A Food Influencer Reveals How Much Money She Makes Per Year — And Holy Cow

But expenses are steep, and so is the mental health toll.

In 2024, being a food influencer seems like a pretty great gig. Influencers get to sit at home and bake delicious food, take pictures and videos of it, and then eat it (or give it to their friends, who will love them extra for it). As their follower counts grow on Instagram and TikTok, their feeds and Stories become populated with ads, for which we all assume they’re getting a solid chunk of change. But how much, exactly?

According to Alice, an influencer and cookbook author whose name has been changed here to protect her identity, the truth is that it varies widely. Alice has about 500,000 Instagram followers, but pay rates don’t always depend on the amount of followers someone has.

“There’s a super broad range — I know influencers who have 500,000 followers and are making $150,000 a year, and I know ones with the same following who are making a million dollars a year,” she said. “It’s all about your engagement and how you monetize.”

While Alice asked to remain anonymous, she was willing to get real about how much money she makes as a food influencer and recipe developer. Read on for all the juicy details, like how much she actually gets from ads, what her expenses look like, and exactly how much money she made in 2023 ― and how that stacks up against the mental health toll of being an influencer.

Here’s how much someone with 500,000 followers is probably making from Instagram ads