About chances for monetization of a YouTube channel

September 5, 2025 - Reading time: 5 minutes

According to YouTube Stats, there are 114 million active YouTube channels in 2025. About 321,000 channels have surpassed the 100,000 subscribers, according to statistical data. Only 10% of those can be monetized with more than 100$ per day (ask ChatGPT for this number - it will pull a few reliable sources). The chances of success for channels with fewer than 100,000 subscribers and earning more than $100 per day are quite small and can be ignored. So, the probability of a newly created YouTube channel earning more than $100 per day is just 0.00028 (or 0.028%) [1]. This figure is significantly lower than the probability of being killed in a U.S. city [2].

$100 per day is a small amount of income by Western standards, and it's even less meaningful when shared among several creators working on a single channel. To achieve $300 per day, the already tiny success rate of 0.028% would need to decrease significantly.

You might say that it depends on the 'niche' and the 'quality' of the videos. That’s true — but the same applies to any new business. A lot depends on how good you are at