Ariana Grande Net Worth: $26 Million from YouTube Alone

Ariana Grande’s net worth is $26.58 million. The 22 year old has built her fortune through talents in acting and singing, plus endorsement deals. Grande has earned a total of $80 million so far in her career, with taxes and expenses cutting out $54 million of that. Her earnings come from $3 million in albums sales, $4 million in singles sales and $36 million in concert box office money. It may come as a surprise to some that Grande has only earned an estimated $940,000 from acting. Another big shock is that the singer’s YouTube earnings come to $25.6 million. That’s thanks to over three billion views on Grande’s Vevo channel. Endorsements and merchandise sales kick in another $10 million total. Ariana Grande earns an average salary of almost $20 million a year.

Ariana Grande Net Worth Comparisons

Ariana Grande Net Worth Comparisons
Ariana Grande net worth$28,853,229
Selena Gomez net worth$45,000,000
Miley Cyrus net worth$197,000,000
Taylor Swift net worth$302,000,000
Demi Lovato net worth$88,000,000
Nicki Minaj net worth$77,000,000
Adele net worth$32,000,000

Comparing Ariana Grande’s net worth to other similar artists, she lags behind. That said, there’s a good reason for her relatively low net worth. First, Stars like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez seem to be in the same category as Ariana Grande. They’re all actresses and singers, and they’re all in their early 20’s. However, Gomez and Cyrus got their start in acting about ten years earlier than Grande, beginning screen work in 2003 in Gomez’s case and 2001 in Cyrus’. That’s ten more years of earnings that Grande doesn’t have. Second, Cyrus started turning out hit albums back in 2007, a full six years before Grande did. That gave her time to release three more studio albums than Grande and put on four more worldwide concert tours. Similarly, stars like Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj and even Demi Lovato have a head start on Ariana Grande with more albums, singles and concert tours. Given another five or ten years of consistent earnings, the Ariana Grande net worth sum will rise into nine figures.

Ariana Grande Net Worth Timeline

Ariana Grande Net Worth Timeline

Ariana Grande Net Worth Through Time
YearAriana Grande Net Worth
2012$0
2013$4,246,976
2014$9,283,101
2015$24,450,625
2016$28,853,229

Ariana Grandet Net Worth by YearThe Ariana Grande net worth story has just begun. The star singer and actress got her start on the TV show Victorious in 2010. The show follows the life of a teen singer, much like the series Hannah Montana that launched Miley Cyrus into early stardom. The show also has parallels to Selena Gomez’s Wizards of Waverly Place. One key difference is that Cyrus and Gomez were the stars of their respective shows, while Ariana Grande played supporting character Cat Valentine, a bubbly, ditzy singer/actress. Since then, Grande has landed a number of other roles on TV shows and movies, but her real big break financially came with the release of her 2011 hit single Put Your Hearts Up. The song was RIAA Gold certified and sold an estimated 750,000 copies worldwide. That put Grande’s earnings from it up around $100,000. It was also part of Grande’s first studio album deal. When her album Yours Truly was released in 2013, it went Platinum and sold an estimated 1.5 million copies. It also earned Grande over $1 million, putting her net worth on the map for the first time. Of course with hit albums comes concert tours. A test tour in 2013 called The Listening Sessions proved she had potential. By the time her next album came out in 2015, Grande’s Honeymoon Tour was ready for the worldwide stage. It put an estimated $35 million in her pocket. What that all really means is that the young star’s net worth adventure has just begun. Though she’s been around for six years, a singer’s net worth only really starts to build once they start putting on multi-million dollar concert tours. If she keeps churning those out at a rate of one every couple years, she could very well compete with Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus in the years to come.

Ariana Grande Net Worth Sources: Albums, Concerts, YouTube, Singles, Endorsements, Merchandise

Ariana Grande Net Worth Sources

Ariana Grande Net Worth Sources
Albums$3,082,695
Singles$4,091,241
Concerts$36,108,000
Acting$940,000
YouTube$35,992,897
Endorsements$5,000,000
Merchandise$1,805,400
Total Ariana Grande Earnings$87,020,233
Ariana Grande Salary (Average)$21,635,432
Taxes (Ariana Grande is in a 52.9% bracket)$45,914,556
Expenses (Estimated at 15%)$13,325,783
Investments (6% added to net worth each year)$1,073,335
Total Ariana Grande Net Worth$28,853,229

Ariana Grande Net WorthThe really surprising fact about Ariana Grande’s net worth is how much of it comes from YouTube. With most musicians, YouTube accounts for a big chunk of their income. With Grande it’s almost as much money as her concert revenue. That’s mostly thanks to the singers’ relatively fledgeling concert tour career. It’s true that Grande has two concert tours under her belt. That’s nothing to sneeze at for a 22 year old. However, Grande’s first tour was more of a proving ground than a real moneymaker. The debut Grande tour brought in less than a million from 11 shows in North America. Most concert tours from big name performers have over 50 shows and bring in tens of millions. Grande’s second show in 2015 did make nearly $42 million at the worldwide box office. Her next show should just about double her total concert earnings. At that point, YouTube income won’t come close. Apart from concerts and YouTube earnings, Ariana Grande’s net worth has the same sources as many other young stars. Merchandise and endorsements are par for the course. The only other standout money source is her acting career, not for making her a lot of money but for making her so little. A MoneyNation analysis shows Grande’s acting career to have made less than $1 million all together. If that’s true, then why would she keep acting at all? The answer probably takes two forms: publicity and keeping her options open. Grande has said she doesn’t particularly like acting. That said, nothing sells concert tickets like seeing the singer on TV repeatedly. Also, there’s no telling whether Grande might land a big role in the future. While small roles don’t pay off, they pave the way for bigger ones that do. A deep analysis of every income stream below shows how the Ariana Grande net worth tale comes together.

Also see: Miley Cyrus Net Worth

Ariana Grande Album Earnings

Ariana Grande Albums EarningsAriana Grande has released two studio albums with another due in May of 2016. Based on an analysis of album certifications and media reports, the star has earned a total of $3 million so far from album sales. Grande doesn’t write most of her own songs, which means she keeps about 6.6% of the revenue brought in from album sales. That’s according to reports from music industry insiders. That math leads to the numbers in the table below. Grande started work on her first album, Yours Truly in 2010 while she was working on the TV show Victorious. The album took three years to complete. The hit single Put Your Hearts Up was released a full two years before the album. Grande has reportedly said she didn’t like the song at all because it was too “bubblegummy.” She’s been quoted as saying she only really likes about half of the album, with the rest being pushed on her as part of who people thought she ought to be. The album made over $16 million in sales, of which Grande kept over $1 million.

Grande’s 2014 album My Everything sold 400,000 copies in its first week. It finished off with an estimated 2.75 million copies sold. She said she was much more excited with this album than the previous one, since she was experimenting, stretching herself and her talents. Her third studio album is due out soon.

Ariana Grande Earnings from Albums
Ariana Grande AlbumsUnit SalesRevenue at $10.99 EachAriana Grande Earnings at 6.6%
Yours Truly (2013)1,500,000$16,485,000$1,088,010
My Everything (2014)2,750,000$30,222,500$1,994,685
Dangerous Woman (2016)N/AN/AN/A
Total$3,082,695

Also see: Selena Gomez Net Worth

Ariana Grande Singles Earnings

Ariana Grande Singles EarningsAnother anomaly of the Ariana Grande net worth story is that she’s made almost as much money from singles as from album sales. Grande has performed lead vocals on 18 singles. Nine of those are RIAA certified, meaning they’ve sold over 500,000 copies each in the U.S. The song Love Me Harder went triple platinum and topped out at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. It also gave Grande more top ten singles than any other artist in 2014. Grande paired up with The Weeknd for the song, which leaves behind her teen starlet image with verses about making a girl happy through “loving her harder.” When The Weeknd first heard a demo of the song, he said he thought it was a little too generic. In order to fit himself into it, he changed it some and made it “more dark.” He has said he was very happy with the result. In characteristic double entendre The Weeknd style, he’s quoted by trivia site SongFacts as saying, “When I see an opening, I penetrate it.”

Grande’s biggest hit single is 2014’s Problem. That song went seven times platinum according to the RIAA. The song is about the trouble of going back to an old boyfriend. Grande has said the song is autobiographical, though she doesn’t name the boyfriend she went back to. The song hit #1 on iTunes within just 37 minutes of its release. Curiously, it broke the previous record set by another song about revisiting past relationships – Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

Ariana Grande Earnings from Singles
Ariana Grande Single TitleUnits SoldRevenue at $1.99 EachAriana Grande Earnings
Put Your Hearts Up (2011)750,000$1,492,500$98,505
The Way (2013)3,500,000$6,965,000$459,690
Baby I (2013)250,000$497,500$32,835
Right There (2013)750,000$1,492,500$98,505
Last Christmas (2013)250,000$497,500$32,835
Love Is Everything (2013)250,000$497,500$32,835
Snow in California (2013)250,000$497,500$32,835
Santa Baby (2013)250,000$497,500$32,835
Problem (2014)7,500,000$14,925,000$985,050
Break Free (2014)4,000,000$7,960,000$525,360
Bang Bang (2014)6,500,000$12,935,000$853,710
Love Me Harder (2014)3,500,000$6,965,000$459,690
Brand New You (2014)100,000$199,000$13,134
Santa Tell Me (2014)200,000$398,000$26,268
One Last Time (2015)1,500,000$2,985,000$197,010
E Più Ti Penso (2015)100,000$199,000$13,134
Focus[H] (2015)1,400,000$2,786,000$183,876
Dangerous Woman (2016)100,000$199,000$13,134
Total Ariana Grande Singles Earnings$3,401,706

Also see: Taylor Swift Net Worth

Ariana Grande Acting Earnings

Ariana Grande Acting EarningsAn analysis of Grande’s earnings from the acting world has her coming up somewhat short. To most Americans an extra $940,000 from acting would be a gigantic financial boost. But to most Hollywood stars, less than a million isn’t much. Grande has had quite a successful career on both the big and little screen as far as landing parts. She has had two successful TV shows with over 35 episodes each. She’s also starred in three movies and a number of other shows. The one thing she’s never quite managed to do is hit it really big with acting. A hit TV show is a good thing because it’s steady work and the pay is very good. Just not millions good, unless the show is on the order of Keeping Up With The Kardashians or The Voice. In Grande’s case, none of her shows did quite that well. Her most successful by far was Victorious. Grande was in 56 episodes of that series from 2010 through 2013. She wasn’t the lead, but a supporting character named Cat Valentine. According to the Screen Actors Guild rate sheet, actors in shows of that nature can expect to earn about $900 a day. With about 5 days per episode, Grande likely earned about $280,000 from the show.

Her highest profile film was Zoolander 2 in 2016. That movie didn’t earn a profit after its production budget and its advertising costs had been accounted for. That means although Ariana Grande probably earned a healthy $100,000 for her part in the film, she probably didn’t rake in a payday in the millions.

Ariana Grande Earnings from Acting
YearAriana Grande RoleRole Type Ariana Grande Earnings
2009The Battery's Down TV Series $900
2010-2013Victorious TV Series (Ariana Grande in 56 episodes)$280,000
2011iCarly TV Series $5,000
2011Snowflake, the White Gorilla Movie$30,000
2011Winx Club: Enchantix TV Series $25,000
2012-2013Winx Club: Beyond Believix TV Series $40,000
2013Swindle TV Movie $30,000
2013Underdogs Movie$100,000
2013-2014Sam & Cat TV Series (Ariana Grande in 35 episodes)$262,500
2014Family Guy TV Series $7,500
2015Scream Queens TV Series $60,000
2016Zoolander 2Movie$100,000
Total Ariana Grande Acting Pay$940,900

Also see: Demi Lovato Net Worth: Why it Can’t Be Stopped

Ariana Grande Concert Earnings

Ariana Grande Concert EarningsAriana Grande has earned an estimated $36 million from concerts. She has completed two concert tours so far. The first was the 2013 tour The Listening Sessions. Grande has said she chose that name because of the small number of shows and the small, intimate size of the venues. The tour was really more of a proving ground more than anything. Put one way, it was a way to gauge whether there was enough interest in seeing Grande live and in concert to justify the big expense of a world tour. The experiment appears to have succeeded. Two years later, Grande’s first major world tour was announced. That tour was The Honeymoon Tour. The name is a reference to the main track from Grande’s first album, 2013’s Yours Truly. The tour had 88 shows across North America, Europe, Asian and South America. There were rumors that singer Iggy Azalea would join the tour, but those stories were ultimately proven false. If Grande is anything like her contemporaries Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, her concert earnings won’t stop there. Future tours could earn as much as $60 million each, making a formidable contribution to the Ariana Grande net worth total.

Ariana Grande Earnings from Concert Tours
Ariana Grande Concert Tour NameBox OfficeAriana Grande %Ariana Grande Earnings
The Listening Sessions (2013)$680,00085%$578,000
The Honeymoon Tour (2015)$41,800,00085%$35,530,000
Total$36,108,000

Ariana Grande YouTube Earnings

Ariana Grande earns a huge percentage of her money from YouTube ad revenue. That’s because she has over three billion video views, but it’s also because of her relatively low earnings from other sectors.

Ariana Grande YouTube Earnings
ChannelViewsRevenue at $7.60 per 1,000 ViewsAriana Grande Earnings
Ariana Grande Vevo Channel (85%)5,372,854,500$40,833,694$34,708,640
Ariana Grande Own Channel (100%)168,981,227$1,284,257$1,284,257
Total$35,992,897

Also see: Jessica Alba Net Worth

Ariana Grande Endorsement Deals and Merchandise

Ariana Grande EndorsementsSo far, Grande has made a good start in the endorsement deal world. She’s the face of the bottled water brand Wat-aah! and has also done deals with Macy’s, Nesquik and Old Navy. She also has her own fragrance, Ari, which debuted in 2015. Between all these sources, Grande’s endorsement deal income is estimated at $1 million a year from 2013 through 2015 and $2 million in 2016.

What about merchandise? Tee shirts, hats and iPhone cases are among just some of the Ariana Grande merchandise available. There aren’t any solid figures on the sales of those items, but we can conservatively estimate the star’s merchandise sales at about 5% of concert ticket sales. That adds $1.8 million to the Ariana Grande net worth figure.

Ariana Grande Net Worth: Pulling it All Together

The table below takes every Ariana Grande income source listed above and breaks it down by year. Adjusting for taxes, expenses and investment income in each year gives the final Ariana Grande net worth number. Grande lives in California and earns over $400,000. That means she pays the top California tax rate of 13.3%. Add that to her 39.6% federal tax bracket and you’ve got 52.9% in taxes. Expenses are estimated at 15% and include payouts for agents, concert production, staff and cost of living. Finally there’s investment income. We’ve added 6% per year to Grande’s net worth, after taxes.

Ariana Grande Net Worth Calculations
YearAlbum SalesSingles SalesConcert ToursActingYouTubeEndorsementsMerchandiseTotal Ariana Grande EarningsTaxes (52.9%)ExpensesNetInvestmentsAriana Grande Net Worth
2010$280,000$280,000$78,400$201,600$0$0$0
2011$98,505$60,000$158,505$44,381$114,124$0$0$0
2012$40,000$40,000$11,200$28,800$0$0$0
2013$1,088,010$722,370$578,000$392,500$8,998,224$1,000,000$451,350$13,230,454$6,998,910$1,984,568$4,246,976$0$4,246,976
2014$1,994,685$2,863,212$7,500$8,998,224$1,000,000$451,350$15,314,971$8,101,620$2,297,246$4,916,106$120,020$9,283,101
2015$394,020$35,530,000$60,000$8,998,224$1,000,000$451,350$46,433,594$24,563,371$6,965,039$14,905,184$262,340$24,450,625
2016$13,134$100,000$8,998,224$2,000,000$451,350$11,562,708$6,116,673$1,734,406$3,711,629$690,975$28,853,229
Ariana Grande Net Worth Totals$3,082,695$4,091,241$36,108,000$940,000$35,992,897$5,000,000$1,805,400$87,020,233$45,914,556$13,325,783$27,779,895$1,073,335

Also see: Kylie Jenner Net Worth

Interested in the net worth of singers like Ariana Grande? Check out our popular posts on Taylor Swift’s net worth and Miley Cyrus’ earnings.

The Ariana Grande net worth numbers in this article are based on a deep analysis of record sales, YouTube views and other income streams and are provided here for entertainment purposes only.