YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed over $55 billion to the U.S. GDP and supported more than 490,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2024, according to a new report from the video platform examining its economic impact in the United States.

The research, conducted by Oxford Economics, reveals how the platform has evolved from its 2005 origins into a significant economic force that enables creators to build businesses, provides educational resources, and serves as a hub for cultural content.

Revenue Sharing Fuels Creator Economy Growth

The foundation of YouTube’s economic impact lies in its revenue-sharing model, established in 2007 through the YouTube Partner Program. According to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, this program “laid the foundation of the creator economy as we know it today” by sharing more than half of advertising revenue directly with creators.

This approach has produced substantial payouts over time. YouTube reports it paid more than $70 billion to creators, artists, and media companies in the three years prior to January 2024. The platform’s monetization options have expanded beyond advertising to include ten different revenue streams, including YouTube Premium subscriptions, Super Chat, Super Thanks, Channel Memberships, Gifts, and other fan engagement features.

The economic benefits extend beyond direct payouts. Approximately 80% of small and medium-sized businesses with YouTube channels agree that YouTube is essential to their growth, with 71% reporting that the platform played a role in helping them increase revenue. 

Approximately 70% of SMBs reported that their YouTube activity led to increased activity off-platform, including expansion into brick-and-mortar locations or the launch of additional online stores.

Creator Success Stories Demonstrate Platform’s Impact

The report profiles several creators who built significant businesses through YouTube:

• Cassey Ho (Blogilates) evolved from a fitness creator to a retail CEO, growing her channel into a combined eight-figure business with 30 full-time employees. Her success led to brand extensions, including a collection at Target and over 10.7 million subscribers.
  
• Sean Evans and the First We Feast team transformed celebrity interviews with their “Hot Ones” show, which has accumulated 14.7 million subscribers and spawned a multi-million dollar hot sauce enterprise, extensive merchandise lines, and high-profile brand partnerships.
  
• The Perkins Builder Brothers, custom home builders, now earn more from their YouTube channel than from their construction business, with 90% of their revenue coming directly from YouTube through ad revenue, sponsorships, and product placements.
  
• Kent Rollins (also known as Cowboy Kent Rollins) built a YouTube cooking channel that now forms the foundation of a business with five employees, three cookbooks, and a line of kitchen products, serving over 3.28 million subscribers.

Educational Impact and Cultural Influence

Beyond economic contributions, YouTube serves as an educational resource for students, parents, and teachers. The report found that 74% of parents who use YouTube agree that the platform helps their children learn, while 66% say it plays an important role in their children’s discovery of the world.

In classrooms, 90% of teachers who use YouTube report incorporating YouTube content in their lessons or assignments. Approximately 80% agree that YouTube helps increase student engagement, and 78% believe it facilitates students’ continued learning outside the classroom.

For general users, YouTube has become a go-to learning resource, with 92% of users reporting they use the platform to gather information and knowledge.

The platform’s cultural impact is also notable. YouTube is now the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts in the U.S., according to research by Kantar. As of January 2025, more than 1 billion monthly active viewers consume podcast content on YouTube. The platform has been the #1 in streaming watchtime in the U.S. for more than a year, according to Nielsen research.

Personalization and Discovery Key to Creator Growth

For creators, YouTube’s personalization features play a crucial role in audience development. The platform reports over 20 million videos uploaded daily and more than 20 billion videos total on the service, making discovery mechanisms essential for creators to break through.

About 70% of creators agree that personalized recommendations on YouTube are important for growing their audiences, while 67% say YouTube is an essential platform to earn a global presence. Among creators who earn money from YouTube, 71% agree that the platform provides an opportunity to create content and earn money they wouldn’t get from traditional media.

Diverse Voices and Content

The platform has become a venue for diverse perspectives, with 77% of viewers agreeing that they value the diversity of content and perspectives available on YouTube. Approximately 74% of viewers agree they can find content that reflects their culture on the platform.

This diversity extends to content types as well. YouTube describes itself as “the largest music stage in the world,” reaching over 100 countries, while also serving as a home for educational content, podcasts, and cultural programming.

Methodological Approach

The report’s findings are based on surveys conducted by Oxford Economics in January and February 2025. These included surveys of YouTube users (weighted to reflect characteristics of YouTube’s user base), creators (sampled to include creators with different-sized audiences), and businesses that use YouTube.

Economic modeling incorporated data on YouTube payouts, off-platform revenues estimated from survey responses, and input-output models to estimate the impacts on the supply chain and worker spending. The jobs supported calculation includes creative entrepreneurs who spend at least eight hours per week working on YouTube, their permanent employees, and jobs in related industries.

The report defines YouTube’s creative ecosystem as comprising creators who earn revenues both on and off the platform, their employees, and businesses and freelancers in their supply chains that generate a substantial portion of their revenue from creators.

All images are credited to YouTube & Oxford Economics.
The full report is available here.