Creator income inequality is rising as top influencers rake in big paydays

"Creators are raking in the ad dollars - but the wealth is being shared less and less equally. New data from the influencer-marketing platform CreatorIQ shows that the income gap in the creator economy is widening. The top 10% of creators on CreatorIQ's platform received 62% of ad payments in 2025, up from 53% in 2023. Similarly, the top 1% received 21% of the total ad payment volume, up from 15% in 2023."

"Brands are shifting more of their marketing dollars to creators, with payments more than doubling over the last two years in CreatorIQ's dataset. Overall, US advertiser spending on creators was expected to hit $37 billion in 2025, according to a November report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. At the same time, much of the ad money is going to a relatively narrow segment of top talent."

Creator income inequality is rising: the top 10% of creators received 62% of ad payments in 2025, up from 53% in 2023, while the top 1% captured 21% of payment volume, up from 15% in 2023. The dataset analyzed 65,000 payments over three years from brands and agencies to creators who received flat payments through CreatorIQ software. Brand payments to creators more than doubled over two years, and US advertiser spending on creators was projected at $37 billion in 2025. Major creators are securing a growing share of sponsorship revenue and larger projects, limiting opportunities for smaller creators.

Read at Business Insider