In the past, we’ve discussed the different content niches on YouTube and how to choose the perfect one for your channel. But one important reason that people decide to become YouTube creators in the first place is to make money.
If making money is your reason for creating YouTube content, then there are some niches you should know about that are more profitable than others.
Read on to learn about 17 of the most profitable YouTube niches, as well as what makes a niche “profitable” and what to consider before choosing a niche for the purpose of making money.
Why Are Some YouTube Niches More Profitable Than Others?
You may be wondering why some YouTube niches are more profitable than others. Basically, it comes down to two things: current trends and competition.
When a topic is trending on YouTube, it means that hundreds of thousands or millions of people are searching for it on the platform. Some topics trend only once in a while and can’t be predicted, while others are always popular.
There are certain types of content that always tend to trend, and those are the ones we cover later in the article. Because they’re popular, there will always be a potential audience for them.
What about competition? Within each niche, there are sub-niches with high competition rates. Typically, this means that the audience demand for that type of content is high, and advertisers are often willing to pay top dollar to snag ad space.
We’ll address some of those popular sub-niches in our list, as well. For now, just know that if there is demand for a content niche, then there’s profit to be made. That goes double for niches where the competition among creators – and ad sponsors – is high.
Things To Consider Before Choosing a YouTube Niche for Profit
We know you’re ready to pick a profitable YouTube niche and start making money. But before you jump in with both feet, here are five things you should stop and consider, so that you can achieve that financial success you desire.
1. Your Knowledge, Expertise, and Experience in a Particular Niche
When you choose a profitable content niche, it’s important that you have some knowledge, expertise, and/or experience in the subject matter. Otherwise, you won’t be able to build trust in your audience or an authoritative voice, which could cost you the engagement you need to make money.
Remember, people can almost always recognize when you’re faking your familiarity with a given topic. When they do, they’ll also be quick to call you out, and before you know it, your YouTube reputation will be dead before it barely began.
2. Your Budget
In business, you often have to invest money to get money back. The same is true for many of the most profitable YouTube niches.
For example, creating videos in the Travel niche usually means you have to take trips, which cost money. To review products, you must buy products to review until you become well-known enough to receive free merchandise from brands in exchange for your feedback. And to demonstrate makeup or style tutorials, you must buy new beauty products, clothing, and/or accessories.
There are ways to save money on all these things, of course, but they won’t make much of an impact if your budget is low to begin with.
So, keep your budget in mind when choosing a profitable niche. If you don’t have money to spare, then select a niche that you don’t have to spend much money on, at least not in the beginning (niches that can be faceless, like ASMR, Education, Finance, Making Money, and Gaming, are great places to start). That way, you can actually make a profit instead of sinking all your money into content creation.
3. Your Abilities
Most people think that creating YouTube videos is easy. But the truth is that there’s a learning curve that every creator has to pass. No one is born with all the abilities needed to be a successful YouTuber.
For example, if you’ve never shot or edited a video before, it can be overwhelming to set up your camera correctly, get the lighting exactly right, speak casually to a camera, film in public, and craft a smooth narrative. And Beyond all that, you have to market yourself – not just on YouTube, but on other social media platforms, as well.
If all this sounds like it would be too much for you to learn or manage alone, then consider hiring other people to fill the gaps in your abilities.
For example, you can engage a video editor or a social media manager. You can even hire a camera crew and actors if you’re not comfortable filming or being the center of attention.
There are also some niches that require fewer abilities than others. Faceless niches – niches where you don’t have to show your face on camera – often just require a voiceover, and sometimes not even that. And with ASMR, you may not need to speak at all.
4. Your Filming Setup
Depending on the content niche you choose, you may want to create a special filming setup. This can cost time and money, especially if you don’t already have an ideal space in your home or office where you can film.
Consider the amount of square footage you need, the lighting you have, and how much of yourself (if any) that you want to be on camera. You may have to get creative to get the shots you need for the niche you chose. If the space simply doesn’t work for your vision, that could dictate whether you pursue that niche or not.
5. Your Goals for Your Channel
Finally, consider your goals for your channel. Keep in mind that once you choose a profitable niche, it may be difficult to change it if that trend ever goes out of style or if you get tired of it.
When you’ve outlined your goals, both for the financial side and the content creation side of your channel, choose a profitable niche that you can realistically sustain long enough to make them happen.
17 Most Profitable YouTube Niches
Below are 17 of the most profitable YouTube niches, which we collected based on current trends on the platform, as well as YouTube statistics and the highest advertiser cost per mille (CPM) rates.
1. ASMR
ASMR stands for “autonomous sensory meridian response.” It’s a pleasant tingling sensation on the human body that is stimulated by certain sounds and can induce calm and relaxation. It’s also the fifth most searched-for term on YouTube of all time according to Semrush, so there’s definitely high demand for this type of content.
You can find ASMR videos where the creator spends several minutes whispering or humming, tapping different objects with their nails, crinkling paper or plastic, and making hundreds of other soft noises. There’s really no limit to the types of sounds you can make.
2. Challenges
Challenges are videos where the creator either starts or takes part in a challenge that’s already trending. Sometimes it’s in service of a charity benefit (think the Ice Bucket Challenge), and other times it’s for pure entertainment purposes only.
3. Comedy
Comedy is a broad niche with sub-niches that range from skits to stand-up shows to comical interviews or even funny songs. Whatever you choose to do, make sure that the humor is appropriate to your audience. For example, if your target audience largely consists of children, keep the jokes G or PG-rated.
4. E-commerce
E-commerce is an especially popular subject in the digital age because so many people want to start their own businesses or side hustles online to make extra money.
There are a lot of sub-niches to cover under the e-commerce umbrella. Some of them include advice about how drop shipping works, setting up a website, starting a Shopify and/or Amazon Web Services account, and anything else to do with engaging in business online.
5. Education
Educational YouTube videos are popular because they explain or teach facts, concepts, or ideas in a way that’s quick and easy to digest. You can pick any academic or practical subject for your Education sub-niche.
6. Fashion & Beauty
Fashion & Beauty includes anything to do with hair, makeup, clothing, accessories, and styling. You can narrow in on specific categories in this niche, too, like sharing news about sustainable fashion or reviewing vegan beauty brands.
7. Finance & Investments
Finance & Investments content can run the gamut from personal and corporate finance advice to 401 K regulations, cryptocurrency, investment forecasts, and market trends. Make sure you know your stuff, especially if you’re going to recommend steps for people to take with their money. You don’t want to steer anyone wrong in their finances.
8. Gaming
Some of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world, including MrBeast and Markiplier, are gamers. They live stream their gameplay, test and review new games, and entertain their audiences with quips and dramatic reactions. You can also use your Gaming channel to perform certain challenges, do speed-runs, and play for charities.
9. How-To’s
How-to’s are one of the four most popular types of YouTube videos according to Google. Some channels center their how-to’s around life hacks, while others may choose to film cooking or craft tutorials. Ann Reardon is one example of a popular YouTuber who started her channel How To Cook That as a way to show people how to bake beautiful desserts.
10. Insurance
Whether it’s life, auto, health, home, or pet insurance, it’s a competitive and profitable niche to get into on YouTube. People are always looking for advice about which insurance policies to get, how to qualify, what benefits they’re eligible for, how to get the best rates, and more. Covering news and trends in insurance is also a great idea.
11. Lifestyle
Many YouTubers choose to make Lifestyle the theme of their channel or to add it in as one niche among many. Lifestyle content includes daily or weekly vlogs, home product demonstrations, shopping trips and hauls, health and fitness tips, home decorating advice, cooking, gardening, and any other activities associated with everyday life.
12. Making Money
As we mentioned before, everyone wants to know how they can make money. That’s why videos that cover different ways to make money, especially online, are extremely popular right now.
You can make videos about how to set up certain side hustles, which college degrees are the most profitable, interviews with successful business or start-up owners… the list goes on. As long as it’s related to a legitimate and legal way of making money, it’s a great idea for this niche!
13. Marketing
Videos about marketing can be lucrative since there are lots of business owners and influencers coming into the marketplace who want to become major successes. Part of making your company or brand a success is marketing, but there are a lot of variables within that topic that get people confused.
For example, your content could focus on different types of advertising and how to choose the right ones, social media marketing, or search engine optimization (SEO). These are all sub-niches within Marketing that get a lot of traffic. Better yet, choose an area of marketing that you have working experience or a certification in.
14. Product Reviews
Product Reviews is a profitable YouTube content niche because consumers want to know whether or not buying a certain item or service is a smart investment of their money. More specifically, they want to know how much it costs, how it works (or if it works), and what some other alternatives might be.
What’s great about this niche is you can apply it to any number of goods or services: beauty, tech, clothing, vehicles, streaming services… anything!
15. Real Estate
With Real Estate, you can show house tours, explore neighborhoods, discuss current and future housing market trends, and even share advice on how to prepare your house for sale, what to look for as a buyer, and more.
16. TV & Movies
Gen Z is obsessed with TV & Movies. In a survey by Ipsos, 60% of Gen Z-ers said they use YouTube to look up videos about a television show or film that they just watched. You can review shows and movies, make “best” or “worst” lists, and share Easter eggs (AKA little-known trivia), just to name a few ideas.
17. Travel
Finally, traveling is a wonderful niche that’s full of opportunities for YouTube creators. Not only can you use your platform to show people the great places that they can travel to and stay in, but you may also be able to partner with hotels, booking services, and other types of travel companies and get access to free or discounted products and experiences.
If you put a lot of effort into content creation and marketing, you could stand to make quite a bit of money from Travel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which YouTube Niches are the Most Profitable?
Some of the most profitable YouTube niches include Finance & Investments, Gaming, Insurance, Making Money, Marketing, Real Estate, and Travel.
Which Profitable YouTube Niches are Faceless?
You can make faceless content using niches such as ASMR, E-commerce, Education, Gaming, How-To’s, Insurance, Making Money, Marketing, Product Reviews, Real Estate, and TV & Movies.
Conclusion
The key to making money on YouTube is choosing a niche that will be profitable based on current trends and areas of high competition. Choose from our list of 17 most profitable YouTube niches based on your knowledge, budget, abilities, filming setup, and goals for your channel.
