What a Poll of YouTube Creators Reveals—And What It Doesn’t

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Sep '25 (edited) • Monetization Journey 💰

Recently, I shared a poll across several creator-focused communities to see where people were on their YouTube journey. In total, 136 creators responded across four different groups, ranging from small communities of a few hundred to larger groups with thousands of members.

The results were both encouraging and sobering.

🗳️ The Poll Questions And Results

Here’s the exact wording of the options I provided, along with the combined responses across all groups:

🔹 Haven’t started a channel yet, but I’m planning to → 22 votes (16.2%)

🔹 Newbie — started my first channel within the last 3 months → 31 votes (22.8%)

🔹 My most active channel is less than 1 year old — not monetized → 30 votes (22.1%)

🔹 My most active channel is less than 1 year old — monetized → 7 votes (5.1%)

🔹 My most active channel is over 1 year old — not monetized → 14 votes (10.3%)

🔹 My most active channel is over 1 year old — monetized → 21 votes (15.4%)

🔹 I am creating content again after an extended break (3–12 months) → 6 votes (4.4%)

🔹 I am reviving a channel I started over a year ago → 5 votes (3.7%)

✅ Grand Total: 136 votes (100%)

When simplified to just monetization status:

🔹 Monetized (options 4 + 6): 28 votes (20.6%)

🔹 Not Monetized (everything else): 108 votes (79.4%)

How This Squares With National Trends

At first glance, 20.6% monetized looks surprisingly strong. Nationally, the numbers are far lower:

🔹 Studies suggest fewer than 6% of channels are monetized through the YouTube Partner Program.

🔹 Some analyses estimate that as few as 0.25% of all YouTube channels ever make a single penny.

🔹 Even among monetized channels, the majority of income is concentrated at the top—just a few percent of creators earn most of the revenue.

By that comparison, my poll results look like a success story. But that’s where the caution comes in.

⚠️ The Problems With This Kind Of Poll

🔹 Self-Selected Sample — Everyone who answered was already inside a creator-focused community. These aren’t casual uploaders—they’re people actively trying to grow. Naturally, that raises the monetization rate above the national average.

🔹 Small Numbers, Big Conclusions — With just 136 votes, this is a snapshot, not a survey. The YouTube ecosystem has millions of channels—most of which aren’t represented here.

🔹 Category Ambiguity — Take the option “I am reviving a channel I started over a year ago.” We counted those as not monetized, but the truth is murkier—some might have been monetized before, others not.

🔹 Community Bias — Groups like Creator Boost Tribe or Mid-Life Creator Community attract motivated creators. That tilts the data toward people who are more likely to succeed than the general YouTube population.

💡 Why This Still Matters

Even with all the caveats, the poll reflects something real:

🔹 Most creators are still at the early stage. Roughly two-thirds of respondents were planning, new, or less than a year in.

🔹 Monetization is still the exception. Only 1 in 5 respondents is currently monetized.

🔹 Restarting is common. About 8% were either reviving or returning after a break.

This matches the broader reality: most YouTubers never get to monetization, and those who do are outnumbered by those still striving.

🌐 The Bigger Picture

So what’s the takeaway?

🔹 Nationally, monetization is rare.

🔹 In creator communities, it’s more common—but still far from the norm.

🔹 For individuals, the gap between “not monetized” and “monetized” is where the real struggle (and opportunity) lies.

In other words, my poll doesn’t tell us everything about YouTube as a whole, but it does highlight this: the majority of creators, even in supportive communities, are still searching for traction. And that’s why encouragement, practical strategies, and shared accountability matter so much.

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