"If you pick the wrong niche, you can get 1 million views and earn $500. Pick the right niche, and you can earn $500 with just 25,000 views. Work smarter, not harder."
One of the hardest pills to swallow as a new YouTuber is realizing that not all content is valued equally. Advertisers do not care how much effort you put into editing your vlog; they care about intent.
If your viewer is looking to buy a house, advertisers will pay a premium to reach them. If your viewer is watching a prank video, advertisers assume they have little intent to buy anything, so they pay pennies.
In this guide, we break down the CPM (Cost Per Mille) and RPM (Revenue Per Mille) data for 2025, helping you choose a topic that pays the bills.
CPM vs RPM: A Quick Reminder
CPM is what advertisers pay YouTube. RPM is what YOU keep (after YouTube's 45% cut). All estimates below focus on RPM, as that is your actual take-home pay.
1. The 2025 CPM Leaderboard
We analyzed data from over 5,000 channels to create this leaderboard. These figures represent the average RPM (Take-home pay per 1,000 views) for long-form videos in Tier 1 countries (USA, UK, CA, AU).
| Niche / Category | Avg. CPM (Advertiser Cost) | Avg. RPM (Your Pay) | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance & Investing | $30.00 - $50.00 | $18.50+ | High |
| Digital Marketing / B2B | $25.00 - $40.00 | $15.00 | Medium |
| Tech & Software | $18.00 - $25.00 | $12.00 | Medium |
| Legal & Court Drama | $15.00 - $22.00 | $9.00 | Low |
| Health & Fitness | $10.00 - $18.00 | $6.00 | High |
| Gaming | $5.00 - $8.00 | $3.50 | Very High |
| Vlogs / Entertainment | $3.00 - $6.00 | $2.50 | Very High |
2. Deep Dive: The Top Paying Niches
1. Finance & Investing ($18+ RPM)
Why it pays so much: Advertisers in this space are banks, trading platforms, and insurance companies. A single customer might be worth $1,000+ to them (Customer Lifetime Value), so they are willing to bid aggressively for ad slots.
"Visual Case Studies." You don't need to be a guru. Create documentaries about financial frauds (like FTX or Enron) or company success stories. Use stock footage and voiceovers. "Business casual" style channels are booming in 2025.
2. Tech & Software Tutorials ($12+ RPM)
Why it pays so much: Software (SaaS) is a massive industry. Companies like Monday.com, Wix, and Shopify spend millions on YouTube ads. If your video teaches people "How to build a website," these companies will fight to place their ad on your video.
This niche also has high Affiliate Marketing potential, which often earns 3x more than AdSense.
3. Health & Fitness ($6+ RPM)
While not as high as Finance, Health pays well because of the supplement and fitness app industry. However, generalized "workout" videos have lower RPMs. To spike your revenue, focus on specific problems like "How to cure back pain" or "Best diet for diabetics," as these attract targeted medical advertisers.
3. The "Hidden Gem" Niches of 2025
Everyone knows Finance pays well. But here are two "sleeper" niches that are performing incredibly well in our 2025 dataset:
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Legal / Court Drama ($9.00 RPM):
People are obsessed with bodycam footage and court trials. Because the content is often educational (legal analysis), it attracts premium advertisers like law firms and security systems.
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Car Reviews / Auto Repair ($7.00 RPM):
Car manufacturers and insurance companies have massive budgets. A channel teaching people how to fix their specific car model attracts viewers with high purchase intent for parts and tools.
4. How to Calculate Your Potential
Knowing the RPM is only half the battle. You need to apply this to your view counts.
If you start a Gaming channel getting 100,000 views a month, you will earn roughly $350.
If you start a Tech channel getting 100,000 views a month, you will earn roughly $1,200.
Same views. 4x the revenue.
5. Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my RPM lower than these averages?
These averages are for Tier 1 countries (US, UK, etc.). If 50% of your audience is from India or the Philippines, your RPM will be significantly lower (often $0.50 - $1.00) because the cost of living and advertiser spend there is lower.
Do Shorts follow these CPM rates?
No. YouTube Shorts use a different monetization model. Even in high-paying niches like Finance, Shorts RPM typically sits between $0.01 and $0.06 per 1,000 views. Shorts are for growth; Long-form is for money.
Conclusion
The best niche for you is the intersection of Passion, Skill, and Profit.
Don't start a Finance channel if you hate money topics—you will burn out before you get monetized. But if you are torn between "Gaming" and "Tech Reviews," the data clearly shows that Tech Reviews is the smarter business decision for 2025.
Ready to engineer your revenue? Check out our Ultimate Monetization Guide to learn how to increase your RPM once you've picked your niche.