How much do YouTube Shorts pay per 1,000 views?

The short answer

Shorts usually pay cents, not dollars, per 1,000 views from ad revenue, and far less than long-form videos. To earn anything from Shorts ads you need the full tier of the YouTube Partner Program, and from February 1, 2027, YouTube only pays the Shorts share to channels with at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the past 90 days. For most creators, Shorts are a funnel: they drive subscribers to long-form videos, streams, podcasts, memberships and sponsors. That's where the money is.

How YouTube pays for Shorts

Shorts don't carry ads inside the video. Ads run between Shorts in the feed, so YouTube pools the money. Per the YouTube Help Center:

• The pool. Each month, ad revenue from the Shorts feed is pooled by country.
• The music cut. For a Short with one music track, half of its revenue goes into the Creator Pool and half covers music licensing. With two tracks, a third goes into the pool. Shorts without music put everything in.
• Your slice. The Creator Pool is split by each channel's share of qualified views among monetizing creators in that country. Using music doesn't shrink your slice.
• Your cut. You keep 45% of your allocation, music or not.

YouTube's own illustrative example: $100,000 in Shorts feed ad revenue in one country becomes a $90,000 Creator Pool after music costs. A creator with 1 million of the 100 million qualified views gets 1%, or $900, and keeps 45% of it: $405. That's an invented example to explain the mechanics, not a real rate.

Which views count

Since March 2025, the public counter on a Short counts every start or replay. Payouts and program thresholds use the narrower metric YouTube shows separately in Analytics as engaged views. Views from artificial traffic, non-original Shorts such as straight reuploads and content that isn't advertiser-friendly are left out. So the number under your Short is higher than the number you get paid on.

Shorts RPM in 2026: what's realistic

YouTube doesn't publish a Shorts rate, and RPM (what you earn per 1,000 views after YouTube's share) swings with viewer country, niche and season. US audiences typically pay more than most other markets. One data point: AIR Media-Tech, a company that provides services to YouTube channels, analyzed 274 channels (last updated September 2026) and reported Shorts RPM between $0.02 and $1.48 depending on niche, roughly 3–14% of what long-form earns per 1,000 views. Most niches landed near the bottom; only music cleared a dollar. Treat it as a direction, not a promise: it's a vendor's study, and other guides published in 2026 mostly quote a few cents per 1,000 views.

From the YouTube Help Center and the YouTube blog (August 10, 2026), as of October 2026. RPM figures from a vendor study; your own numbers are in YouTube Studio.

YouTube Partner Program thresholds

As of October 2026, YouTube lists two entry points. The lower tier is available in the US and many other countries:

• Lower tier: 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the past 90 days, plus 3,000 watch hours in 12 months or 3 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. Unlocks channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks and YouTube Shopping. No ad revenue.
• Full tier: 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 long-form watch hours in 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. Adds ad revenue on long-form and Shorts, and YouTube Premium revenue.

What changes on February 1, 2027

YouTube announced the update on August 10, 2026. New applicants for the full tier will need 8,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days; Search Engine Journal reports the 1,000-subscriber minimum stays. Channels already in the program stay in. For everyone, the Shorts revenue share for a month only pays out if the channel had at least 10 million qualified Shorts views in the 90 days ending on the 15th of the previous month. Below that, long-form keeps earning and the Shorts share pauses until you're back above it. Partners need to accept the new terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027. The lower tier doesn't change.

Example math (an example, not a forecast)

Say your channel gets 2 million qualified Shorts views a month at an assumed RPM of $0.05. That's about $100 a month from Shorts. From February 2027, that channel has 6 million views per 90 days, below the 10 million line, so its Shorts share would pause entirely. For comparison, one long-form video with 50,000 views at an assumed $3 RPM brings about $150. All numbers here are assumptions; check your own in YouTube Studio.

Other ways Shorts make you money

• Long-form views. Link each Short to the matching full video on your channel. A viewer there is worth many times a Shorts view.
• Streams and podcasts. A Short from your last stream or episode shows new people what they'd get from the full thing.
• Memberships and Supers. Available from the lower tier. Fans who found you through Shorts often become members later.
• YouTube Shopping. Tag your own products or partners' products. YouTube says it'll add Shopping bonuses and brand deal incentives for channels below the new Shorts threshold; details aren't out yet.
• Sponsors. For many channels the biggest income. Brands pay for a clear audience, not raw views. Disclose paid promotions.

Repurposing what you already film is the cheapest way to post Shorts consistently. See how long Shorts should be and, if you stream, how to repurpose live streams. Use your own footage or footage you have rights to: reuploads of other people's content don't earn.

General information, not legal advice.

What to track

• Qualified Shorts views, rolling 90 days. From February 2027 this decides whether you get a Shorts share at all.
• Shorts RPM and long-form RPM, separately. In YouTube Studio under Revenue.
• Subscribers gained from Shorts. Which Shorts bring subscribers, not just views?
• Views on linked videos. How much traffic do your Shorts send to your long-form?