YouTube Shorts Earnings in the USA: What Creators Actually Make in 2026

YouTube Shorts monetization operates on a revenue-pooling model that differs fundamentally from long-form video ads. Here is the mechanics:

Ads appear between Shorts in the feed, not on individual Shorts. All ad revenue generated from the Shorts feed is pooled together globally. YouTube first calculates each creator's share of total Shorts views. If your Shorts received 0.001% of all Shorts views that month, you get 0.001% of the creator pool.

From your allocated share, YouTube applies a 45/55 split — you keep 45%, YouTube keeps 55%. If your Shorts used licensed music, the music rights holders receive a portion before the split, further reducing your take.

The result is an effective RPM far below long-form content. While a US long-form video might earn $5-$8 RPM, Shorts typically deliver $0.04-$0.10 RPM in the US market. According to multiple creator reports aggregated by Influencer Marketing Hub, the average US Shorts RPM in late 2025 was approximately $0.07 — or 7 cents per 1,000 views. That means 1 million views earns roughly $70 before taxes.

Here is what US Shorts creators typically earn from ad revenue alone:

100,000 monthly Shorts views: $4-$10/month. This is the reality for most small creators making Shorts. It is effectively pocket change.

500,000 monthly Shorts views: $20-$50/month. Still not meaningful income. You would need to post multiple Shorts daily for months to reach this level.

1 million monthly Shorts views: $40-$100/month. A decent number of views, but the ad revenue alone does not justify a significant time investment.

5 million monthly Shorts views: $200-$500/month. Now approaching something that supplements other income. This typically requires at least 1-2 viral Shorts per month plus steady baseline views.

10 million monthly Shorts views: $400-$1,000/month. At this level, you are among the top Shorts creators. But even here, the income is modest compared to what long-form creators earn with far fewer views.

50 million+ monthly Shorts views: $2,000-$5,000/month. Reserved for breakout creators with massive, consistent audiences.

The math is sobering. A creator earning $6 RPM on long-form content would need only 83,000 views to make $500/month. A Shorts creator at $0.07 RPM needs over 7 million views for the same amount.

If Shorts pay so little per view, why do millions of creators produce them? Several reasons:

Audience growth: Shorts reach new viewers at scale. YouTube's algorithm aggressively surfaces Shorts to non-subscribers, making it the fastest way to grow a channel. Many creators report that Shorts drive 5-10x more subscriber growth than long-form content. Those new subscribers then watch long-form videos with much higher RPM.

Brand deal leverage: A creator with 10M monthly Shorts views has significant reach, which brands value for sponsorships. Brand deals on Shorts pay $500-$5,000 per video depending on audience size — far exceeding ad revenue. According to a 2025 NeoReach report, sponsored Shorts rates for US creators with 100K+ followers averaged $1,500-$3,000 per post.

Low production cost: Shorts take minutes to produce compared to hours for long-form. Using AI tools like FluxNote, a creator can generate dozens of Shorts per week. Even at low per-view earnings, the time-adjusted return can be favorable.

Funnel to other revenue: Shorts work as top-of-funnel content that drives viewers to higher-monetization channels: long-form YouTube, email lists, courses, or products. The Shorts RPM is almost irrelevant if each Short sends 100 people to a $50 product landing page.

While you cannot change the fundamental RPM of Shorts, you can optimize around the constraints:

Use original audio exclusively. When you use licensed music, a portion of your revenue share goes to music rights holders before you see a cent. Creating Shorts with original voiceovers, sound effects, or no music preserves your full revenue share. Creator reports suggest this increases effective RPM by 20-40%.

Target US viewers specifically. Upload during US peak hours (6-10 PM ET). Reference US-specific topics, prices, and locations. US viewers generate higher CPMs even in the Shorts feed because advertisers bidding on US inventory pay more.

Focus on volume over perfection. The Shorts algorithm rewards consistent posting. Creators who post 1-3 Shorts daily consistently report better algorithmic distribution than those posting sporadically. FluxNote can help generate this volume efficiently.

Drive viewers to long-form. End Shorts with a call to action directing viewers to your long-form videos. A single long-form viewer is worth 50-100x a Shorts viewer in ad revenue. Think of Shorts as a free marketing channel for your higher-RPM content.

Build for sponsorships, not ad revenue. A Shorts channel with 1M+ monthly views becomes attractive to brands regardless of ad RPM. One $2,000 brand deal equals what 20-30 million Shorts views would earn in ad revenue.