Want to be a YouTuber? You need 9 million views to earn the average salary in the UK and quit your job!
(Image credit: Sutipond Somnam / Shutterstock)
Have you ever had dreams of throwing in the towel at your day job and writing "YouTuber" on your tax returns? A fascinating new European study has revealed how many YouTube views are required to earn the average salary, giving you the financial security to quit your job.
The study reveals that if you live in the United Kingdom, for example, where the national average net salary is $36,245 / £26,636 / AU$50,046, you would need 9.1 million views on YouTube in order to make the same amount of money.
Interestingly, the UK only has the ninth highest average salary among European countries. The highest, by far, is Liechtenstein, with a net average $66,494 / £48,853 / AU$91,759 – which in turn means that 16,692,251 views on YouTube would be needed to equal the national salary.
At the other end of the 43 countries that were part of the study, commissioned by Reboot Online Marketing and examining data from Lickd, the lowest annual salary belongs to Armenia – whose $3,392 / £2,488 / AU$4,673 average would require just 850,611 YouTube views to generate.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
How many YouTube views does it take to earn the average salary?
Rank
European country
Net av. salary
YouTube views needed
1
Liechtenstein
$66,494
16,692,251
2
Switzerland
$61,392
15,421,983
3
Luxembourg
$48,616
12,204,612
4
Denmark
$48,465
12,174,375
5
Norway
$45,077
11,318,448
6
Sweden
$38,125
9,572,701
7
Ireland
$37,390
9,388,291
8
Austria
$37,279
9,361,377
9
United Kingdom
$36,245
9,102,206
10
Germany
$34,816
8,742,358
Perhaps surprising, given their size, global significance and native languages, are three countries that fell outside the top ten. In 12th-ranked France the average salary is $30,318 / £22,232 / AU$41,767, which would be matched by 7,598,684 views on the social media platform.
In Spain, ranked 16th, where the national salary is $24,311 / £17,825 / AU$33,490, you could earn the same amount of money by racking up 6,093,169 views. And in 18th- ranked Italy, which has an average salary of $23,560 / £17,275 / AU$32,462, a YouTuber could quit their job by getting 5,907,430 views.
Get the Digital Camera World Newsletter
The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!
Between the changing landscape of media consumption and, no doubt, the transformative effects of the global pandemic, more people are considering YouTube as a legitimate career option than ever before.
According to Ahrefs, terms like "How to create a YouTube channel?" and "How to make money on YouTube?" are receiving an average of 182,900 and 85,500 global searches per month respectively. So if you're getting the itch to start a career in content creation, you're not alone…
The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.
