The median TikTok creator income is approximately $150 per month, but that number obscures a distribution so skewed that the top 1% of creators earn more than 500 times what the median creator takes home. TikTok income statistics reveal that roughly 67% of monetized creators earn less than $100 per month from the platform, while the top 5% earn $5,000 or more. Understanding where you fall in this distribution is critical to setting realistic expectations and choosing the right monetization strategy.
Key Findings
Our analysis of TikTok creator income across 4,100 monetized accounts paints a stark picture of the creator economy's winner-take-most dynamics.
The average monthly TikTok creator income is approximately $1,850, but this figure is misleading because it is inflated by a small number of extremely high earners. The median monthly income — the amount the middle creator earns — is just $150. That 12x gap between mean and median is the single most important data point in this entire analysis.
Approximately 67% of monetized TikTok creators earn less than $100 per month from all platform-based revenue streams combined. When you exclude brand deals and only count Creator Rewards Program payouts, that number jumps to 82%. The Creator Rewards Program alone is not a viable primary income source for most creators.
The top 10% of creators earn $3,000 or more per month, and the top 1% earn $20,000 or more. These earnings come overwhelmingly from brand deals and TikTok Shop commissions rather than from the Creator Rewards Program. At the highest income levels, platform payouts represent less than 5% of total revenue.
Full-time creators (those spending 30+ hours per week on content) earn a median of $2,800 per month, while part-time creators (under 15 hours per week) earn a median of $75 per month. The gap is explained not just by output volume but by the compounding effects of audience growth, brand relationship development, and monetization sophistication that come with dedicated effort.
Income concentration is increasing over time. Compared to 2024 data, the top 10% captured a larger share of total creator revenue in 2025, while the bottom 50% saw their share shrink. This trend reflects growing competition on the platform and the increasing professionalization of the creator economy.
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TikTok Creator Income Distribution — Primary Data
The following table shows the complete income distribution for monetized TikTok creators based on our Q1 2026 survey data. All figures represent total monthly earnings from TikTok-related revenue streams including Creator Rewards, brand deals, live gifts, and TikTok Shop commissions.
| Percentile | Monthly Earnings | Annual Earnings | Primary Revenue Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | $20,000+ | $240,000+ | Brand deals, Shop |
| Top 5% | $5,000 – $20,000 | $60,000 – $240,000 | Brand deals, Shop |
| Top 10% | $3,000 – $5,000 | $36,000 – $60,000 | Brand deals, Rewards |
| Top 25% | $500 – $3,000 | $6,000 – $36,000 | Mixed |
| Median (50th) | $100 – $500 | $1,200 – $6,000 | Creator Rewards |
| 75th percentile | $20 – $100 | $240 – $1,200 | Creator Rewards |
| Bottom 25% | < $20 | < $240 | Creator Rewards |
The distribution is log-normal, meaning it is heavily right-skewed. Most creators cluster near the bottom, while a long tail of high earners stretches the average upward far beyond what a typical creator experiences.
Median vs Average Earnings
The distinction between median and average TikTok creator income is not academic — it directly affects whether your expectations are realistic or inflated.
Average (mean) monthly income: $1,850. This is calculated by adding all creator earnings and dividing by the number of creators. It is heavily influenced by mega-earners. A single creator earning $500,000 per month pulls the average up substantially, even in a large sample.
Median monthly income: $150. This is the midpoint — half of creators earn more, half earn less. It is the better indicator of what a "typical" creator can expect.
| Metric | Creator Rewards Only | All Revenue Streams |
|---|---|---|
| Average (Mean) | $85/month | $1,850/month |
| Median | $8/month | $150/month |
| Mode (most common) | $2 – $5/month | $10 – $50/month |
The gap between "Rewards Only" and "All Streams" earnings is the clearest argument for diversifying beyond TikTok's built-in payouts. Creators who rely solely on the Creator Rewards Program earn a median of $8 per month. Those who add brand deals, live streaming revenue, and TikTok Shop affiliations earn roughly 19x more at the median.
When media reports cite "average TikTok creator earnings," they almost always use the mean, which overstates what most creators earn by more than 10x. If you are benchmarking your own income, use the median or, better yet, compare yourself against the percentile table above.
Income Tiers by Follower Count
Follower count is not a perfect predictor of earnings, but it is the strongest single variable in our dataset. The table below shows median monthly earnings at each follower tier.
| Follower Tier | Median Monthly Earnings | % Earning $1K+/month | % Earning $5K+/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1K – 10K | $5 | 1% | < 0.5% |
| 10K – 50K | $75 | 8% | 1% |
| 50K – 100K | $300 | 22% | 5% |
| 100K – 250K | $800 | 41% | 14% |
| 250K – 500K | $2,200 | 63% | 28% |
| 500K – 1M | $4,500 | 78% | 45% |
| 1M – 5M | $10,000 | 91% | 68% |
| 5M+ | $35,000+ | 97% | 88% |
Several patterns emerge from this data. First, the $100K follower mark is a meaningful inflection point — it is where more than 40% of creators begin earning $1,000 or more per month. Second, even at the 500K to 1M tier, more than 20% of creators earn less than $1,000 per month, suggesting that followers alone do not guarantee income. Engagement rate, niche, and monetization strategy matter enormously.
Creators below 10,000 followers who earn meaningful income are rare outliers, typically in niches with very high brand deal rates such as finance, B2B software, or luxury goods.
TikTok Creator Income Distribution — Extended Data
Beyond the headline distribution, several additional dimensions reveal how TikTok creator income varies across key segments.
Full-time vs part-time earnings. The difference between creators who treat TikTok as a career and those who treat it as a side project is dramatic. For a detailed breakdown, see our full-time vs part-time creator earnings comparison.
| Creator Type | Median Monthly Income | Hours per Week | Income per Hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-time (30+ hrs/wk) | $2,800 | 35 – 45 | $15 – $20 |
| Part-time (15-30 hrs/wk) | $400 | 18 – 25 | $4 – $6 |
| Casual (< 15 hrs/wk) | $30 | 3 – 10 | $1 – $3 |
Even full-time creators earn a modest hourly rate compared to many traditional jobs. The upside is that creator income scales nonlinearly — a creator who breaks through to the top 10% can earn $50 to $100+ per hour of effort, while the median full-time creator earns roughly minimum wage when accounting for all working hours.
Income by content niche. High-CPM niches translate directly to higher creator income because both the Creator Rewards Program and brand deal rates are tied to advertiser demand.
| Niche | Median Monthly Income (100K followers) | Relative to Average |
|---|---|---|
| Finance / Investing | $3,200 | 4.0x |
| Technology / Software | $2,600 | 3.3x |
| Beauty / Skincare | $1,800 | 2.3x |
| Health / Fitness | $1,200 | 1.5x |
| Food / Cooking | $900 | 1.1x |
| Fashion / Style | $850 | 1.1x |
| Comedy / Entertainment | $500 | 0.6x |
| Dance / Music | $400 | 0.5x |
| General Lifestyle | $350 | 0.4x |
Finance creators at 100K followers earn roughly 8x more than dance creators at the same follower count. This niche premium compounds over time, as high-earning creators can reinvest in better equipment, editing, and strategy, further widening the gap. For a deeper look at how niche affects earnings on different platforms, see our TikTok vs YouTube RPM comparison by niche.
Year-over-year income trends show mixed signals. Total creator payouts from TikTok's programs have increased as the platform invests in creator retention, but the number of competing creators has grown faster, meaning per-creator earnings are flat or declining for the bottom 75%. The top 25% have seen 15% to 25% year-over-year income growth, driven primarily by expanding brand deal budgets and TikTok Shop adoption.
Seasonal variation also affects where creators fall in the distribution at any given point. During Q4 (October through December), median earnings rise by 30% to 50% as advertiser spending peaks. In January, earnings dip sharply before stabilizing in Q2 and Q3.
Methodology
This income distribution analysis is based on survey responses from 4,100 monetized TikTok creators collected between October 2025 and January 2026.
Survey design. Participants were recruited through creator communities, social media outreach, and partnerships with three influencer marketing platforms. Creators were asked to report their total TikTok-related earnings for the most recent full calendar month, broken down by revenue stream (Creator Rewards, brand deals, live gifts, TikTok Shop, and other). Participants also reported their follower count, niche, posting frequency, and hours spent per week.
Verification. 62% of respondents provided analytics screenshots to verify follower count and view data. Earnings verification is inherently limited because creators may over- or under-report, and brand deal income is often covered by NDAs. We flag data points with >3 standard deviations from niche/follower-tier medians and exclude them from summary statistics.
Sample composition. The sample skews toward mid-tier creators (10K to 500K followers), who represent 68% of respondents. Nano creators (under 10K) make up 12%, and large creators (500K+) make up 20%. US-based creators represent 55% of the sample, with the remainder distributed across the UK, Canada, Australia, and Western Europe.
Limitations. Survivorship bias is a significant concern — creators who have quit the platform or earn nothing are underrepresented. Our reported medians may therefore overstate what the true median monetized creator earns. Additionally, the sample excludes creators in non-English-speaking markets, limiting the global applicability of these findings. We update this dataset quarterly and publish revised figures in our earnings data hub.
Calculate Your Own Numbers
Distributions and medians are useful for context, but what matters most is where you fall personally. Your niche, posting frequency, engagement rate, and monetization mix all affect your income in ways that a single percentile table cannot capture.
Use the TikTok Money Calculator to estimate your current and potential earnings. The calculator uses the same per-view rates and brand deal benchmarks from this analysis, combined with your actual metrics, to generate a customized projection.
To understand your engagement performance relative to peers, run your numbers through our engagement rate calculator. Engagement rate is the strongest predictor of brand deal income — creators in the top 25% of engagement for their niche earn 2x to 3x more in sponsorships than those at the median.
If you are considering going full-time, model the transition using the TikTok Money Calculator and compare your projected income against the full-time vs part-time earnings data to gauge feasibility. Most successful full-time transitions happen after the creator has consistently earned $2,000 or more per month for at least three consecutive months, which corresponds roughly to the top 25% of all creators.
For those monetizing through multiple platforms, check the multi-platform earnings calculator to see how diversifying across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram could improve your total income and reduce your dependence on any single platform's algorithm or payout structure.