Answer · data from 746,534 iOS apps
Average app revenue by category
"Average" app revenue is a trap. Across the 746,534 iOS App Store apps we track (July 7, 2026), the mean revenue among earning apps is an estimated $32,287/month — while the median earning app makes $643/month. That's a ~50× gap, created by a handful of giant winners. So instead of one misleading average, this page gives the honest per-category spread: the median, 75th and 90th percentile of earning apps, plus the mean across all apps for contrast.
All figures are labeled estimates generated by GetAppNiche's proprietary multi-signal model — never audited revenue. Data snapshot: July 7, 2026; the dataset is updated daily. Check any specific app free with the app revenue checker.
The full spread
Estimated app revenue by category: median, p75, p90 and mean
24 App Store categories, sorted by the share of apps clearing an estimated $1,000/month. "Earners" are apps with any revenue signal (7.4% of the store overall). The last column — the mean across all apps, zero-earners included — is what most "average app revenue" articles quote. Compare it with the medians to see why.
| Category | Apps tracked | % clearing $1k/mo | Median (earners) | p75 (earners) | p90 (earners) | Mean (all apps) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 27,317 | 15.7% | $2,250 | $14,786 | $69,771 | $11,043 |
| Weather | 3,093 | 10.6% | $1,284 | $3,420 | $12,214 | $5,419 |
| Graphics & Design | 5,887 | 7.7% | $1,286 | $5,786 | $27,193 | $2,546 |
| Photo & Video | 17,327 | 6.3% | $1,179 | $4,500 | $23,207 | $6,563 |
| Finance | 36,129 | 5.5% | $536 | $1,821 | $8,464 | $2,548 |
| Entertainment | 30,402 | 4.2% | $643 | $3,857 | $26,529 | $5,637 |
| Book | 7,955 | 3.9% | $643 | $3,214 | $17,357 | $2,241 |
| Music | 17,969 | 3.9% | $643 | $2,786 | $19,136 | $7,955 |
| Reference | 14,894 | 3.8% | $643 | $3,214 | $20,314 | $1,761 |
| Health & Fitness | 46,361 | 3.6% | $643 | $3,321 | $16,714 | $1,462 |
| Navigation | 8,777 | 3.5% | $643 | $3,857 | $14,400 | $730 |
| Social Networking | 15,777 | 3.4% | $643 | $4,286 | $25,071 | $5,390 |
| News | 10,714 | 3.2% | $643 | $2,384 | $9,889 | $3,101 |
| Medical | 16,720 | 2.9% | $643 | $3,214 | $16,714 | $723 |
| Utilities | 74,450 | 2.8% | $643 | $3,107 | $13,071 | $1,270 |
| Shopping | 29,420 | 2.6% | $643 | $3,536 | $24,429 | $2,675 |
| Productivity | 47,513 | 2.6% | $643 | $3,214 | $20,611 | $2,796 |
| Lifestyle | 54,697 | 2.6% | $643 | $3,214 | $20,143 | $1,460 |
| Travel | 29,410 | 2.5% | $643 | $2,571 | $15,996 | $3,475 |
| Sports | 21,768 | 2.4% | $643 | $2,571 | $16,757 | $1,612 |
| Education | 84,979 | 1.8% | $643 | $2,571 | $13,500 | $846 |
| Food & Drink | 39,807 | 1.8% | $321 | $1,500 | $9,857 | $1,286 |
| Business | 95,014 | 0.9% | $536 | $1,929 | $13,500 | $426 |
| Stickers | 4,417 | 0.0% | $107 | $321 | $900 | $2 |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis of 746,534 iOS App Store apps, July 7, 2026 snapshot (dataset updated daily). All revenue figures are estimates from public App Store signals, not audited numbers — methodology in how app revenue estimation works.
The headline column above, ranked: the estimated share of each category clearing $1,000/month. Games lead by a wide margin; the dashed line marks the 3.2% store-wide rate. The dollar percentiles aren't charted — they stay in the table. Labeled proprietary-model estimates, July 7 2026 snapshot.
How to read this table
Four things the spread reveals
- Games dominate every percentile. The median earning game makes an estimated $2,250/month, the top 10% make $69,771+/month, and even the mean across all 27,317 games — non-earners included — is ~$11,043/month. No other category comes close at any point of the distribution.
- Weather is the quiet overperformer. Just 3,093 apps tracked, yet 10.6% clear $1,000/month — the second-best rate on the store, ahead of Photo & Video, Finance, and every productivity-style category.
- Many categories share the same $643 median — that's the model, not the market. Our estimation model outputs discrete revenue steps at the low end (its floor is ≈$107/month), so mid-pack categories cluster on the same step. Read those medians as "roughly $600/month" and use the p75/p90 columns — where the categories genuinely diverge — to tell them apart.
- Business and Stickers are the floor. Only 0.9% of 95,014 Business apps clear $1,000/month (mean across all: $426), and effectively no Sticker packs do (0.0%, mean $2).
What this means
Three takeaways for founders
- Size a niche with the median and p90, never the mean. The mean among earners ($32,287/month) is ~50× the median ($643/month) — it describes the outliers, not your realistic outcome. The median tells you the typical earner; the p90 tells you what "winning" looks like in that category.
- Category choice shifts your odds ~17×. 15.7% of Games clear an estimated $1,000/month vs 0.9% of Business apps. Picking the pond matters more than most feature decisions — see the best low-competition app niches for 2026 for where the odds and the crowding actually balance.
- Before building, check what incumbents in YOUR niche earn. Category averages are the backdrop; the apps you'd actually compete with are the real benchmark. Look up any iOS app's estimated revenue free with the app revenue checker.
Wondering how many apps earn anything at all, and what the baseline odds are? That's a different question — answered with the full threshold ladder in how much does an app make?
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Average app revenue by category — quick answers
What is the average app revenue?
It depends entirely on which average you mean. Across 746,534 iOS apps we analyzed (July 7, 2026), only 7.4% show any revenue signal at all, and just 3.2% clear an estimated $1,000/month. Among apps that do earn, the mean is $32,287/month but the median is $643/month — roughly a 50× gap, because a small number of huge winners drag the mean up. Quoting a single "average app revenue" figure without percentiles is almost always misleading.
Which app category has the highest revenue per app?
Games, on every measure: 15.7% of games clear an estimated $1,000/month, the median earning game makes ~$2,250/month, the top 10% of earning games make $69,771+/month, and the mean across ALL games (including non-earners) is ~$11,043/month. The quiet overperformer is Weather: a small category (3,093 apps) where 10.6% clear $1,000/month — the second-best rate on the App Store.
Why do medians beat averages for app revenue?
Because app revenue distributions are extremely skewed. Among the 55,429 earning apps in our dataset, the median is $643/month while the 99th percentile is $494,250/month — so the mean ($32,287/month) sits far above what a typical earning app actually makes. A median tells you the middle app's reality; a mean mostly tells you how big the outliers are. For planning, use the median plus the 90th percentile of your target category.
How much do the top 10% of apps make by category?
Among earning apps, the overall 90th percentile is an estimated $21,214/month, but the spread by category is wide: Games $69,771/month, Graphics & Design $27,193, Entertainment $26,529, Social Networking $25,071, Shopping $24,429, and Photo & Video $23,207. Most mid-pack categories land between roughly $13,000 and $21,000/month at the 90th percentile, while News ($9,889), Food & Drink ($9,857), Finance ($8,464) and Stickers ($900) sit at the bottom.
Are these figures exact?
No — they are labeled estimates generated by GetAppNiche's proprietary multi-signal model, not audited revenue. Apple does not publish per-app revenue, so no third party has exact figures. Data snapshot: July 7, 2026, from 746,534 iOS apps; the dataset is updated daily. Use the figures directionally for comparisons and trends.