Find Out How Much Passive Income Could You Make: Guide!

Knowing how much passive income you could make per month can be extremely helpful to know before building a passive income stream. We had a look at our most popular passive income ideas and broke them down to help you understand how much passive income they could make per month. 

How Much Do Bloggers Make?

On average, 46.34% of bloggers make $100/month, 26.96% of bloggers make $500/month, 19.94% of bloggers make $1,000/month and 6.74% make a full-time income of $3,000 to over $7,500 per month according to Income School.

Project 24 by Income School is a community of new and seasoned bloggers who are working to generate passive income online. Here’s the breakdown of how much their members are making at the moment: 

Monthly Income Number of Members Percentage of Members
$100/Month 488 46.34%
$500/Month 284 26.96%
$1000/Month 210 19.94%
Full Time Income $3,000-$7,500+ per month 71 6.74%
Note: Many businesses fail, and there is no guarantee of success. Success requires hard work, skill, and significant time.  Data retrieved 3/9/2021 as self-reported by current Project 24 members. Some bloggers never earn money.

Income School recently carried out a study with average monthly passive income earnings you can expect to make from a well-monetized blog for posts that are at least 8 months old. Here are the results:

# Posts Under-Performing Expected Stretch Goal
10 1 Pageview: $0 300 Pageviews: $0 1,500 Pageviews: $5
100 20k Pageviews: Average $1,338 50k Pageview: Average $2,815 100k Pageviews: Average $2,908
500 100k Pageviews
Average $2,908
200k Pageviews
Average $7,270
500k Pageviews
Average $14,540
(source)

There are many ways to make money from a monetized blog and Project 24 is a great place to learn how. They teach how to monetize a blog through affiliate marketing, by selling info-products, with passive ads, YouTube, and more. Definitely have a look at Project 24 if you are looking for a step-by-step method on how to make passive income.

How Much Can YouTube Make?

On average, YouTubers make $2 to $5 ad revenue per 1,000 views and so a channel with 100,000 monthly views could make $500 per month. Creators often supplement their YouTube income with memberships, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, donations, and other revenue streams that can generate thousands more dollars per month.

Bracket Ad Revenue Example
Low Earning Channel $0-$500
Low-Mid Earning Channel $500-$3,000
High-Mid Earning Channel $3,000-$10,000 Backfire
High Earning Channel $10,000-$999,999 The Iced Coffee Hour
Millionaire Channel $1M+ Piewdiepie

How much a YouTube channel makes on YouTube ad revenue depends in part on topic, niche, target audience geography, types of ads, video length, and the number of viewed ads. Some channels make much more than the $3 to $5 average and can make $20 to $50 RPM (Revenue Per Mille, or revenue per thousand views), because of higher perceived audience value for advertisers.

In recent years, YouTube made the rules to apply for motivation more strict including the obligation to have 1,000 subscribers and 400k hours of watch time in 365 days. But things are looking bright. According to YouTube, the number of channels:

  • Earning six figures per year on YouTube grew more than 40% y/y.
  • Earning five figures per year on YouTube grew more than 50% y/y.
  • With more than one million subscribers grew by more than 65% y/y. (source)
Youtube passive income channels

For example, a gaming channel could have a $3 RPM with a wide international target audience. Whereas a specialized tech channel made for US-based viewers could make $25 RPM. Advertisers are willing to pay much more for targeted audiences in the geographies they want to focus on. Learn more about how to make money on YouTube in our guide, or with Project 24.

How Much Can Print on Demand Make?

As a general rule, you can make $500 per month in print-on-demand sales if you sell 20 items with a $25 profit margin. Some merchants declare making up to $10,000 per month in sales with the print-on-demand business model.

Print on demand is an excellent way for influencers to monetize their audience from Podcaster to YouTuber, Instagrammer, and business owners. We love Printful for print-on-demand!

Print-on-Demand Profit Monthly Volume Monthly Sales
Stickers $5 20 $100
T-Shirt $10 25 $250
Poster $20 10 $200
Hoodie $30 15 $450
Canvas Print $50 15 $750

However, the above table does not take expenses into account, and they can be high depending on where you are selling online, payment processor fees, and more. It’s important to keep an eye on these expenses to make a profit. Learn more about making passive income with print-on-demand in our guide.

How Much Do Audiobook Narrators Make?

On average, audiobook narrators make $10 to $50 an hour to narrate for authors and publishers. Once established, audiobook narrators can make $100 to $500 per hour. Self-publishers could generate an extra passive income stream by narrating their own books.

The audiobook market is exploding with audiobooks becoming increasingly popular, as more and more people spend less and less time reading. Many prefer listening to an audiobook on the go instead of reading a physical book, or an eBook on a mobile device. Although most listen to audiobooks in their car (74%), others like to listen while doing less cognitively demanding tasks like cleaning (source).

You can narrate audiobooks for new and established authors for an hourly rate, or create and narrate your own content for passive income. If you would like to make an hourly rate, you could consider offering your services on Fiverr. If you would like to make passive income from audiobooks, check out our audiobook guide.

How Much Can a Laundromat Make?

According to Coin Laundry Association’s Brian Wallace, a laundromat annual gross income can range from $30,000 to $1M with expenses between 65% to 115% of gross income. Laundromat owners can supplement their income by offering related on-site convenient services like drop-off services, or vending machines.

However, compared to other passive income ideas, a laundromat is not a cheap idea to start. Online passive income ideas like (blogging, copywriting, podcasting, flipping domain names, etc.) do not cost much to start compared to physical brick and mortar businesses like a laundromat. 

passive income laundromat

According to chron.com, starting a laundromat can cost anywhere from $200,000 to over $1,000,000. The actual cost depends on factors including commercial space, location, business incorporation, utilities, and customer supplies. 

If you choose to buy and renovate an existing laundromat, it can cost over $200,000 depending on your location, amenities, and the current state of the business (source). With such a huge initial investment, it is important to consider if this business is right for you before you get started. Learn more in our passive income laundromat guide.

How Much Can an Ice Cream Truck Make?

On average, ice cream trucks make $2,500 per month with $5,000 in sales and $2,500 in expenses according to a survey carried out by FoodTruck Empire. Factors that influence how much money an ice cream truck can make include seasonality, frequency, number of big income days, and costs.

An ice cream business can be very exciting to own, but it also requires considerable upfront financial investment and ongoing fees. For example, you would have to account for a truck, inventory, suitable refrigeration, necessary licenses, and permits, as well as insurance and employees. All things considered, starting an ice cream truck business can cost up to $10,000 to $30,000 at the start (source).

Learn more about how to make passive income from an ice cream truck in our passive income ice cream truck guide.

How Much Can a Car Wash Make?

According to a former carwash owner, a self serve car wash could net around $50,000 per year, or just over $4,000 per month if the proprietor owns the land and business. Americans spend approximately $5.8 billion a year at car wash facilities and $6.34 is the average price of an in-bay car wash.

passive income carwash large

However, starting a car wash business can be very expensive, with costs ranging from $80,000 to construct and equip each bay to over $1M to finally open. The overall cost of a self-service car wash business will be in part determined by the equipment type, the brand, and the location, among other factors (source).

Therefore, you have to decide if this business is right for you (notably with regards to your financial situation) before getting started. Learn more about making passive income with a self-service car wash in our guide.

Related Questions

Who are the richest YouTubers? 

The richest YouTubers include Jacksepticeye, VanossGaming, Markiplier, Jeffree Star, DanTDM, Jake Paul, Ryan ToysReview, and PiewDiePie. The richest YouTubers are making over $1M/year in ad revenue alone, but also make income from brand deals, affiliate offers, and more.

How much do top YouTubers make? 

In total, the top-10 YouTube channels earned $162 million between June 2018 and June 2019. They made around $181 million in 2020. According to SocialBlade, Piewdiepie makes an estimated $2M per year and Ryan’s World makes $36.5M per year on YouTube ad revenue.

How much do Uber drivers make?

On average, Uber drivers make about $10 to $20 an hour after expenses such as gas and car maintenance. Drivers would therefore need to offer about 25 rides at $20 each to make $500 a month. Some drivers can make up to $2,000 per month through Uber ride-sharing.

How much do Twitch streamers make?

On average, Twitch streamers make $2.5 per subscriber with an active channel. As a general rule, a channel with 2,000 subscribers can make $5,000 per month just from video ads. Twitch channels can also earn money from donations, sponsorships, and affiliate partnerships.

How much do TikTokers make?

On average, Tiktok influencers using the Creator’s Fund make $0.02 to $0.04 per 1,000 views, so a video with 1M views could make $40. However, the majority of top TikTok influencers make their money from sponsorships, affiliate, and brand deals for $20,000 to $50,000 per post.

How much do Instagram influencers make?

On average, Instagram influencers can receive brand deals at $10 per every 1,000 followers once they reach 100,000 followers. Therefore, an Instagram influencer with 1M followers could make $10,000 per post with sponsorships, affiliate, or brand deals.

(source)

Learn more about making passive income with Uber here, making passive income on Twitch, and making passive income as an influencer here. We also have over 50 passive income ideas on our site.

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