How Much YouTube Paid me in 2020 with 100,000 Subscribers
If you’re wondering how much YouTube paid me in 2020 with 100,000 subscribers… I’m here to tell you all about it!
How Much YouTube Paid Me in 2020 with 100,000 Subscribers

Want to watch the video version of this post? I’ve got you covered!
You know that I don’t like to be like everybody else in the world/on YouTube, but I also want to give the people what they want. And a lot of people have been interested in how much YouTube paid me in 2020 with 100,000 subscribers. I’m out here following the trends, y’all!
So, I want to show you a roundup of my YouTube channel in 2020: how much YouTube paid me, when I saw dips and increases, the whole shebang.
I’ve said this before, but since I’m doing this video it’s worth saying again. YouTube is just a small portion of my business’ income. I made multiple six-figures in 2020, and this is only one portion of that.
Going forward, I’m planning to be more of a creator on this platform, and part of that means increasing the money I make from ads on YouTube. For the most part, it’s a pretty consistent revenue stream. I could take a month off of YouTube and make about the same amount of money because of views on other videos.
How I’m strategically increasing my YouTube Revenue in 2021
First, I’m going to double-down on the quality of content I produce on YouTube. I don’t mean the cameras or microphone quality – I mean the quality of the actual CONTENT. I want them to be more about community-building and less about me spitting tips at you and dipping out.
Second, I want to start making more longer-form content. I started doing that in 2020, and it seems like my audience really likes it. My retention rate is higher now than when I made shorter videos.
Third, I want to do better at growing my subscribers on the platform! That means I want to do better at making my subscribers want to come back and watch, promote the videos elsewhere, and all the things. Additionally, I want to keep feeding some content that’s searchable so new people can find my channel.
How Much YouTube Paid Me in 2020 with 100,000 Subscribers
YouTube paid me $38,095.01 in 2020 with 100,000 subscribers.
I want to break down a lot of stats from my channel and show you more in-depth analytics, so let’s dive in.
(Psst… if you want to see the analytics, watch this video! You can skip to 8:09 to start the analytics deep-dive).
In 2019, I made $23,000. So there was an increase of about $15,000 this year in what YouTube paid me. That’s NOT shabby. And a revenue increase that big when I’m putting in the same amount of work as before is a good deal.
In my first year when I was monetized, I made less than $9,000 on the platform. That was in 2017 – so in 3 years, that amount has increased massively.
March of 2020 – a big month for YouTube
In March of 2020, my revenue on YouTube increased from a consistent $70 per day to $90-$100 per day. A lot of YouTube channels saw that same shift. As we all know, COVID happened in March, so more people were staying home and watching YouTube than ever before.
Watchtime peaked MASSIVELY in that month.
December 2020 – A Dip
There was a big dip in revenue on my channel in December. And I always see a revenue decrease in my business in the month of December. That’s been the same for every year that I’ve been on YouTube.
I think that a couple of things contribute to that dip. A couple of creators take breaks around the holidays. So, if someone comes to YouTube consistently to watch 5 creators but 4 of those take a break in December, then they might not come to the platform as often.
If you’ve watched my other income report videos, then you know there are some months when I made $3,500 or $3,800. That was down 15% in the month of December, and I only made$2,664.49 that month.
From December 2020 to January 2021
If we look at the transition from December to January, then you can see the subscribers numbers, watchtime hours, and revenue peak up again. All of those metrics started to increase on December 27.
My video, 1,000 Subscribers in 30 Days, started taking off around that time. It’s pulling the rest of my content with it and increasing my views on other videos.
How Much YouTube Paid me in 2020 in a Snapshot
I made $38,000 (which is more than I ever made in my corporate job in a year – AMAZING). I grew by 46,000 subscribers in 2020 which is REALLY really cool. I ended the year with 100,000 subscribers, which means I almost doubled my subscriber count in 2020.
My 2021 Goals for my Channel
One of my goals for 2021 is to double EVERY. SINGLE. ONE of my metrics. I’d love to double my subscriber count since I saw that was possible in 2020. Doubling my revenue from YouTube to hit the $60,000 would be incredible. And with that comes increasing watchtime and views.
Sometimes, people hit goals flying by the seat of their pants. Instead of setting random goals, we can set informed goals that help us both go above and beyond AND that are actually attainable.
Setting unrealistic goals for YouTube sets you up for disappointment. I’m a big believer in setting realistic goals that still push you! For example, I didn’t fully double my subscribers last year, but I got close. So this year, that’s a realistic goal for me.
Channel Reach
I get most of my viewers from YouTube search – almost half of them. My goal is to increase the percentage of viewers who find my content from suggested videos and browse features in 2021.
External sources are the second most common way people find my videos, with about 22% of people finding them that way. That includes when people recommend my videos to friends via text, when I put swipe up links on Instagram, or when people find my blog posts (like this one!) via Google and they have a YouTube video embedded in them. I get a LOT of traffic from Pinterest, which also falls into this category.
We can see where all of my external traffic comes from, too. And 64% of it came from Google Search. That is MASSIVE.
That means someone is going to Google, typing in a search term, and clicking on 1) my video directly or 2) my blog post where I include the video and then they watch that video.
The Videos that Brought People to My Channel
Of all of my videos, the digital planning videos brought the most new people to my channel.
How to Add Text to iMovie is the top video on my channel – and it is a SUPER old one. Next, How to Get Your FIrst 1,000 Subscribers in 2020 is the most popular, and it was published in May.
It’s always interesting to take a big picture snapshot of my YouTube channel. And if you’ve seen a lot of these videos, then you’ll probably notice that there’s no set rule on how much someone is making on YouTube. Advertisers pay different amounts for different types of videos, so people will make different amounts of money.