How Much Do YouTubers Make? (And Other YouTube Statistics)

Have you ever thought about setting up a YouTube channel for your business? There’s money to be made on YouTube! Worldwide, this video content platform has 2.6 billion users and is the second large social media app behind Facebook.  YouTube is also part of the Google family, meaning you can leverage your current SEO and PPC strategies to generate more revenue.  If you’re new to this app or you’ve never heard of it before, this article will share some key YouTube statistics and explain how businesses make more money by beefing up their video content. Keep reading to learn everything you’ll need to know about this popular platform.

Fun Facts About YouTube

Let’s start off by sharing some interesting facts about YouTube:

• YouTube earns $15 billion per year
• 500 hours worth of video content gets uploaded to YouTube every minute
• Around 37% of all mobile traffic goes to YouTube
• Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in October 2006
• YouTube’s user base expanded during the COVID-19 quarantine
• YouTube Kids went live in 2019
• Users can subscribe to channels and create playlists
• Businesses have the option of live streaming on YouTube

It’s easy to see how exciting it is to be on YouTube.  From 2005 until now the app has grown into a go-to source for information and entertainment.  With billions of hours of content now available, we can still go back to answer this basic question: when was the first YouTube video uploaded? On April 23, 2005, Jawed Karim posted the first YouTube video ever made called “Me at the zoo.” The video featured him at the San Diego Zoo talking about elephant trunks.  Now it has over 232 million views and he holds the first YouTube account ever. To this day, “Me at the zoo” is the only video on his account.  Interestingly, Karim was one of the co-founders of YouTube. Besides him, who created YouTube and why? Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley created YouTube together. Why was YouTube created? All three men were former employees of PayPal and thought ordinary people would enjoy sharing homemade videos. They founded YouTube on February 14, 2005, and the company is headquartered in San Bruno, California.  In its first year, YouTube earned about 30,000 visitors per day but when YouTube became popular in 2006 it grew to 25 million views. As of today, YouTube is now 17 years old and only continues to grow! So, who was the second YouTuber? That video, an 11-second clip about snowboarding, was called “My Snowboarding Skillz.” This was the first video uploaded by a non-YouTube employee, a snowboarder named Matt Michael Wright. Another huge milestone for the company was the first YouTube video with 10 billion views. The popular children’s music video, “Baby Shark Dance” from Pinkfong, was the first to be watched over 10 billion times. "Baby Shark" is also considered one of the most viewed YouTube videos.

YouTube Usage Statistics

There are a lot of interesting YouTube statistics that can help you to better understand the platform before opening your own account.  Here are some of the basics:

How old do you have to be to have a YouTube account?  

You must be at least 17.

What are the most popular categories on YouTube? 

Commentary, product reviews, and tutorials are the most watched content on YouTube. Gaming channels also continue to grow rapidly. How many gaming channels are on YouTube? Over 40 million and the  amount continues to grow every year.

How long is the average YouTube video? 

Video lengths vary based on category but the average video size is 11.7 minutes. It’s also important to note how long a YouTube video can be: a maximum of 15 minutes, unless you have a verified account.

How many views does the average YouTube video get? 

The amount varies based on the type of video content but how-to videos, for example, get an average of 8,332 views. If you’re wondering how YouTube counts views, the play button needs to be pressed by  a verified user and they have to watch a video for at least 30 seconds to be counted as a view.

What YouTube channel has the most videos?

Roel Van de Paar has the most videos uploaded to YouTube. He’s an Australian creator who uploads about a video every minute. Van de Paar has over 82,000 subscribers and he’s uploaded 1.9 million videos. His posts are typically how-to videos that are 5 minutes or under. 

How many YouTube channels have a million subscribers?

A little over 23,000 channels are estimated to have 1 million+ subscribers.  There are many different categories of YouTube videos. Above we listed the top three categories but there are other popular ones like online challenges, comedy sketches, movie clips, interviews, music videos, sports highlights, and so much more.  The top YouTube channels in the USA include PewDiePie, WWE Fan Nation, 5-Minute Crafts, and Justin Bieber.  PewDiePie is a Swedish YouTube artist who posts comedic sketches. And how many total views does PewDiePie have? Over 28 billion!  Have you ever heard of the Korean musical group Blackpink? They are a pop group with the most YouTube subscribers worldwide with over 74 million.  Gaming is also huge on YouTube. What percent of YouTube is gaming? Approximately 15% of YouTube videos are about gaming. 

The Basics of YouTube

YouTube offers so many opportunities for businesses to educate and attract potential customers. First, you need to understand how it works so you can easily navigate this highly popular app.  Most beginners ask how many YouTube accounts you can have. Because it’s part of the Google family, YouTube runs through Gmail and single accounts can only have up to 50 channels.  Therefore, you’ll have one YouTube account through the Google suite but you can create multiple channels in seconds.  Once you open a new account, you’ll probably wonder: what do the numbers next to subscriptions mean on Youtube?  Most people think these numbers indicate your total number of subscribers but rather they represent how many uploads you’ve done that week.  You can start tracking your total subscribers on the channel dashboard or in the YouTube Studio under channel analytics. The app allows you to view recent subscribers or all subscribers.  Creating and uploading a YouTube video is incredibly easy, and the app provides you with some editing tools to make the best content possible. YouTube Studio allows you to add music, sound effects, subtitles, and to trim content.  The studio is also the place to create playlists, reply to comments, or look at analytics, which is important so you can find out the best times to post on YouTube.  Beginners typically don’t know the best day and time to post on YouTube. It also varies based on your channel and what categories you target.  So what is the best day to post on YouTube? Studies have found that Thursdays to Saturdays are the best days to post. And, as for what time to post, it’s recommended to schedule your uploads for 9-11 a.m. Of course, checking your analytics is the best way to pin down an exact day and time.  Once your videos go live, it’s time to sit back and see how many views you get. Users wonder, how often do YouTube videos update but veterans know they change between 24-48 hours.  Who knows, you may have the most-viewed YouTube video in a month. And here’s another tip: avoid using YouTube on your mobile device. Does YouTube use data? Yes! And if you’re on a smartphone it could be draining your data.  Research has found that YouTube uses around 562 MB of data per hour when streaming at standard definition.  Uploading videos to YouTube and engaging with other users is a lot of fun and can help your business grow, but be careful of content burnout. Veteran YouTubers leaving YouTube often say they can’t keep up with the sheer volume of content creation. Make sure you set a realistic and sustainable goal for yourself. 

How Big Is YouTube?

Is it worth opening a YouTube account? Is all of the effort worth it? First, let’s look at how many views YouTube gets a day. Over 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube daily. That means there is plenty of room for your videos to be part of that mix.  How many hours of YouTube are uploaded every minute? 400 hours!  Of course, with a brand new YouTube account you have to establish yourself before you get a ton of traffic.  The average views on the first YouTube videos are a few hundred. That could increase to the thousands as you start to catch on.  The average YouTube channel growth rate is about 1,000 subscribers in 22 months.  Another big question: how many YouTube searches do people make everyday? There are over 122 million active users daily. Those are people searching for content that could match what you have to offer.  Here is more data to show the size of YouTube:

• YouTube revenue was $19.7 billion in 2020
• The app enjoys a 25-30% growth rate year over year
• How much is YouTube worth? An estimated $160 billion
• How many people work at YouTube? There are 2,800 employees
• Here are some interesting YouTube binge-watching statistics: 37% of users 18-34 binge it daily

Over the years this app has expanded its services. YouTube Red is a monthly subscription service that allows users to remove advertisements.  If you’re wondering how many accounts on YouTube TV can be used at the same time, they limit your usage to three devices.  Another perk of this service is offline viewing. The number of YouTube Red subscribers is $50 million but the company has now started referring to it as YouTube Premium.  For young people, YouTube is more popular than TV and by that we mean traditional cable packages. Sixty-eight percent of people surveyed said they watch more video content from YouTube than anywhere else. Many others only watch Netflix. So what is YouTube Premium revenue? At $12 per month for the service, YouTube generates around $600 million.  That’s only a tiny percentage of YouTube revenue. When you consider YouTube premium vs. ad revenue, there’s no comparison. YouTube brought in $28 billion in 2021.  The YouTube Partner Program even helps creators by paying additional revenue to them based on the number of people watching their content. How many YouTube partners are there? More than 2 million, according to a company announcement.  Now you’ve probably heard of another popular video app called TikTok. It’s giving YouTube a run for its money but when you examine YouTube vs. TikTok stats you can see that YouTube has 1 billion more users.

How Much Do YouTubers Make?

Now that you’ve learned all about YouTube, now comes the exciting part! How much do YouTubers make on the app? And, more importantly, how much can you make off of YouTube? How much do YouTubers make per view? Once your account is up and running, you can get between $0.01 and $0.03 per ad view.  It may not sound like a lot at first but it builds up quickly. Just starting, you can be earning between $3-5 for every 1,000 video views (that’s how many views on YouTube get paid).  You’ll need to get at least 1,000 subscribers and have 4,000 watched hours in the past year. That’s how many subscribers before YouTube pays you The average YouTube ad revenue is around $18 per 1,000 ad views, which is a different metric. Top talent can earn up to $5 for every 1,000 video views.  Can you see why it’s so important to create engaging videos? Here’s the best part, how much is a YouTube channel? Absolutely free! The only thing you may need to invest in is production equipment. But that only depends on what type of videos you want to create. Of course, a percentage of those earnings will go to YouTube. New businesses on YouTube ask us what percentage of ad revenue does YouTube take? Advertisers start paying after 1,000 views and YouTube generally takes 45%. Wondering how much money would you make from 1 million YouTube views? The average amount is over $2,000 but the sky’s the limit (this is also the YouTube monthly income for someone with over 100,000 subscribers).  That's how YouTube pays. To start earning money directly from YouTube, creators must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year. Partners and influencers make good money on the platform. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is YouTube’s most paid influencer. He earned $54 million in 2021. His channel specializes in recorded stunts. Besides MrBeast, the other most profitable YouTube channels belong to Jake Paul, Markiplier, and Rhett & Link.  Another option for your brand is vlogging. This is creating video blog posts for subscribers. How much do YouTube vloggers make? They make the same income we described above.

What Do People Watch On YouTube?

The secret to being successful on YouTube is to know what people are watching.  Here are some numbers to consider as you plan future content:

• How many YouTube channels are there? 51 million+
• What’s the fastest-growing YouTube channel? Comedian & gamer AddictedA1 grew his channel by 199% in 2020
• What’s the most subscribed video on YouTube? T-Series, an Indian music network, has 206 million followers, the most subscribers in the world in 2022. 
• The “Baby Shark Dance,” referenced above, is the most watched online video on YouTube.

What can you learn from all of this? For one, comedy and gaming are the most popular YouTube categories. Music videos also make up some of the most popular videos.  It’s also easy to check YouTube watch stats on videos to see what’s popular and what’s not.  As you devise a content strategy, think about the YouTube Top 10 Videos:

1. “Baby Shark Dance” by Pinkfong (10.6 billion views)
2. “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee (7.8 billion views)
3. “Johny Johny Yes Papa” by LooLoo Kids (6.3 billion views)
4. “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran (5.7 billion views)
5. “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth (5.4 billion views)
6. “Bath Song” by Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (5.3 billion views)
7. “Phonics Song with Two Words” by ChuChu TV (4.5 billion views)
8. “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars (4.5 billion views)
9. “Learning Colors – Colorful Eggs on a Farm” by Miroshka TV (4.5 billion views)
10. “Masha and The Bear – Recipe for Disaster” by Get Movies (4.5 billion views)

Check out some of these videos and you may find some inspiration for your content. 

YouTube Content Creator Statistics

Are you ready to join the creator community on YouTube? How many YouTube creators are there? About 1 million professional creators are earning a living by posting their videos. Here are the YouTube top 10 creators: 

1. Ryan Kaji
2. MrBeast
3. PewDiePie
4. Dude Perfect
5. Rhett and Link
6. Markiplier
7. Preston Arsement
8. Dream
9. Jeffree Star
10. SSSniperWolf

It can be helpful for you to check out these top YouTubers and get some ideas for your content.  You’re probably wondering how many subscribers does the average YouTuber have? Data has shown that 96.6% of YouTube accounts have 10,000 or less.  Pink Fong’s “Baby Shark Dance” is the account who has the most streams on YouTube, but Psy's “Gangnam Style” had achieved it beforehand, and remained on top for longer.  Women are also making strides on YouTube. Yuya, a Mexican beauty vlogger, has over 24 million subscribers. You can be successful with any topic as long as you understand your target audience and produce content that resonates with them.  Another common question is who has the least subscribers on YouTube? There are several accounts with 100 or fewer subscribers in the categories of travel, healthcare, and news. The fact is that the 1 million content creators on YouTube are all different and all have unique content to offer. The secret to being successful is finding your niche. 

YouTube User Statistics

Let’s dive a little deeper into audiences on YouTube How many viewers does YouTube have? Over 2.6 billion in 2022. That’s a lot of eyes to watch your content.  To understand the prospective audiences, here are some YouTube audience demographics:

• YouTube age demographics: 77% of 15-25, 70% of 45-64, and 77% of users are 26-35
• YouTube gender demographics: 45.8% of YouTube’s audience is female and 54.3% is male
• YouTube target market: The 15-35 age demographic are the biggest users of this app
• YouTube users by country: India is the top user with 467 million users and the United States is in second place with 247 million users. The next three are Indonesia, Russia, and Brazil
• YouTube viewer demographics: 85% of teenagers in Gen Z use YouTube (the most popular app in that age group) and 70% of Millennials (the next age group up from Gen Z) watched the app to learn something new
• The company’s Premium service has a YouTube user count of 20 million
• How many subscribers does YouTube TV have? Over 4 million
• How many people watch YouTube a day? 122 million active users
• What percentage of video views on youtube come from mobile? With 70% accessing YouTube on mobile, your content needs to be ready

The best way to determine YouTube demographics by channel is to use the analytics tools available in the app. While studies have shown certain trends in audience demographics, you should nail down your exact audience using the data available to you.  And don’t think that YouTube is losing popularity, the opposite is true. How many people have downloaded YouTube in 2022? Over 10 billion people have downloaded YouTube since it first launched.  More recently, the YouTube Music app had 3 million downloads in Google Play and 1.3 million in the App Store. 

Conclusion

Phew! That was a lot of information about YouTube. Things are really exciting on this app and businesses like yours have an opportunity to generate revenue on it.  Your key takeaways from this data piece should be that YouTube is the second largest social media app (behind Facebook), is video-based, has over 2.6 billion active users, and can help you to boost your brand recognition.  Opening a YouTube account may seem overwhelming if you don’t have video content experience but not every successful user has expensive production equipment. You can post highly-engaging videos using a smartphone camera.  Do you need help creating video content for your website or YouTube account?  Give us a call if you have any questions!