It depends on the channel. Recent studies put TikTok and Pinterest around $4 to $5, Meta around $8 to $15, LinkedIn $25 to $45 and streaming TV about $26. Judge CPM together with CTR and CPA, not on its own.

How do you calculate CPM?

Divide the cost by the number of impressions and multiply by 1,000. $500 for 100,000 impressions is a $5 CPM.

How do you calculate impressions from CPM?

Divide your budget by the CPM and multiply by 1,000. $1,000 at a $10 CPM buys 100,000 impressions.

What is the difference between CPM and eCPM?

CPM is what an advertiser pays per 1,000 impressions. eCPM is what a publisher earns per 1,000 impressions across all ad types and pricing models.

What is the difference between CPM and CPC?

CPM charges per 1,000 impressions whether or not anyone clicks. CPC charges only when someone clicks. CPC = CPM ÷ (CTR × 10).

Does CPM mean cost per million?

No. M is the Roman numeral for 1,000, from the Latin mille, so CPM is cost per thousand impressions.

CPM Calculator – Cost per 1,000 Impressions, Budget & Impressions

What is CPM?

CPM means cost per mille, the price of 1,000 ad impressions. Mille is Latin for thousand. Advertisers use it to compare how expensive reach is across channels, and publishers use the same number, often called eCPM or RPM, to measure how much they earn per 1,000 impressions or page views.

How to calculate CPM

CPM = cost ÷ impressions × 1,000
Cost = CPM × impressions ÷ 1,000
Impressions = cost ÷ CPM × 1,000

Example. A campaign spends $500 and gets 100,000 impressions. $500 ÷ 100,000 × 1,000 = $5.00 CPM. To reach 1,000,000 people at the same rate you would budget $5,000.

Spend	Impressions	CPM
$100.00	20,000	$5.00
$500.00	100,000	$5.00
$1,000.00	80,000	$12.50
$2,500.00	250,000	$10.00
$10,000.00	1,250,000	$8.00

Click any corner of the triangle above to solve for that value. The two you fill in stay the same while the third is calculated.

How many impressions will my budget buy?

Divide your budget by the CPM and multiply by 1,000. At a $10 CPM, $1,000 buys 100,000 impressions.

CPM	$1,000 budget	$5,000 budget	$10,000 budget
$5.00	200,000	1,000,000	2,000,000
$10.00	100,000	500,000	1,000,000
$15.00	66,667	333,333	666,667
$20.00	50,000	250,000	500,000
$30.00	33,333	166,667	333,333

CPM vs CPC, CTR and CPA

CTR (click-through rate) = clicks ÷ impressions × 100.
CPC (cost per click) = cost ÷ clicks. CPM and CPC are linked by CTR: CPC = CPM ÷ (CTR × 10), so a $10 CPM with a 1% CTR works out to $1.00 per click.
CPA (cost per acquisition) = cost ÷ conversions.

A low CPM is only a good deal if people click and buy. Add clicks and conversions under Clicks and conversions to see all four together.

Average CPM by platform

Published figures from recent studies. They measure different things, such as averages versus medians, US versus global, or ecommerce brands only, so read them as rough ranges and compare your own campaigns over time.

Platform	Reported CPM	Source
Facebook and Instagram (Meta)	$8.32 average in 2025; $15.06 median for ecommerce brands, Aug 2025 to Jul 2026	Gupta Media; Triple Whale
Instagram, US	$9.46 in Q2 2025	eMarketer
TikTok	$4.09 average in 2025; $4.07 median for ecommerce brands	Gupta Media; Triple Whale
Pinterest	$4.74 average in 2025	Gupta Media
Snapchat	$8.78 average in 2025	Gupta Media
YouTube	$7.05 average in 2025; typically $4 to $10	Gupta Media; WordStream
Google Display Network	Typically $3 to $10	WordStream (2026)
LinkedIn	Typically $25 to $45	WordStream (2026)
Streaming and connected TV	About $26 to $27	eMarketer (Dec 2025)
Podcasts	$21.37 average for a 60-second spot	Libsyn Ads (Sep 2024)
Billboards	$3 to $10	Solomon Partners Media Monthly (Nov 2025)
Prime-time TV, upfront	Broadcast $41.65, cable $17.70	Media Dynamics 2026–27 estimates

eCPM and RPM for publishers and creators

Switch to Publisher to work in revenue instead of cost. eCPM (effective CPM) = total earnings ÷ impressions × 1,000, and it is how AdMob, Ad Manager and other ad networks compare earnings across formats.

On YouTube, CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions before YouTube takes its share, while RPM is what the creator earns per 1,000 views after it. YouTube pays creators 55% of net ad revenue on long-form videos and 45% of the revenue allocated to them from Shorts. RPM also counts views that showed no ads and includes memberships and Premium revenue, so it is usually well below CPM.

Blended CPM across campaigns

Averaging the CPMs of several campaigns gives the wrong answer when their sizes differ. Blended CPM adds up all spend and all impressions first: total cost ÷ total impressions × 1,000. A $300 campaign with 50,000 impressions ($6 CPM) and a $200 campaign with 10,000 impressions ($20 CPM) blend to $500 ÷ 60,000 × 1,000 = $8.33, not the $13 simple average.

What makes CPM go up or down

Audience. Narrow, high-income or B2B audiences cost more to reach than broad ones.
Season. Q4 is the most expensive quarter. Gupta Media measured Meta CPMs 13% to 17% higher in Q4 than in the rest of the year, December as the priciest month, and Cyber Monday 2024 at 138% above that year's average.
Placement and format. Video, connected TV and premium placements cost more per impression than standard display.
Ad quality. Ads people engage with win auctions at lower prices on Meta and Google.
Viewability. Viewable CPM (vCPM) only counts impressions that could actually be seen. Under the Media Rating Council standard that means at least 50% of the ad on screen for one continuous second for display (30% for very large ads), or two seconds of play for video. Google Ads display campaigns now bid on vCPM.

CPM Calculator

Clicks and conversions

Blended CPM