Stock photo portfolio income.

Stock photography income = portfolio size × downloads per image × royalty per download. Agencies pay 0.25-3 per standard download. With 500+ images and 2-5 downloads per image per month, monthly income ranges 250-7,500. Most photographers earn modestly; top 1% earn 100k+/year through massive portfolios of 10,000+ images.

500 images × 3 downloads/image/month × 0.50 average royalty = 750/month, 9,000/year. Modest side income. Doubling portfolio to 1,000 images roughly doubles income (assuming similar quality/relevance). Time investment: 500 images at 30 minutes edit each = 250 hours initial, then ongoing additions.

Income per image declines over time as new content pushes old down in search rankings. Typical image earns most in first 12-18 months, then declines 30-50% annually. Successful stock photographers continuously add new content (20-50 images/month) to maintain income. The portfolio is a content business, not a passive one.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using portfolio size of 500, avg downloads per image/month of 3, avg royalty per download of 0.5, the calculation works out to 750.00. Nudge the inputs toward your own situation and the output recalculates instantly. The defaults are meant as a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

The inputs — Portfolio Size, Avg Downloads per Image/Month, and Avg Royalty per Download — do not pull with equal force. Not every input has equal weight. Flip one at a time toward extreme values to feel which ones move the needle most for your situation.

How the math works

Monthly income = portfolio × downloads/image × royalty. Annual = monthly × 12. The working is transparent — you can verify every step yourself in the formula section below. No black box, no opaque "proprietary model".

What the score tells you

Headline financial numbers — income, savings, debt — each tell part of the story. This calculation stitches several together into a single read you can track over time. The value is in the direction, not the absolute number.

What this doesn't capture

The score is a composite of the inputs you provide. Life context — job security, family obligations, health, housing — doesn't appear in the math but shapes the real picture. Use the number as a prompt, not a verdict.