche is usually wider than the distance between niches.

^{Source: AIR Media-Tech, 300 monetized YouTube channels, 3,595 channel-months, May 2025–May 2026, measured directly from partner Studio data, not third-party estimates. Niches marked with an asterisk had fewer than 10 channels in the sample; treat as directional. Full niche RPM and CPM breakdown.}

Niche sets the floor. Inside Education & Science alone, RPM ranges from $2.31 to $19.50, which is a wider spread than the gap between most niches on this list. A well-run channel in a "lower" niche can out-earn a poorly run one in a "higher" niche.