YouTube retention benchmarks by video length

Hidemyacc Global

Supreme Member

Jr. VIP

Jan 11, 2023

1,475

498

• Dec 30, 2025

• #1

Retention targets should scale with video length. Here’s a simple benchmark you can use:

• <3 minutes: around 70-80%
• 5-7 minutes: around 60-70%
• 10 minutes: around 50-60%
• 15 minutes: around 40-50%
• 30 minutes: around 35-40%

These ranges align with how YouTube evaluates viewer drop-off across different durations. In your experience, which duration is hardest to keep retention stable on?

 

V

Volskar lion

Registered Member

Oct 9, 2025

64

12

• Dec 30, 2025

• #2

Retention drops as videos get longer 10+ minutes is the hardest to keep viewers engaged.

 

O

Onetap Zagros

Registered Member

Oct 16, 2025

50

7

• Dec 30, 2025

• #3

Viewer drop off grows with video length so keeping engagement high in medium to long formats takes careful pacing, varied content and well placed highlights.

 

R

Rock bin

BANNED

Dec 26, 2025

43

12

• Dec 31, 2025

• #4

Long videos are a major factor in viewers abandoning the video.