Last updated: 2026-05-09

LensPOV Research

LensPOV publishes original research on the working creator economy. Our surveys reach hundreds of monetized creators across niches to surface the real numbers behind hours, revenue, and tooling spend.

Published research

2026-05-09 · published

YouTube CPM by Niche 2026: 30-Niche Range Audit with Confidence Intervals

Aggregates 142 named creator income disclosures and industry rate-card publications into a 30-niche YouTube CPM range audit with 10th, 50th, and 90th percentile bounds, RPM equivalents at YouTube's 55 percent creator share, Q4 seasonality multipliers, and primary citations per niche. Headline: 41.7x CPM asymmetry from personal finance ($29.30 median) to post-COPPA kids content ($0.70). First single-resource compilation of fragmented CPM disclosures across the creator economy.

Dataset: 30 niches, 142 disclosures Primary sources: Graham Stephan, MrBeast, MKBHD, Linus Tech Tips, Sara Dietschy, Patrick Boyle, Coffeezilla, Lex Fridman, Doctor Mike, Ali Abdaal; Tubefilter, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Passionfruit, Garbage Day, Rest of World; Creator Economy Report (Peter Yang); Tubular Labs; FTC COPPA settlement; YouTube Help; AdSense Help; Spotify Loud and Clear (parallel framing); Stanford HAI

Upcoming research

expected Q4 2026

State of the YouTube Creator Economy 2026: Survey of 500 Working Creators on Real Hours, Revenue, and Tooling

In progress. Methodology being finalized.

How we work

Every study ships with full methodology disclosure: dataset size, time range, exclusions, and source attribution. Surveys disclose sample size, recruitment platform, and demographic stratification. We publish raw data alongside the analysis under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license so researchers, journalists, and operators can verify our claims and build on the work.

We do not run sponsored research, paid placements, or vendor-funded studies. Every study is funded directly by LensPOV as part of its independent editorial mission.

Press and citations

Journalists, researchers, and operators are welcome to cite our findings under CC-BY 4.0 with attribution. For interviews, exclusive embargoed access, or additional data cuts, contact [email protected].

Each study includes a press kit at its /press/ subpage with quotable findings, downloadable charts, and methodology summaries. Embargo requests honored when received at least 72 hours before scheduled publication.

All LensPOV research is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Attribution required: link to the study URL or to lenspov.com/research/.