Today we’ll be looking at how much money a YouTube channel makes, specifically one with 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers, and more specifically, a motovlogger YouTube channel.

I’m Adrian from YouMotorcycle, I make videos for people who want to learn more about motorcycleing, or in this case, maybe making videos about motorcycling to make a few bucks on YouTube. Just like I did last year, I’ll be sharing both how much I made, and what that worked out to in dollars per hour, because each video takes me about 6 hours on average.

Last year the YouMotorcycle YouTube channel started the year with 5,000 subscribers, and ended the year with 10,000 subscribers, while being paid $3,800 from YouTube.

How much money do moto vloggers get paid in 2022?

All prices are being converted to US dollar and minimum wage in my city is $11.37/hr, so we’re going to see if I make more, or less than minimum wage.

January and February

In January I made $136 over 43,000 views. I made 4 videos in January, so I made less than $6/hr, or half of minimum wage. January is always my worst month of the year.

February saw less views than January, but more money. I made $152 anyway, but I made 5 new videos that month, so again, less than half of minimum wage. I remember I spent so much time on a video about the controversy behind what really is the first motorcycle ever, and why we give credit to the wrong bike, and I thought it was so interesting, and no one watched it. Heartbreaking.

March and April

March, views went up around 50% to 64,000, and my dollars doubled to $313. I made 5 new videos including one about a flashing break light that I put on all my bikes and highly recommend for your safety.

April I made $343. I put out 4 videos and made $14/hr. I think it was also my first time gaining over 500 new subscribers in a single month so that was amazing.

May and June

Things kept going up in May, 84,000 views, 547 new subscribers, $405.41. That month I put out my video on how to properly jump start a motorcycle from a car without damaging your motorcycle’s electrical. If you don’t know how to do that, or you just need a refresher, you should check that out.

June I got 83,000 views, 523 subscribers and I announced I was going on a 2000+ km trip which we’ll talk about next month. I made $425, made three new videos, including a 20 minute monster review of my Harley-Davidson V-Rod after five years of ownership. I really like that video because I gave 21 pros of the motorcycles, and 19 cons, and I wish more motovloggers gave more brutally honest reviews like that instead of trying to appeal to everyone all the time.

July and August

July was very similar in views and subscriber growth, but I only made $386 this time. I put out content from my trip that I was really excited out, but it turned out no one cared so no one watched them. I made 3 videos.

By August I gave up on my travel series, went back to my normal content, and as a result, my views, new subscribers, and revenue all went back up. 85,000, 573 new subscribers, $409. I made 2 videos so the dollars per hour was quite good.

September and October

September things start slowing down, 75,000 views, 425 new subscribers, only $366 and I made 3 videos.

October another 70,000 views, 393 new subscribers, and $343, and I made two videos.

November and December

By November things had really fallen. 58,000 views, 337 new subscribers, $298. I made 2 videos. One was another very in-depth, very brutally honest review, this time it was on my Vespa. If you’re wondering what having a Vespa is like, check that out.

December was even worse in every way, but, because I only put out one video this was technically my best $/hr month. I didn’t really try hard because I knew everyone was busy with the holidays so no one would be watching. The silver lining was that this December was so much better than last December’s.

How much money did my 10,000 subscriber YouTube channel make in 2022?

Let’s talk totals for the year. In 2022 I got…

5,000 new subscribers, compared to 2,700 new subscribers in 2021. Up 85%.

817,000 views compared to 472,000 views. Up 73%.

$3,800, up 78% versus $2,100 the year before.

The reality is, that $3,800 came from 39 videos which took over 234 hours. That means I averaged $16/hr for about 6 weeks worth of full time working, no benefits or anything.

There’s more to it than just the YouTube income…

But there’s a little more to it then that. When I make how to videos and link to the parts and special tools that I use and people buy them through my affiliate link I got a 4% commission. That adds up. I can’t tell you how much it adds up to because I put the same tutorials and links on my website, YouMotorcycle.com, and I can’t see whether the purchases are coming from YouTube, or from visitors on the website.

What do you think?

So let me know in the comments, if you worked a month and a half of your life, and all you got paid was $3,800, would you do it?

Try to keep in mind, I’ve also probably spent over $1,000 between the three cameras I shoot with, the two different microphones I use, lights, tripods, memory cards, etc.

Do you want to know what a smaller YouTube channel makes? Check out my post from last year on my 2021’s YouTube channel earnings from 2,300 to 5,000 subscribers. You might also want to check out my tips to getting your first 2,000 subscribers.

So let me know in the comments, if you worked a month and a half of your life, and all you got paid was $3,800, would you do it? I’d love to hear what you have to say. Ride safe, but have fun.