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How much does YouTube pay if you go viral?

When it comes to a viral video, how much money a YouTube creator makes can vary wildly. We spoke with YouTubers who broke down how much they'd made on videos with 1 million views, and their answers ranged from about $3,400 to $40,000, depending on the type of content and viewer demographics.

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YouTube creators who are part of the Partner Program can monetize their videos with ads. The amount of money different creators make per video varies based on a variety of factors. We spoke with dozens of creators who shared how much money they've earned on YouTube.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

This is the latest installment of Insider's YouTube money logs, where creators break down how much they earn. Creators on YouTube can earn their money a number of ways, from sponsorships to selling merchandise. But revenue from Google ads is a big chunk of many YouTube stars' incomes. Social-media creators who are part of the YouTube Partner Program can earn money off their videos with Google-placed ads. To start earning money directly from YouTube, creators must have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year. Once they reach that threshold, they can apply for YouTube's Partner Program, which allows creators to start monetizing their channels through ads, subscriptions, and channel memberships. Six YouTubers shared their RPM rates, or revenue per mille. The YouTube creators said they earned between $2 and $12 per 1,000 views. This converts to monthly payouts, and YouTubers we spoke with earned between $80 and $55,000 per month from the program. Those earnings can vary by month for creators. For example, Sarah Lavender, a YouTuber with about 100,000 followers, earned different monthly incomes ranging from about $1,000 in one month last year to over $6,000. (She broke down her exact earnings each month last year.) Another YouTuber, who has over 1 million subscribers, earned over $50,000 in a single month. But YouTube creators with far fewer followers can also make decent money. Nano influencer Jen Lauren earned $213 in November, for instance. When it comes to a viral video, how much money a YouTube creator makes can vary wildly. We spoke with YouTubers who broke down how much they'd made on videos with 1 million views, and their answers ranged from about $3,400 to $40,000, depending on the type of content and viewer demographics. In all, Insider has spoken with dozens of YouTube creators about how much each of them made per month, on videos with 100,000 or 1 million views, and other financial topics.

Here's a comprehensive breakdown of Insider's YouTube money logs series:

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Many YouTube creators earn money off the ads that play in their videos and receive a monthly payout.

So how much do YouTubers generally make per month?

Here's a full breakdown of our coverage of how much YouTuber creators earn monthly: For every 1,000 ad views, advertisers pay a certain rate to YouTube. YouTube then takes 45% and the creator gets the rest. Some subjects, like personal finance or cryptocurrency, can boost a creator's ad rate by attracting a lucrative audience.

How much do creators earn per 1,000 views (called the RPM rate)?

Here's a full breakdown of our coverage of what YouTube creators earn per 1,000 views: Creators on YouTube often have no idea how much money they will earn off a single video after they upload it to the platform. Many creators also try to avoid swearing or copyrighted music in their content because those factors can increase a video's chance of getting flagged by YouTube and demonetized.

So, if a creator does everything right in the eyes of YouTube, how much can they expect to make at the top end?

We asked 17 YouTube creators what the most money they'd made of a single video was. How much money a single YouTube video with 100,000 views makes from Google-placed ads depends on the content of the video and the audience who watches. The amount of money a video will earn also depends on its watch time, length, and video type, among other factors. Here's a full breakdown of our coverage on how much YouTube creators make for 100,000 views: Though making money from YouTube depends on a variety of factors, amassing 1 million views can often net a creator a big payday. Here's a full breakdown of our coverage of how much YouTube creators make for 1 million views:

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