Podcasting is a $25 billion dollar industry, and podcasters are the professionals who create the audio or video content that users can download. Podcasters can generate a decent (and even a massive) income by uploading educational, funny, inspiring, and useful content — and monetizing their podcast.
But how much money do podcasters actually make? Well, the average podcaster income is a huge range, from anywhere between $500 per month to multiple millions per month.
Let's take a look at some of the most established and high earners in the podcasting industry, how much they earn, and the money-making strategies that help podcasters up their profits (and how you can too!). But first, let's see just how much money you can make with a podcast.
How Much Money Can You Make With a Podcast?
As mentioned, you can earn from hundreds to millions of dollars with a podcast. There are several factors that affect podcast earnings: niche, location, audience, skill level, and the monetization strategies you're using. How much you earn also depends on the other products or services you're selling.
Unless you have several thousands or millions of subscribers ready to purchase premium content, the amount of money you can generate with just the podcast alone may not be that significant. That's why we recommend having multiple income streams to increase your chances of making it big. Keep reading to find out the top podcast monetization strategies (or skip right ahead to that part).
How Many Podcasters Actually Make Money?
According to multiple studies, 95% of podcasts fail. The reason for this? They are not consistent. Many creators give up before making any money, failing to make it past more than seven episodes. However, there are those who make millions with a podcast - let's take a look at them.
10 Highest Paid Podcasters in 2024
As mentioned, the podcasting market size is valued at a whopping $25 billion and is still expected to grow annually - but who gets the lion's share of the market? Below are the top 10 biggest podcast earners.
1. The Joe Rogan Experience - $250 Million
Launched in 2009, The Joe Rogan Experience is an in-depth conversation about comedy, science, sports and just about anything (or everything) under the sun. The podcast became more popular in 2015, with millions of views per episode. The show's uncensored conversation about different topics and its guest appearances made it on top. In fact, Regan's the top earner in the industry. And according to the Wall Street Journal, the Joe Rogan Experience podcast is worth $250 million. It's no wonder Spotify also increased its offer to Joe Regan from $200 to $250 million for the exclusive rights to his show.
Podcasters have different strategies to earn more money. In Joe Rogan's case, he managed to attract new listeners by inviting popular guests and by having an uncensored reputation in his conversations. If you want to earn as much, we recommend knowing your target audience and crafting your content specifically for this audience. Show how passionate you are about your topic and the audience will respond positively.
2. Call Her Daddy - $60 Million
Like Joe Rogan, Alexandra Cooper (the podcast owner) also received an offer from Spotify worth $60 million in exchange for exclusive rights to her podcast show. Sofia Franklin and Alexandra Cooper launched Call Her Daddy in 2018 and the podcast became popular only within months after launching. It features funny advice on relationships and sex and talks about embarrassing moments or funny stories and anecdotes.
Niche is one factor that contributes to the success of this podcast. If you want to generate more revenue, we recommend searching for lucrative niches and creating content around these niches.
3. Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard - $40 Million
Do you know how much Dax Shepard is worth now? $40 million, thanks to his podcast, "Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard. The show is about the messiness of being human, and every episode features academics, celebrities and journalists. It premiered in 2018 on Valentine's Day and was the most downloaded podcast during that time. In 2020, Forbes named this show the fourth highest-earning podcast.
Sometimes, all you have to do is connect with your audience. While having the right equipment is crucial in podcasting, excellent interpersonal skills can do wonders, so work on your communication skills to excel in your podcast delivery.
4. The Ramsey Show - $10 million
Dave Ramsey has gained 13 million listeners for his personal finance lessons, making him one of the top-earner podcasters. He started as a speaker and author in 1992, and his podcast was launched just in 2020, so it's only a few years old, and yet it's also valued at $10 million. His popularity also contributed to his success in podcasting. Ramsey's earnings in podcasting is $10 million but his net worth is actually $300 million.
If you have a blog that generates great traffic or are an expert at something, consider expanding this into a podcast show. Perhaps you can repurpose some of your content on the blog, just like what Dave Ramsey is doing. Don't forget to advertise your podcast on your blog to get instant followers.
5. The Ben Shapiro Show - $10 Million
Launched in 2015, The Ben Shapiro Show offers a daily political podcast to listeners. The podcast host's brutal take on culture and political personalities made his show a hit. Not to mention his exceptional skills in convincing and persuading an audience. This podcaster makes it to the top 10 with his 10 million downloads each month. Today, Ben Shapiro earns about $10 million in profit each year for his podcast.
How's your conversational skills? You need to improve it if you want to excel in podcasting. Ben Shapiro also wrote columns for Newsweek and Ami Magazine, and so his writing skills came in handy.
6. Bill Simmons - $7 Million
The Bill Simmons Podcast is the most downloaded sports podcast with Joe House and Cousin Sal as the mainstays. They also invite athletes and celebrities to attract more listeners. According to Forbes, Bill Simmons has earned about $7 million in The Bill Simmons Podcast.
He also happens to become the first podcaster to make it to the top the number 13 for Celebrity 100 with his pretax income of about $82.5 million. Spotify also paid him $155 million for his podcast in exchange for 51% ownership of his business.
7. Crime Junkie - $6 Million
If you're into anything crime-related, Crime Junkie is for you. Launched in 2017, Crime Junkie has over 1 billion downloads and remains to be on top. It's hosted by Ashley Flowers (who happens to be also the CEO) and Brit Prawat, the co-host. Apple named this show #1 in 2022 and 2023. Expect a true crime podcast every week discussing missing person cases, solved and unsolved murders, and anything crime-related. The estimated net worth of Crime Junkie is $6 million.
In this podcast, the hosts share cases of people who have been murdered, gone missing or kidnapped. They stand out because they watch interviews about the cases, talk to family members, and share their thoughts about true crime.
8. Chapo Trap House - $2 Million
Launched in 2016, Chapo Trap House is an American political comedy podcast originally hosted by Felix Biederman, Will Menaker and Matt Christman. This highly controversial podcast is one of the most popular and is valued at $2 million.
Reddit banned Chapo Trap Network for allegations of copyright infringement, but this didn't stop them from succeeding. They became successful after publishing the New York Times best-seller called The Chapo Guide to Revolution. Sometimes, controversy is the key to success.
9. Tim Dillon - $1.3 Million
Tim Dillon once sold subprime mortgages and then later became a stand-up comedian. His humorous podcasts about humanity's dark side and apocalyptic visions made him popular.
He releases his podcast on YouTube every week and also uses Patreon to make more money. Tim Dillon's podcast is now worth $1.3 million.
10. Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me - $400,000
This hour-long podcast in the US talks about weekly news. Also broadcasted by NPR Worldwide and on other different platforms, it eventually became one of the most popular podcasts with about 6 million weekly listeners.
Today, the host has a net worth of about $400,000 to half a million, thanks to his podcast.
How You Can Make Money With a Podcast?
When it comes to monetizing a podcast, many people believe that the only options are paid ads and sponsorships. Thankfully, there are many more ways to make money with your podcast. Let's take a look at them.
Memberships
Selling premium memberships is one way to make money from your podcast. You can start charging listeners to pay for premium, behind-the-scenes content from you. For those who haven't built an audience yet, offering free content may work to build an audience, and paid content for more eager listeners.
Membership tiers are a great way to earn recurring revenue. With Whop, you can create your own whop (a hub for your podcast) where you can sell access to memberships and create and host an online community so that your members can chat about your podcast. It's a great way to offer premium access to yourself for a fee.
Sponsorships
Sponsorships are a common way to make money for podcasters who have already built an audience. Once you have enough listeners, start contacting businesses in your niche, asking if you could market their products and services for a fee.
If you don't yet meet the criteria for a sponsorship, then keep promoting your podcast on your website or social media to attract more listeners. Once you've built an audience, businesses may proactively contact you for sponsorships.
PoD Products
Podcasts are digital, but that doesn't mean that you can't sell physical products too. Why not sell merch with a print-on-demand model? Members who enjoy your podcast will not hesitate to buy designs they can print on a shirt, backpack or poster.
Print on demand is easier than you think. You (usually) don't pay any costs upfront, and you don't need to own the design to start with a print-on-demand business. Platforms such as Printify can help you sell your podcast merchandise through them.
Advertising
If you have a decent sized audience, consider joining an advertising network such as Podcorn, PodGrid and AdvertiseCast to earn more money from your podcast. With advertising, you'll be sharing revenue with these platforms. Always read the fine print to maximize your revenue and avoid problems down the road. At AdvertiseCast, the podcaster receives 70% of the revenue share while the network or platform takes keeps only 30% of the share.
Digital Products
Some of best money makers when it comes to podcasts are digital products. We've already mentioned selling memberships for premium content, but why not sell access to digital products too? This could include ebooks, online courses, downloadables, and online communities.
For example, let's say that you have a business podcast focusing on ecommerce. You could sell access to a paid community for ecommerce business owners, an ebook full of ecommerce tips, an online course that teaches students how to grow their ecommerce business, and downloadable PDF worksheets and checklists to help ecom owners stay organized.
Affiliate Marketing
Let others do the work for you with affiliate marketing. Pick an affiliate product and promote it on your podcast, website and social media. Choose your products wisely, and make sure it's actually a good product or you may discourage members from purchasing more products from you. Every time someone purchases the product with your link, you will make a percentage of that sale.
Donations
The easiest way to make money from a podcast is by asking for donations from your members. Most people are happy to contribute just so their favorite podcasters can create more content. All you have to do is include a donation form by adding a way to receive them - like adding a Whop checkout link to your website or social media profile.
Or, if you have your own whop, you can add the 'Tipping' app and receive donations right there in your online hub. Whop acts as your payment processor and can even be your MoR, so you have everything you need in one place.
Masterminds
An indirect way to monetize your podcast is by selling mastermind slots. A mastermind is a group where industry leaders come together to share ideas. It offers brainstorming, and educational classes or serves as your accountability partners to help you achieve your goal.
Use a private group with video and chat capabilities (like your whop) to host your mastermind.
Online Courses
Is your podcast educational? Educational does not mean that it has to teach in the traditional sense, it simply means a podcast that imparts information about anything from manifestation, to ecommerce, to online trading, mindfulness, or anything else. If your podcast shares information on improving in any way, why not create an online course? You can even support it with other options on this list like an online community and ebooks.
Ebooks
Like an online course, an ebook can share information to help others improve a skill. However, there is more flexibility with ebooks because as long as the text is related to your podcast, it can be about absolutely anything, educational or otherwise. You can create an ebook for a true crime podcast, but you don't have many options for a true crime course.
Monetize Your Podcast With Whop
While using multiple monetization strategies increases your revenue, having the right platform maximizes your income - and this is where Whop comes in.
You can do almost anything with Whop. Using your own whop for your podcast, you can:
- Create a private community
- Sell subscriptions and memberships to it
- Create and sell online courses
- Create and sell ebooks
- Host and sell access to webinars and masterminds
- Sell digital products like downloadable PDFs
- Accept donations
- Run affiliate marketing
- Engage your members with forums, chats, and giveaways
There are so many ways to monetize your podcast with Whop, and getting started is extremely simple. It takes less than 10 minutes, and there are no costs to set up or use Whop - just a 3% fee on payments received. Create your own whop and start making money today.
Frequently Asked Questions
A few commonly asked questions about podcasting:
How Long Does it Take to Make Money With a Podcast?
It's not enough to upload a podcast listeners will love. Create awareness for your podcast first to start building an audience. Once you can reach at least 1000 downloads, revenue from ads will start coming in. Try exploring the different revenue streams mentioned above to increase your chances of making more money from your podcast. Don't forget to measure your efforts which can help determine the monetizing strategy that works best for your niche.
Can You Make a Living From Podcasting?
Yes, it's definitely possible to make a living from podcasting. We do have to warn you this isn't for the weak of hearts. Put a lot of work into creating and perfecting your podcast, as it's the only way to attract and keep an audience glued to Spotify, Apple, or whatever platform you're using in uploading your podcasts. Researching for lucrative niches and building content around them also increases your chances of generating more revenue. Of course, it'll help to have multiple income streams, so don't rely on one or two monetizing strategies. Try selling digital products, ebooks, courses, or whichever product is applicable or relates to your niche.
How Many Listeners Do You Need for a Podcast to Make Money?
It depends on how much money we're talking about. To generate higher revenue from sponsors, consider advertising your podcast to achieve at least 5,000 downloads. Sponsors usually pay for ads if they can see you're doing well. If you have multiple income streams, such as selling premium content or a piece of merchandise, making money from just one listener is possible. However, you'll need to really spend more time creating a podcast that sells. Put in the work to create an enticing podcast listeners would go for, every week or every day, whatever your schedule is.
Also, we recommend not making it obvious that you're only interested in monetizing your podcast. Quality should always be a top priority. This way you can attract more users and make them love you.
