How Much Money Do Bloggers Make? [& 100+ Income Reports] (2024)

Before getting into blogging, I didn’t think people could make a living from writing blogs. It turns out that blogging can provide a steady income, but you need to put in a lot of work.

Is It Realistic to Make Money Blogging?

Making money with blogging is a realistic goal. The highest-paid bloggers earn millionsof dollars per year. However, a survey from iBlog Magazine found that only about 5% to 8% of bloggers earn the equivalent of a full-time income.

Replacing your day job with income from blogging may also take a year or longer. You can realistically earn a living with blogging, but it requires patience and perseverance.

So, how much money do bloggers make?

How Much Money Do Bloggers Make?

On average, bloggers typically earn around $45,000 a year, with potential variations depending on the source, ranging between $38,440 and $51,906.

However, this number is greatly influenced by experience. Earnings can start from $30,000 in the first year and may significantly increase each year, potentially reaching over $400,000 by the fourth year.

Bloggers typically see growth year by year as the blog becomes more established, with the possibility of transitioning from a side hustle to a full-time income.

Successful bloggers can achieve financial independence through effective scaling and monetization strategies.

Different niches can also lead to varying income levels:

• Travel Bloggers: Approximately $63,173 annually.
• Lifestyle Bloggers: Around $52,382 annually.
• Beauty Bloggers: About $43,800 annually.
• Food Bloggers: Typically $41,058 annually.
• Fashion Bloggers: Roughly $37,534 annually.

The amount of income depends heavily on the popularity of the blog. More views equal more income from ad revenue, which is the main source of income for bloggers.

How Much Money Do Beginner Bloggers Make?

A beginner blogger may make between $0 and $1,000 or more each month during the first year of blogging.

It is very important to understand that blogging is a long-term game. When you’re first starting out, don’t expect to make much money. Most bloggers give up at this point.

I blogged for roughly 16 months before I saw any income at all. But let me remind you that consistent growth pays off.

As you can see from the chart below, this is what a year of consistent blogging without expectation can achieve:

How Much Money Do Professional Bloggers Make?

Glassdoor lists the average pay for a blogger with one to three years of experience as $86,737 per year.

A blogger with up to six years of experience earns an average of $96,641 annually.

How Much Do Bloggers Make Per 1,000 Views?

While the amount of money that bloggers can make varies widely depending on the niche, industry, and quality of the website, bloggers with 1,000 views usually make an RPM of $20-35 on average.

A blog that receives 10,000 views per day may generate about $20 to $50 in income. Here’s an ad revenue calculator to see how much a website could earn with ads.

Who is the Highest Paid Blogger?

The HuffPost generates over $140 million annually, making it the most successful blog. However, it is run by a team of people, employs dozens of writers and editors, and outsources to an endless list of freelancers.

The highest paid bloggers with their own blogs include:

1. Tim Sykes (TimothySykes.com): $1,000,000/month
2. Chiara Ferragni (TheBlondeSalad.com): $250,000/month
3. Melyssa Griffin (MelyssaGriffin.com): $238,000/month
4. Sarah Titus (SarahTitus.com): $200,000/month
5. Pat Flynn (SmartPassiveIncome.com): $200,000/month

Can Blogging Be a Full-Time Job?

Blogging can be a full-time job. Some bloggers spend three hours writing each new post. If you spend 40 hours per week on your blog, with about 30 hours spent on writing, you may generate up to 10 new posts per week.

How Long Does It Take to Make Money from a Blog?

Successful bloggers may start generating income within a few months of publishing their first blog posts. However, with just $2 to $5 per 1,000 page views, your earnings are limited early on.

First Year Blogging Income

You may make little to nothing the first year of blogging, as generating a sizable income requires thousands of page views each day.

However, those that keep at it are more likely to receive a healthy income. Your odds of success drastically rise as time progresses.

As the size of your audience grows, it becomes easier to attract new readers through online marketing and organic search queries.

100+ Blog Income Reports to Inspire Your Blogging Journey

Back in the day, a lot of bloggers published blog income reports to show what kind of money their blog made. It doesn’t seem as popular now as it did a few years ago, but there are still plenty of income reports floating around that you can learn from as a budding or even experienced blogger.

In my experience, blog income reports are helpful for two main reasons:motivationand strategy. The first one is easy to understand: if you follow a mom blogger making $2,000 each month through her income report, that’s good motivation to keep goin’ at your own blog.

The second reason is based on reverse-engineering what you see in a blog income report. For example, if you follow 5 income reports in your niche, and each of them are using the same affiliate program or ad network to monetize their blogs, maybe that’s a program or network you should look into.

You can also see what kind of content drives revenue, if they link to their top pages from an income report. A lot of bloggers have “how to blog” type posts, in any niche, and those are often pages that make money from affiliate earnings. If you see an income report with content like that, learn from what they’re doing to see what’s working and what you could improve.

At the end of the day, blog income reports are limited in their usefulness, but it is interesting to get a behind-the-scene look at other bloggers’ operations. They can offer inspiration, uncovermonetization ideas(are ebooks popular in your niche?) and help you figure out what kind of content actually produces traffic and revenue in your niche.

Here are some common questions about blog income reports that better explain how they work.

What is a blog income report?

A blog income report shows the revenue, expenses and profits brought in by a blog. Usually bloggers include a story about what they worked on that month, what’s been working overall and goals they have for the future.

Detailed blog income reports include where their revenue came from, broken down by source – ads, affiliate earnings, consulting, freelancing, courses, ebooks, etc. They also sometimes include their top-earning affiliate programs, which is really helpful if you’re looking for ideas on how to monetize your blog.

Why do bloggers post income reports?

Some bloggers like to show how much they make to motivate othersandthemselves: when you’re showing off how much you make, it’s good motivation to keep going if you know you have an audience. Other than that, it doesn’t really matter why bloggers post income reports.

If they’re doing it to show off, who cares? Take away the insight you can and don’t worry about their motivations.

How much does a beginning blogger make?

If you stumble across “early” blog income reports from bloggers, you’ll find a lot of months that result in little or no blogging income. A beginning blogger might only make $20 per month on ads and affiliate earnings, but with the right strategy and enough time and effort, a beginning blogger can also make a few hundred dollars or more. It all depends on your niche, content strategy and monetization methods.

Can you really make money from a blog?

Yep! Thousands of bloggers make money from their blog. The majority likely don’t make much, but there’s a percentage of bloggers making full-time incomes with their blogs. Over the years, my blogging revenue’s been in the six figures, and even more if you consider the blogs I’ve sold after building them over time. So yes, you can definitely make money from a blog.

Should I publish a blog income report on my site?

That’s up to you – if you find it to be a good external motivating factor in your blogging, go for it! It can also be helpful if you eventually find a supportive community who cheers you on each month as they follow your income reports.

That said, there are plenty of people who don’t love blog income reports, and don’t offer them. This camp includes Tracie Fobes, who believes there are more drawbacks than advantages to blog income reports.

“I also feel that all too often the reports are a way just to market other courses for readers to buy,”Tracie says. “It is a way to get more sales, which makes them more affiliate income, so next month’s report shows more money.”

Something else to consider: blog income reports take time to write, and if your blogging time is limited, it’s probably better spent creating evergreen content that’ll bring in quality, consistent traffic over time.

If you do make blog income reports, or just want to research income reports in your niche, here’s a list of 100 blog income reports organized by niche: personal finance, travel, food, blogging and lifestyle. Enjoy.

100 Blog Income Reports

Personal Finance

1. The Savvy Couple, May 2019
2. Club Thrifty, 2019
3. Breaking the One Percent, January & February 2019
4. The Money Ninja, December 2019
5. Making Sense of Cents, March 2019
6. Financial Flamingo, January 2020
7. Finsavvy Panda, July 2018
8. Money Dot Calm, 2018 to 2020
9. Moneyhungry, October 2019
10. Money Q&A, October 2019
11. Smart Pennies, November 2019
12. The Baller on a Budget, 2019
13. Swift Salary, 2019
14. Single Moms Income, March 2019
15. This Mama Blogs, November 2018
16. Earningsportal, June 2019
17. Believe in a Budget, 2018
18. My Work from Home Money, 2019
19. Redefining Mom, August 2016
20. Disease Called Debt, 2016

Travel

1. Two Wandering Soles, March 2019
2. Ashley Abroad, September 2019
3. Travel with a Plan, 2019
4. Practical Wanderlust, January 2018
5. Local Adventurer, 2019
6. It’s a Lovely Life, 2019
7. Living the Dream, February 2020
8. Indian Girling, 2018 to 2019
9. Imperfect Idealist, 2019
10. Expat Kings, June 2019
11. Johnny Africa, 2019
12. The Atlas Heart, December 2019
13. Mike and Laura Travel, June 2019
14. Travel by Maya, November 2019
15. Gathering Dreams, 2019
16. Trekkn, 2019
17. Affordable by Amanda, July 2019
18. Getaway Couple, March 2019
19. Desk to Dirtbag, July 2019
20. The Sunshine Suitcase, June 2019

Food

1. 40 Aprons, August 2019
2. Hangry Woman, January 2020
3. Went Here 8 This, October 2019
4. A Sassy Spoon, August 2019
5. Thyme & Joy, April 2019
6. Midwest Foodie, October 2019
7. Butternut Bakery, May 2019
8. Nikki’s Plate, October 2019
9. Tried, Tested & True, June 2019
10. Bon Aippetit, April 2019
11. Fork in the Road, March 2019
12. Elizabeth Chloe, January 2019
13. The Fiery Vegetarian, 2019
14. Salted Mint, April 2019
15. Root + Revel, 2019
16. The Clean Eating Couple, 2019
17. The Fit Delish, October 2019
18. Lucky Mojito, June 2019
19. Pinch of Yum, 2011 to 2017
20. A Merry Life, July 2019

Blogging, Entreprenuership & Tech

1. Adam Enfroy, September 2019
2. Kate Kordsmeier, October 2019
3. Ryan Robinson, July 2019
4. Matthew Woodward, December 2017
5. This Online World, 2019
6. Healthy, Savvy & Wise, May 2019
7. Joanna Rahier, August 2019
8. Blog Ambitious, July 2019
9. 99signals, July 2019
10. Like to Dabble, 2019
11. A Self Guru, October 2019
12. Let’s Reach Success, July 2019
13. Anastasia Blogger, March 2019
14. Cassie Scroggins, December 2019
15. Boss Girl Bloggers, 2018
16. Living the Blog, 2019
17. Easy Blog Emily, September 2019
18. BforBloggers, March 2019
19. Perfection Hangover, March 2019
20. Jasmine Alley, 2019

Lifestyle

1. Lovely Refinement, December 2019
2. Fit Mommy in Heels, September 2019
3. Mom Beach, April 2019
4. Mom Makes Joy, December 2019
5. Lifestyle with Leah, December 2019
6. Italian Polish Momma, March 2019
7. Life Fully Caffeinated, June 2019
8. Ordinary Parents, October 2019
9. About Social Anxiety, November 2019
10. Kelly on Point, December 2019
11. Desert Blossom Crafts, April & May 2019
12. Ironwild Fitness, April 2019
13. KAinspired, 2019
14. The Glam Mom Style, February 2019
15. Crochet 365 Knit Too, April 2019
16. Liana Desu, September 2019
17. Blogging Babe, 2019
18. The Fab 20s, February 2019
19. Seaside Sundays, 2019
20. Those Positive Thoughts, January 2020

Growing Your Blog Income

Seeing these income reports should be great motivation to start your own blog. If you need help getting started, here’swhat towrite about with your first blog post, here are sometravel blog post ideasand here are some solidmom blog name ideas.

Blog Income Infographic: Amounts Explained in Detail

To get an even better understanding of how much bloggers make, check out this infographic from Ryan Robinson: