YouTube engagement rate calculator
Work out the engagement rate on a YouTube video, a Short, or a run of uploads. It uses the two numbers anyone can actually see on a video, likes and comments, divided by views.
Formula:
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The YouTube engagement rate formula
YouTube engagement rate is the share of the people who watched a video who then did something with it. Add the likes and the comments, divide by views, multiply by 100.
(likes + comments) ÷ views × 100
Worked example
A video does 50,000 views, 4,000 likes and 120 comments. Add the interactions: 4,000 + 120 = 4,120. Divide by views: 4,120 ÷ 50,000 = 0.0824. Multiply by 100 and the engagement rate is 8.24%.
For a channel average, switch the tool to channel mode and enter the totals across a run of uploads: all the views, all the likes, all the comments. Total interactions divided by total views gives the same answer as averaging each video's rate weighted by its views, which is the version you want. A single outlier video will not flatter the whole channel.
Why views and not subscribers
On Instagram and LinkedIn, engagement rate is normally measured against followers. On YouTube it is measured against views, and the reason is how the videos are found.
- Most views on a healthy channel come from browse and suggested placements rather than from the subscription feed, and on Shorts almost all of it comes from a recommendation feed. The subscriber count is not the audience for any given video.
- A subscriber based rate breaks the moment a video travels. A video that reaches five times your subscriber count would score above 100% on a metric that is supposed to top out there, which tells you the metric is wrong rather than the video.
- Views are printed on every public video, so a views based rate can be checked by anyone. A subscriber based one is only reproducible if the subscriber count is public.
YouTube Shorts engagement rate versus long form
Run them separately. Shorts views and long form views are not counted the same way, and a Short starts playing without anyone deciding to watch it, while a ten minute video only starts because someone chose it. That difference shows up in the rate: the same audience will like and comment at a lower rate on Shorts than on long form, and neither number is the broken one.
Two averages, tracked separately, tell you something. One blended average moves whenever the mix of formats moves and tells you nothing at all.
One thing worth being straight about: there is no separately published average for Shorts that we would stand behind. The figure in the table below is measured against views across YouTube as a whole, Shorts and long form together, so treat it as a marker for the channel rather than a target for your Shorts. Your own Shorts median is the more useful comparison, and when you post matters less than most people think, but here is what the studies found if the schedule is the next thing on your list.
Where to find each number
On any public video the view count and like count sit under the title, and the comment count is at the top of the comments. That is everything the calculator needs, for your videos or anyone else's.
For your own channel, YouTube Studio lists views, likes and comments per video under Content, and the Analytics tab lets you pull a date range if you want a channel average across a run of uploads rather than a single video.
What is a good engagement rate on YouTube?
The published average below is measured against views, the same basis this calculator uses, so your number and the benchmark are directly comparable. Treat it as a marker rather than a target: it is Metricool data republished by Statista, it covers Shorts and long form together rather than Shorts on their own, and the trend is down, 2.34% for 2025 against 3.73% the year before. And if the rate is healthy and the channel still produces nothing, the number is not the thing to fix next.
| Channel size | Engagement rate |
|---|---|
| All channels | 2.34% |
Source: Metricool 2026 Social Media Study, via Statista (2025 data), December 2025. Last verified: July 2026.
How this calculator works
- Single video divides likes plus comments by that video's views. Channel average does the same with your totals across a run of uploads, so bigger videos carry more weight, which is what you want from an average.
- Shares and saves are left out on purpose. They are not visible on a public YouTube video, so including them would make the number impossible for anyone else to check.
- Rates are rounded to two decimal places for display. The sum printed under the results uses the numbers exactly as you typed them.
- Nothing is uploaded. The maths runs in your browser, there is no account, and no numbers are stored between visits.
Other engagement rate calculators
Engagement Rate Calculator
The multi platform version: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn, each on the formula it is normally reported with.
TikTokTikTok Engagement Rate Calculator
Views based by default, with a switch to followers, plus where to find each number in TikTok analytics.
InstagramInstagram Engagement Rate Calculator
Follower based, with saves and shares counted, against the published Instagram averages.
FacebookFacebook Engagement Rate Calculator
Reactions, comments and shares against a follower base, with the published page averages.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate engagement rate on YouTube?
Add the likes and the comments on a video, divide by its views, then multiply by 100. A video with 50,000 views, 4,000 likes and 120 comments works out at (4,000 + 120) ÷ 50,000 × 100 = 8.24%. For a channel average, add up the likes, comments and views across a run of videos and divide the totals the same way.
Does this work for YouTube Shorts?
Yes, the formula is the same. Just compare Shorts to Shorts. Views on Shorts and views on long form videos are not counted the same way, and a Shorts view is a much lower bar to clear than someone choosing a ten minute video from the homepage, so mixing the two in one average gives you a number that describes neither.
Why does the calculator not ask for shares or saves?
Because you cannot see them on a YouTube video. Likes and comments are printed under every public video, so anyone can check them and anyone can reproduce your number. Shares only show inside YouTube Studio for channels you own, and there is no public save count at all. Keeping the formula to likes plus comments makes it verifiable, which matters more than being exhaustive.
Should I use subscribers instead of views?
No, use views. Subscriber counts made sense when the subscription feed drove most watch time, and they do not describe how the platform works now, especially for Shorts where most views come from people who have never subscribed. Dividing by subscribers also punishes channels whose videos travel: a video that reaches five times your subscriber count would score badly on a metric that says it did well.
What is a good engagement rate on YouTube?
The most recent published average is 2.34% against views, from Metricool data for 2025 republished by Statista. Smaller channels read lower: the same dataset puts channels under 15,000 subscribers at 1.63%. Keep the platform in mind before you worry about either figure, because a like on YouTube takes more effort than a like on TikTok, so YouTube rates read lower across the board. The comparison that helps most is internal: run your last ten videos through the calculator, take your median, and study the ones that beat it.
What is a good engagement rate for YouTube Shorts?
Nobody publishes a credible Shorts-only average, so the honest answer is to use your own. The 2.34% figure we quote (Metricool data for 2025, republished by Statista) is measured against views across YouTube as a whole, which means Shorts and long form are mixed into it. Shorts normally read lower than long form on the same channel, because a Short starts playing without anyone choosing it, so scoring your Shorts against a blended average will make them look worse than they are. Run your last ten Shorts through the calculator, take the median, and treat that as your line.
Where do I find likes, comments and views for a video?
On any public video the view count and like count sit under the title, and the comment count sits at the top of the comment section. For your own channel, YouTube Studio lists the same figures per video under Content, and the Analytics tab gives you a date range if you want to average a run of uploads rather than one video.